Luther College presents culinary lecturer on Viking Age Food

Culinary archaeologist and lecturer Daniel Serra, from Malmo, Sweden, will give a presentation titled “Viking Age Food – Looking for a Lost Food Culture” at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in the Franklin W. Olin Building, Room 102 at Luther College. Serra’s newest book “An Early Meal – a Viking Age Cookbook & Culinary Odyssey” will be available for purchase and signing at the presentation. This event will be open to the public with no charge for admission.

“Serra is a leading expert on Viking age food and is highly sought after for lectures and workshops,” Darlene Fossum-Martin, Vesterheim’s education specialist. Serra says he has been actively engaged in experimental archaeology in order to get a better understanding of the cooking methods and culinary possibilities of both Viking age and medieval cuisine. He discovered his interest in historical food when he started to study archaeology in the early 1990s. As a student he experimented with ancient Roman, medieval and Renaissance recipes and later, he started a medieval catering company, delivering facts about the food and culture as he served the guests. Serra is a Ph.D. student in archaeology working on a doctoral thesis on Viking age food culture.

Serra’s research has so far produced two cookbooks. The first was a medieval cookbook “En sÃ¥s av ringa värde,” based on a Danish thirteenth-century manuscript, was published in 2009. He released his second book, a Viking-age based cookbook and culinary factbook, “An Early Meal,” in 2013. This book was nominated best historical cookbook at the International Association of Culinary Professionals’ awards ceremony in Chicago. The book, now available in English, takes readers on a journey to discover the food culture of Viking Age Scandinavia. The first part explains what the Vikings ate and how their food was cooked. The second part is a cookbook containing 42 recipes from seven different Viking age settlements.