Rations

[rebyank]

Re: How hungry?

I have seen two things that are kind of interesting food wise.

1. I have a minnie ball that was drilled through for use as a weight on a fishing net.

2. I have seen a turtle (Giant snapping turtle) that is still alive, that was taken to a zoo. When it arrived, they noticed a small hole in the turtles shell. going in for surgery after some pretty weird x-rays, they dug out a 3 ringer minnie ball! I guess somebody tried to bring home the bacon unsucessfully. not only that, turtles are known to live for hundreds of years, so the redcoats may have even taken a few pot shots at him too :tounge_sm

I personally have never tasted snapping turtle, I kinda figure it'l get a taste of me first!

[JACKSONVC]

Re: How hungry?

Deer meat would have meant going out and hunting down a critter. Doing this away from one's unit would have gotten you into trouble. Besides, deer, more often than not, do not like being around large milling masses of humans, building fires and making lots of noise. I imagine that they scattered pretty quick when the armies showed up on thier turf. Small critters do not cause you to discharge you musket, and can generally be caught without much problem with a rudimentary trap and bait. I think the discharging of a musket without permission of one's superiors is a punishable offense under the articles of war, that in itself would rule out hunting down deer.

[Michael Comer]

Re: How hungry?

Possum is pretty good actually - a bit stringy but not too bad. Young coon barbecued is very tasty. If you had one that was a bit strong it was probably an old boar. With raccoon it does make a difference in how its cooked. Haven't had snapping turtle although I have had a young one attached to the end of my finger when I was a kid. I learned my lesson there. Softshell turtle however, makes a tasty soup. They are nasty tempered though and will give you a good bite if you're not careful. Groundhog is a bit greasy but edible.

"Tastes like chicken!" mess

[10nycav]

Re: How hungry?

The best meat of any kind I ever at was green sea turtle down in Costa Rica. The locals on the northeast coast had subsistence permits to take a couple a year and one day a lady traded me some turtle stew for some cheese and canned goods. We both felt that we got the better part of the bargain. This had been smoked too. Man, if other turtles are anywhere near as good a green turtle, it's a delicacy indeed.

Cool story about the snapping turtle and the minie ball.

As for deer, yeah populations are way up over what they were a century ago, probably lots more than 150 years ago too. Today there is actually more acreage in forest in a lot of Eastern states than there was during the Civil War. And then there's all the well-watered suburban lawns to feed on . . .

Ken Morris
10th Regt of Cavalry NYSV

[Staunton Rebel]

Re: How hungry?

I think it's important to remember that folks 140 years ago weren't as particular about their protein sources. I have a great book that I refer to on a regular basis, Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread, & Scuppernong Wine by Joseph E. Dabney. It has many great recipes in it that date to the eighteenth century in Appalachia. I'm fond of the Ramp Pudding. :cry_smile Not that a soldier would have used all the recipes in the book, but it could be a good refernce for what mother might have made back home. And how many have ever had whistle pig pie?

Pvt. Waverly Adcock
5th Va. Co. E

[KentuckyReb]

Re: How hungry?

Here in Martin County in Indiana squirrel is considered one of the food groups. Myself I'm also quite fond of mussels. I'd never attempted to prepare them myself, just eaten them at restaurants or at someone else's house, and they were quite tasty, as is eel. But last year I traipsed down to the river and collected a few and attempted to duplicate Sam Watkins' experience, just to kill a little time. I must admit that there must be some extra step that restaurants take or something...I had the exact experience he did--rather like delicious India rubber. Buttered, salted, peppered and fried, they tasted wonderful, but just like he said, it seemed that every stroke of the jaw while chewing seemed to increase the overall mass of the stuff. I finished the lot (with some help from our dogs), but I don't think it's an experience I'll repeat any time soon. Rat I shall pass up. On the subject of cat, in which of the besieged cities do I remember reading about cats being referred to as 'roof rabbit'? By the way, with mushroom season fast approaching, this just occurred to me...is anyone else on the board familiar with and fond of 'fiddleheads'?

[tomarch]

Re: How hungry?

"You would have laughed to have seen great grown men Saturday with their traps and dead falls catching birds. We were very successful, the mess I am in caught quite a number. We made a large pot pie which was very nice. "

John Kerr Beaton, 9th Va. Inf.

http://www.angelfire.com/ma4/j_mayo/9va/letters.html

I served in the AF with a fellow from Alabama. He was from a poor farm background and said his grandmother was rather fond of Robin pies.

I did reforrestration work with a feller from upcountry Alabama who used to catch chipmunks and made a stew with them.

