Today's Navy men
and women are among the best
fed people in the world, but back in the days of the sloop, frigate,
ironclad and
corvette, a Sailor's stomach had to be nearly as strong as his back. A
typical week's bill of fare in the Navy in the year 1799 left much to be
desired. It read something like this: Seven pounds of bread, two pounds of
beef, three pounds of pork, one pound of salt fish, one quart of fish, one
and a half pints of peas or beans, twelve ounces of cheese, two pounds of
potatoes or turnips, and six ounces of molasses. One gil (four ounces) of
oil could be substituted for four ounces of butter and further lubrication
was provided by the daily issue of one-half pint of rum.
Some of the principal foods consisted of "salt junk" and "hard tack." Salt
junk was a term used for partly dried pork, pickled in brine, but sometimes
the same name also applied to either salt pork or salt beef. Hard tack
accurately described the biscuits baked without salt and kiln-dried.
Generally, however, the Sailor of bygone days was content to sink his chops
into a meal that was called "lobscouse," "daddyfunk," or "plumduff." Then
for an after dinner demitasse he would wash it down with "pale ale." As an
added attraction, if the menu did not suit his culinary taste he could try
some "schooner on the rocks." The term "lobscouse" came into being as a
byword for what we now call hash. It was a concoction of meat, vegetables
and hardtack, and was usually stewed. "Daddyfunk" was a messy concoction of
hardtack soaked in water and baked with grease and molasses. "Plumduff" was
originally a plain flour pudding containing raisins or currants, boiled in a
bag or cloth. "Schooner on the rocks" was the nautical name for a roast
beef surrounded by potatoes, and "pale ale" is known to us today as water.
Culinary Specialists (abbreviated as a
rating of, "CS," since January, 2004 - formerly known for decades as
Mess Management Specialists) today put out a mighty fine menu when compared to
years-gone-by. A couple of centuries ago, qualifications for a man to become
a cook were quite simple. It seemed to be a rule that no Sailor who had not
lost eye or leg in battle could be eligible for this office, though all were
required to have two arms. Whether or not a man could cook apparently was
overlooked in the qualifications for that position, and an exalted position
it was, for all the men tried to get on the good side of "cookie," although,
in private, less complementary nicknames were used. During this time the
cook was in most cases an unscrupulous individual, and it was often found
that cooks could be bribed into giving double rations to the messes. Instructions drawn up for sea cooks in the middle 19th Century were few and
included: (1) He is to take upon him the care of the meat in the steeping
tub, (2) In stormy weather, he is to preserve it from being lost, (3) He is
to boil the provisions, and to deliver them out to the men. And that's about
it.
There was no refrigeration aboard ship in olden days. Foodstuffs were apt to
spoil easily, and as a result the cook's tasks were made even harder. Fresh
meat was carried only in small quantities and fresh vegetables were almost
unheard of. When ships were in foreign ports hunting parties were organized
to seek fresh meat. In larger ships and on short passages, live beasts were
carried for fresh meat, but on long voyages oxen, like men, could get scurvy
too, or at any rate thin down to uselessness, and sheep took poorly to the
sea life. In good weather hens prospered and about the only animal to
prosper at sea was the goat, and the goats prospered always.
So from the chow served during the early U.S. Navy to the present time the
CS's qualifications have advanced to the point where today's
meals are prepared in such a fashion that they will activate the taste buds
of any connoisseur of good cooking. Portions of this page are from the
Naval Historical Center and Gettysburg National Military Park
When food was issued to sailors it was called their rations.
Everything could be given out uncooked so the Sailors and Marines were left
up to their own ingenuity to prepare their meals. In some cases only
the meat or main course was made by the ships cook as messes were not
allowed to have fires set all over the ship. Small groups would often
gather together to cook and share their rations and they called the group a
"mess", referring to each other as "messmates". Others
prided themselves in their individual taste and prepared their meals alone,
if allowed. On some ships you might have to just eat what was prepared
for the whole ship, by the ships Chef.
Sailors and Marines also carried, "pocketbooks,"
with them everywhere they went. In those days it was called a
haversack, a canvas bag made with a sling to hang over the shoulder.
Haversacks had a inner cloth bag that could be removed and washed, though it
did not prevent the bag from becoming a greasy, foul-smelling container
after several weeks of use. The Sailor's and Marines diet was
SOMETIMES better than soldiers ashore - it just depended on how many times
they pulled into port and got fresh vegetables. Soldiers ashore had a
simple diet - meat, coffee, sugar, and a dried biscuit called hardtack.
Of all the items Sailors and Marines received, it was this hard bread that
they remembered and joked about the most.
"'Tis the song that is uttered in camp by night and
day,
'Tis the wail that is mingled with each snore;
'Tis the sighing of the soul for spring chickens far away,
'Oh hard crackers, come again no more!'
'Tis the song of the soldier, weary, hungry and faint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more;
Many days have I chewed you and uttered no complaint,
Hard crackers, hard crackers, come again no more!"
-from a soldiers' parable called "Hard Times"
Hardtack was a simple flour biscuit issued throughout the war.
Hardtack crackers made up a large portion of a daily ration. It was
square or sometimes rectangular in shape with small holes baked into it, and
similar to a large soda cracker and baked in northern factories. If
the hardtack was received soon after leaving the factory, they were quite
tasty and satisfying. Usually, the hardtack did not get to the men
until months after it had been made. By that time, they were very
hard, so hard that they called them "tooth dullers" and "sheet
iron crackers". Sometimes they were infested with small bugs the
men called weevils, so they referred to the hardtack as "worm castles"
because of the many holes bored through the crackers by these pests.
Packed into large wooden crates, the boxes were stacked outside of wharf
warehouses until it was time to issue them. Men were usually allowed
six to eight crackers for a three-day ration. There were a number of
ways to eat them - plain or prepared with other ration items.
Sea-going swabbies would crumble them into coffee or soften them in water
and fry the hardtack with some bacon grease. One favorite soldier dish
was salted pork fried with hardtack crumbled into the mixture. Soldiers
called this "skillygallee", and it was a common and easily prepared
meal.
Would you like to try some hardtack? It's very
easy to make and here's the recipe:
2 cups of flour
1/2 to 3/4 cup water
1 tablespoon of Crisco or vegetable fat
6 pinches of salt
Mix the ingredients together into a stiff
batter, knead several times, and spread the dough out flat to a thickness of
1/2 inch on a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake for one-half an hour at
400 degrees. Remove from oven, cut dough into 3-inch squares, and
punch four rows of holes, four holes per row into the dough. Turn
dough over, return to the oven and bake another one-half hour. Turn
oven off and leave the door closed. Leave the hardtack in the oven
until cool. Remove and enjoy!
Does your taste lean more to the southern side?
Then try a "johnnie cake" that the Confederate soldiers enjoyed with their
meals. The recipe is also very simple:
two cups of cornmeal
2/3 cup of milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
Mix ingredients into a stiff batter and form
eight biscuit-sized "dodgers". Bake on a lightly greased sheet at 350
degrees for twenty to twenty five minutes or until brown. Or
spoon the batter into hot cooking oil in a frying pan over a low flame.
Remove the corn dodgers and let cool on a paper towel, spread with a little
butter or molasses, and you have a real southern treat!
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