Scandinavian Syra
"Syra, i.e. fermented whey, was the most common
beverage of Icelanders for many centuries and can in effect be said to have
replaced ale, as lack of grain prevented us from brewing much ale. The whey was
poured into huge barrels in the larder. These barrels were sometimes almost
completely dug into the floor, as was the case with the syra-barrel Earl Gissur
hid in when the farmhouse at Flugum?s burned down (a famous and well-documented
incident from 13th century Icelandic history. The barrel was almost full of
ice-cold syra and there was another one on top of it, with a small space in
between. The earl (the only Icelandic nobleman ever) hid in the bottom barrel
while his enemies searched the burning farmhouse). There are also several
similarities between the making of syra and ale-brewing, and the blanket that
developed on the surface of a barrel was called jastur, which is the same word
as yeast in English. Syra was used for a lot of things besides drinking and
preservation, for example to marinate food, and according to ͳlenskir ?j㰨¦ttir
(a 19th century book on folk customs and more), better-off farmers frequently
"let the meat lie in syra for a day or two, before it was roasted,
especially when a large feast was held". Bones were also put in syra to
soften them up and make them edible. It is said that syra isn't really mature
until it is two years old. Then it was never drunk undiluted, but mixed with
water. Syra that was diluted by 11 parts of water was called t´arblanda
(twelve-blend)."
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