In this video, warm up with a hearty bowl of Chef John’s Viking Stew—an ultra-cozy, rustic dish inspired by ancient Scandinavian flavors. This one-pot wonder features tender chunks of meat, root vegetables, herbs, and a rich broth perfect for cold nights. Whether you're a fan of medieval meals or just love a good stew, this recipe brings comfort and bold flavor to the table.
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00:00Hello, this is Chef John from Foodwishes.com with Viking Stew.
00:08That's right, I love anything Vikings.
00:10So I decided to make a stew similar to what they might have enjoyed.
00:14But don't worry, this is not one of those thoroughly researched recipes that's accurate and doesn't taste good.
00:19Oh no, this one's poorly researched, but very delicious, especially with the Viking flatbread we're going to talk about later.
00:25But first things first, and to get started we have to cut up our meat,
00:29which ideally is a wild boar we killed with our own hands.
00:33But if you can't or won't do that, you can just use a pork shoulder from the store.
00:37And as usual, if there are some natural separations in the meat, we can start our cuts there.
00:42And I'm going to try to cut this into about two inch pieces.
00:45But really, the size is up to you.
00:48I mean, you are after all the Valkyrie of how big these chunks should be.
00:51And as long as you cut the pieces fairly uniform, you're going to be fine.
00:55Oh, and if you're not into pork, there are a lot of other options the Vikings would have had a thousand years ago.
01:01And you could use beef or lamb or goat or venison.
01:05Or even bear, if you dare.
01:08But no matter what you use, once we cut that up,
01:11we will transfer it into a nice big pot or a Dutch oven like this.
01:14And we will season it up with some salt,
01:17as well as one of the Vikings' favorite ingredients, some nice sweet honey.
01:22And then for some additional sweetness and tartness,
01:24we will add another Viking favorite, some berries.
01:27And I'm going with a nice big handful of blackberries,
01:30as well as a nice big spoon of preserved lingonberries,
01:33which they probably would have used fresh, but I didn't have those.
01:37And then what we'll do is head down to the stream and get some nice cold fresh water.
01:41And we'll pour in about six cups, or enough to cover the meat.
01:45And we'll give things a quick stir and turn our heat to high,
01:48so we can bring this up to a boil.
01:51And while we're waiting for that,
01:52we can peel some garlic cloves and throw those in,
01:55along with some dried thyme,
01:58plus a little bit of ground coriander,
02:00which, fun fact, is actually the seeds from the plant we call cilantro.
02:05And that's it.
02:05Like I said, we'll wait for this to come to a rolling boil,
02:08at which point we'll reduce our heat to low.
02:12And we'll give this the old poca-paca to settle things down.
02:16Oh yeah, the old poca-paca is a very old technique.
02:21And then once we have this cooking at a nice low, gentle simmer,
02:24we will let it go for about 45 minutes,
02:26to give our meat a little bit of a head start,
02:28before we start to add our veggies.
02:29And for this, I decide to use some fennel bulbs,
02:33as well as a nice big onion,
02:35a small head of green cabbage,
02:37a couple leeks,
02:39as well as some brown mushrooms,
02:41and then last but not least,
02:43three nice big carrots,
02:45which, from what I hear, back then were probably purple.
02:47And what we'll do is prep those while our stew cooks.
02:51And then after about 45 minutes,
02:53we'll transfer in our onion and our leek,
02:56as well as our mushrooms,
02:57that I've cut in half.
02:59And we will poke all that down in.
03:02And no, I did not try to get all my mushrooms with the rounded side up.
03:05That just somehow magically happened,
03:07probably because Odin had his eyes on me.
03:10Sorry, I mean eye on me.
03:13But anyway, what we'll do,
03:14is let this continue simmering,
03:15stirring occasionally,
03:17for another 45 minutes or so.
03:19At which point,
03:20it's probably going to look something like this.
03:22And at this point,
03:23our meat should be almost,
03:24but not quite fork tender yet.
