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THE PREHISTORIC KITCHEN
 Archaeologists have uncovered many clues to the diet of prehistoric
Shetlanders, showing that they grew corn and ate fish, shellfish, sheep and
cattle. Food may have been cooked in stone tanks, rocks heated in a fire
being used to, bring the water to boiling point, though recent experiments
suggest that this was probably a slow and inefficient process.
 Underground
larders - or souterrains - were constructed to keep food cool and in a
soapstone (or steatite) quarry at Catpund, south of Cunningsburgh, cooking
pots and casseroles were carved from the solid rock.
SUCCESS AT A PRICE
 Much later, as travel by sea became easier, it became possible to export
fish from the rich grounds around the islands.
Lerwick owes its development
to the huge Dutch herring trade, but many fishing stations were established
around the coast, from which fishernlerl set off in small open sixareens
(six-oared boats) to catch cod, ling or other species on long lines with
baited hooks. It was dangerous work, as the best fishing was in the open
sea, many miles from land.
CROFT COOKING
 Traditionally, most families in rural Shetland depended heavily on what they
could grow on their land or catch from a small boat. Oats, barley and
potatoes were the staples and cabbage or kale and turnips the main
vegetables. Milk and butter were produced on the croft and there would be
some mutton, pork and of course fish, of which the most commonly eaten was
saithe, known as sillock or piltock. Historically, other sources of food
were available. Gull and fulmar eggs were often collected in May and in some
places, cliff nesting birds were caught.
 Barley meal (beremeal) and
oatmeal were used to make a variety of breads or biscuits. Fishermen took a
supply of biddies - thick oatcakes - on their trips. Brunies were thick,
round cakes; bannocks were originally hard, made with no more than flour and
water, but evolved into a softer product, more like a flat scone. Oatmeal
was the basis for porridge, but brose was a thinner concoction made by
pouring boiling water, milk, whey or occasionally meat stock over the
oatmeal. Milk was used in many different ways. When butter had been churned,
boiling water was mixed with the buttermilk, separating it into kirnmilk, a
soft cheese, and blaand, which was a popular drink. In the same way, no part
of an animal or fish was wasted. Soup would be made from a sheep's head and
the intestines would serve for meal or meat 'puddings'. There were many ways
of using fish livers; they were often mixed with flour and oatmeal to
produce dappin or with the fish meat for stap.
 Although fresh meat was plentiful in the autumn, most meat and fish was
preserved in order to provide a year round supply. Drying it in a well
ventilated stone structure called a skeo could achieve this.
Alternatively, fish might be hung on a line outside the house or salted and
dried on a stony beach. Meat was almost always salted; the classic reestit
mutton steeped in brine then hung up to dry in the kitchen.
In Shetland of old, the range of available ingredients may have been much
smaller than we expect today, but what was available was cooked in a
remarkable variety of ways, relieving what could have been a monotonous
diet. |
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