I have to admit, I’m not the greatest history buff when it comes to the age of the Vikings. I love a gory battle scene as much as the next person, but past Chris Hemsworth’s chiselled Thor and the brief fever dream that was Round The Twist‘s Viking Book of Love episode, that particular world was never a large point of intrigue for me… until now.

With shows like Vikings and The Last Kingdom (both currently slaying on Netflix) dominating the Aussie streaming scene, it seems there’s a larger appetite for historical content from this period than I’d previously thought.

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Take the Anglo-Saxon diet. To me, it was a medieval swirl of gargantuan roasted pigs and drinking horns filled with ale. While I’m not completely wrong, there’s so much more to it than that.

Enter Uhtred’s Feast: Inside the World of the Last Kingdom, by Bernard Cornwell with Suzanne Pollak. Cornwell, who wrote the hit Netflix show, learned a great deal about Anglo-Saxon and Viking cultures in his research – including what these people ate.

The book, broken down in ‘Home’, ‘Land and Water’ and ‘Storage’ chapters, chronicles what people of all walks of life ate at the time, whether they were warrior, peasant, warlord or of royal blood. Cornwell and Pollak reveal historical context, era-specific produce and the role food played in a time ravaged by war and disorder.

While there are a myriad of ‘typical’ Anglo-Saxon recipes (namely gamey stews, cabbage and grilled meats), a few plot twists appear throughout the book, like a frittata with beef crisps, or cream-braised leeks with nutmeg.

While I’m not planning on LARP-ing anytime soon, I’m excited to give a few of these recipes a go.

Are you game? Here’s an Anglo-Saxon recipe to try for yourself:

Juniper-spiced boar meatballs

“To the Saxons, the wild boar was a symbol of strength and fertility, and its image adorned helmets and was used on battle banners. A feast featuring boar meat showcased a lord’s power and built camaraderie, because boar was not accessible to the lower classes. Juniper berries have a distinct flavour, intense aroma and soft heat. The berries are lightly crushed before use as a spice, and are still used today to season game, pork, cabbage and sauerkraut.” – Bernard Cornwell

Makes 30 bite-sized meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil, plus extra for frying
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 tsp lightly crushed juniper berries (available online and in specialty stores)
• 450g minced boar (if needed, substitute pork – the boar’s more readily available cousin)
• 1 egg
• 25g breadcrumbs
• Salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Warm the olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook the onion for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the crushed juniper berries, stirring to let the onions absorb the juniper. Take off the heat and leave to cool.
2. In a bowl, combine the boar, cooled onion, egg and breadcrumbs. Season liberally with salt and pepper and form into meatballs.
3. Cook the meatballs in a little oil in a large frying pan until crispy on the outside and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Marry these moar-ish boar meatballs with a rich sauce or stir them through a hearty stew. Here are 58 delicious recipes to get you inspired.

‘Uhtred’s Feast: Inside the world of the Last Kingdom’ by Bernard Cornwell with Suzanne Pollak, published by Harper Collins, is available now at Booktopia and Dymocks.

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