Here barely was mainly used for beer and rye for bread whilst oats was fed to the animals and eaten in dire circumstances as a porridge – little did they know how healthy oats was. Peas, turnips, beans, carrots, onions, leeks and good variety of green leafy vegetables and herbs made the diet a healthy one during the Middle Ages with kale very important because it could be stored well – in fact, kale taste better when harvested after the first frost has set in. As can be expected, fish was plentiful and a vital part of the Scandinavian diet – huge shoals of herring migrating from

the Atlantic to the Baltic provided rich pickings in the Limfjord and Oresund then, as today. Not only was there enough fish to feed the entire population, but there was enough to smoke, dry, salt and export in great numbers from Skanör in Scania (in Denmark during the Middle Ages) “From this market alone, merchant vessels of the Hanseatic League exported over 100,000 barrels of salted herring during many decades of the Late Middle Ages” More important was the cod from the North Sea and the Atlantic that was dried to make the extremely important staple of stockfish that was traditionally food of fasting. Salmon, eel, pike and bream was also plentiful albeit more expensive. Cattle farming was common in Scandinavia – especially after the Black Death left masses of land without owners and lush – perfect for grazing. Most of the meat produced was consumed by the Scandinavians and most of the resulting dairy products – except for cheese and butter (especially the butter) which was also exported in great amounts. This is a Finnish pancake that’s as basic as they come as long as you stick to the magic formula: 75 g flour : 75 ml milk : 1 jumbo sized egg per serving – all other ingredients added to taste.

Ingredients

• 375 g cake flour
• 375 ml full cream milk
• 6 eggs
• 100 g butter
• 50 g sugar (amount to be adapted to taste or left out if preferred)
• 1 tsp good vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon zest, grated
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 250 ml whipping cream
• Fresh or sautéed fruit – whatever you fancy

Method

• Whisk the eggs, the milk, the sugar and the vanilla extract briskly until pale and creamy before stirring in the grated lemon zest.
• Sift the flour, the salt and the baking powder together and stir into the egg mixture, making sure that everything is well mixed.
• Allow the batter to rest for half an hour.
• Preheat oven to 220 C
• As soon as the pancake mixture has rested, place butter into the oven-proof frying pan, place the pan in the oven to melt and, using a pastry brush, make sure that the whole pan is coated evenly.
• Pour the pancake batter into the hot, buttered pan and return to oven to bake for 15 minutes until it is puffed up and golden.
• Serve with whipped cream and the fruit of your choice.