Title: Pettu and Famine Food in Norway
Categories: Wild, Misc
Yield: 1 info file
Tree bark
In Norway, cambium was used as a famine food to make barkebroed
(bark bread). In fact the word barkebroedtid (bark bread time) is
more or less synonymous with bad times (famine). It seems that elm
(Ulmus) was reckoned to yield the best cambium, but in areas where
the famine would have hit the worst, i.e., in the mountains and
inland, elm wasn't available (as it grows mostly near the coast)
and Pinus sylvestris was the most used species. According to the
records Norway Spruce (Picea) was also sometimes used.
It was usually mixed with other flours - rye, barley and oats and
made into flatbread, sometimes porridge. Lime (Tilia) was also
sometimes used and I also have undocumented references to rowan,
whitebeam (Sorbus spp.), Birch (Betula) and Willow (Salix) being
used. There are occasionally demonstrations of barkebrod-making
here and there in Norway - (un)fortunately, I have missed out so
far, but must try myself sooner or later.
In addition, Iceland Moss (Cetraria islandica) was also much used
in hard times to eke out the flour - that I have tried and thought
it was very tasty.
Another food which was very important for at least one mountain
village in Norway in one famine was Polygonum viviparum (Harerug -
Hare Rye) - large amounts of the roots of this plant were
collected from the mountains near this village helping them to
survive the winter, whereas in another village not too far away
(who were unaware of this food plant) many people died. We collect
the "seed" of this plant (not really seed) every year and use
it on bread (like poppy seed) and use it often as a trail snack.
