Page:Shetland Folk-Lore - Spence - 1899.pdf/184



Since there was little or no imported grain, meal was a scarce commodity, and had to be most economically used, whether baked into brönies, bannocks, or kröls. Cabbage entered largely into the winter dietary, in such preparations as lang kale, short kale, and tartanpurry. Tea was almost unknown. The blaandie-kaulik and the swatsi-swaarik did duty instead of the golden tips of Ceylon. But fish was the chief article of food. Every house almost had a skjo (open built hut for drying fish), in which fish was stored for future use. Fish for home consumption was seldom salted, but preserved in various ways, such as reested (dried inside with fire and smoke), blawn (dried in the wind), and gozened (dried in the sun).

The liver of the fish was extensively used in a fresh state, and entered into the formation of numerous nutritious dishes, such as stap, gree'd fish, liver heads, liver muggies, krampies, krappin, mooguildin, hakka muggies, and slot. To this Rh