Slaughter time was a busy time. All the meat, offal, skin and blood had to be put to good use. Here we have collected a number of recipes for meats that were common in Nord-Troms.
Lamb and sheep meat was most common in northern Troms. The meat was mostly salted and dried, because that's when it lasted the longest. Soups and stews with meat were very common. Filled with potatoes and other vegetables, this was a very nutritious food.
Veal and beef were often sold. This could provide a good chunk of money for the households. The beef was salted and stored in large barrels. At Nordnes, the barrels were roughed down over the winter. The meat was then watered down and used in soups and stews or as small roasts in brown sauce.
Some people tinned the meat. It was then placed in brine in sealed jars.
Fresh meat was used in the autumn at slaughter time, mostly in soups. All offal was used in cooking.
Recipes
The Sea Sami love meat. But in the past they never salted the meat in barrels. They just salted it a little and a few days later they took it and hung it up in the "bislag" (bulkhead). They weren't afraid of sour meat. guest beergo. They cut a piece of this meat when they cooked soup or roasted meat. In Rafsbotn, I often saw meat sausages hanging over the stove in the pub. They used to cut a piece of it when they cooked soup. They thought the soup tasted better when it tasted of sour meat.
From About the Sea Sami by Anders Larsen (1950)
Current links
About the Sea Sami, Anders Larsen (1950), National Library of Norway
The fjord people in Kvænangen, Ivar Bjørklund, National Library of Norway