03:26So to finish this off,
03:28we'll add the rest of our veggies,
03:30which will be our cabbage,
03:31carrots, and fennel.
03:33And we will stir all that in,
03:34and we'll continue simmering for maybe 30 to 40 minutes,
03:37or until our meat,
03:39and the veggies we just added,
03:40are nice and tender,
03:42and by the way,
03:43historically speaking,
03:44pretty much any root vegetable would be appropriate to add to this.
03:47Except no potatoes.
03:49Those came from the New World,
03:50much later.
03:51But anyway,
03:52things like turnips or rutabagas
03:54would have been very common,
03:56but I'm actually not a huge fan of those.
03:58And I feel like those can sometimes overwhelm the flavor of the stew.
04:02So I didn't add them,
04:03but if you're into them,
04:04go ahead.
04:05And then as far as exactly when this is done,
04:07we're not going to guess.
04:09We're going to find a nice big piece of meat,
04:11and test it with a fork,
04:13which should slide in with no effort.
04:15And I'm happy to report my carrots were also cooked perfectly as well.
04:19And that's it.
04:20Once everything's tender,
04:21all we need to do is give this a taste,
04:23just in case we feel like the broth needs a little more salt.
04:27Or if you want it sweeter,
04:28a little more honey.
04:30Or if you want it tangier,
04:31you could add a splash of vinegar,
04:33which was also commonly used.
04:35But for me,
04:36this tasted absolutely perfect.
04:38So I ladled up a nice big bowl
04:40next to some Viking flatbread,
04:42and I garnished the top with a nice big pinch of fresh herb,
04:45which included flowering thyme,
04:47some coriander,
04:48and of course some dill,
04:50maybe the Viking's favorite herb.
04:52And after turning over that one small upside-down leaf between shots,
04:56I took a bunch of pictures
04:57before grabbing a spoon
04:58and tearing off a piece of bread
05:00and going in for the official taste.
05:03And that, my friends,
05:04despite the very primitive cooking method,
05:06really did turn out amazingly well.
05:09All right, even though we didn't sear the meat,
05:10which is a modern technique,
05:12this stew is still very savory
05:14and extremely flavorful
05:16thanks to all those aromatic vegetables.
05:18But while very comforting and hearty and satisfying,
05:21this is also surprisingly light on the palate.
05:24All right, besides searing,
05:25with our modern stews,
05:26we usually do some kind of roux or other thickener
05:29so that our meat and veggies are kind of swimming in a gravy.
05:32But every once in a while,
05:33it's very nice to go this brothy route.
05:36And sure, if you have to call it a soup,
05:37call it a soup.
05:39But what would you rather have for dinner?
05:41Viking soup or Viking stew?
05:43All right, that's what I thought.
05:45So we're going stew.
05:47Oh, and in the spirit of full disclosure,
05:49there was one minor thing I wasn't crazy about.
05:51Those tiny little seeds from the blackberries
05:53I found a little bit annoying.
05:55But having said that,
05:56a thousand years ago,
05:57they definitely weren't going to strain out the seeds.
06:00So I guess that's the price I paid
06:01for trying to be authentic.
06:03But just between you and me and Freya,
06:06you might want to toss the berries in a blender
06:08and then strain out the seeds before you add it.
06:10But other than that,
06:12I thought this came out amazingly well.
06:14Oh, and as I already mentioned,
06:16the Viking flatbread is going to be the next video.
06:18And I don't want to give too many spoilers,
06:20but thanks to using some ancient grains
06:22and buttermilk instead of water,
06:24this might be my new favorite way to make flatbread.
06:27So please stay tuned for that.
06:30But no matter what you serve with this,
06:31or which meat you end up using,
06:34I thought this ancient, primitive,
06:35but still sophisticated stew was really wonderful.
06:39Which is why I really do hope you give it a try soon.
06:42So please follow the links below
06:44for the ingredient amounts,
06:46a printable written recipe,
06:47and much more info as usual.
06:48And as always, enjoy.