[KentuckyReb]

Re: How hungry?

I worked with a guy a couple of years ago who was missing one finger and most of another on his right hand. Lost them while 'noodling' for big catfish here along the White River. Find a big hole in the bank/rocks or a hollow log, preferably facing upstream. The really big fellers like to settle in to such a spot and just lie in there catching whatever floats downstream. (I guess there are some real monstrous flathead catfish down on the bed of the river--catfish grow as long as they eat) Anyhoo, you reach gently in palm-up and if the hole's 'occupied', you give a little tickle and the fish pops its mouth open, you grab the jaw, and voila, catfish for supper. Unfortunately, once in a while there's a turtle in there or, in this guy's case, a 60lb. alligator gar.

[Clark Badgett]

Re: How hungry?

Have eaten (where I grew up the proper term was et), possum, black snake, coon, snappin turtle, squirrle, rabbit, dog, monitor lizard, bamboo bat, snails, squid, octopus, eel, raw fish and most other common game and domesticated animals at sometime during my various world travels. Would eat most again except for the bats, they were a little too crunchy since you had to roast them without preparation of any kind. Believe it or not dog is quite tasty, and turtle is awesome.

[GACornbread]

Re: How hungry?

I grew up in rural GA. We used to go hunting all the time for the animals in the woods. Some of the favorites:

Brown Doves: The breasts are good on top of cornbread stuffing. Cook with onions and butter.
Quail: Same as the dove, baked or even fried.
Wild Pigeons and Robins were favorites althought you had to get a lot of robins.
Ducks and geese were always real prizes for dinner.
Wild Turkeys: Roast them boys.
Squirrels: We were always after these for baking, frying and soups. Great with gravy and cornbread. These were my favorites when growing up. Best in fall when they are fat.
Rabbits: They cook up really nice in a stew or with gravy in a fry pan. Make some cornbread. or with sweet potatoes. Yum Yum
Racoons: the meat is dark, the fat is strong, but you can take the gamy flavor out by marinating in vinegar or milk.
Opossums: Not good until you have freezing weather, great with sweet potatoes. For really fine eating, hold them captive for a couple of weeks feeding them cornbread, corn and acorns.
Groundhogs (or "whistle pigs") make a pie with onions, green peppers, salt and pepper.
Snapping Turtles: These make a really great soup. You catch them with a trot line. They can be quite large in some of our ponds. It's not unusual to have one at twenty plus pounds. Stew with Garlic, onions, potatoes and tomatoes and butter.
Deer: everyone eats deer and they were very popular so much so people almost wiped them out in the south in mid 19th century.
Bears: Roast bear...cook it like you do pork.
Fish: Catfish, Bass, Brim, Trout, carp and crawfish
Rattlesnakes: Fry them in batter after cutting them into 3" pieces.

Of course, a southerner would rather have a pig to roast. Wild boar is even better.

In LA, they have a receipe for just about everything with four legs or two, and anything that swims, crawls or flies.

We usually have some deer meat sauage or maybe tenderloin for breakfast at events.

"Southern fronitersmanate almost...any animal available to them. Opossum and racoon were favorites from the beginning, the 'possum taking first place,because like a fall bear he abounded in fat"
Joel Gray Taylor, "Eating, drinking and visiting in the South"

Hungry soldiers would have supplimented their diets with what they knew from back home.

GACornbread

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: How hungry?

The loction of Camp Davis '61-'64, an Infantry instruction facilty, near Masonboro Sound in Wilmington NC still displays huge piles of oyster shell. Intermingled in these camp midden piles is everyday period rubbish and large amounts of fish, terrapin, foul, pig, hog, and ox or cow bones. All of which were easily available there.

[btwils]

Pickled beef

If this is in the wrong area please feel free to move. Does any one make salted beef for our time periode or is there a safe recipe for it? I would like to try it, at least at one event.
Thanks Brian Wilson

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: Pickled beef

Strangely enough, some of my local supermarkets sell it, in good size tubs, as "Naval Beef." But, I'm in Toronto, Canada, and my local area has a relatively high population of Newfoundlanders, where the product is made. You might want to try an east-coast specialty store, if any exist in your area.

There was a thread with a recipe on it on the old forum, I'll check and see if I still have it.

(Edited to Add: Sorry, looks like I only have Salt Pork threads.)

John T

[Texian]

Receipts Using Corn Meal

The other Vickie Betts posted a link to some information, and after looking at a portion of it I came across this bit on the various uses of cornmeal. So, for all in need of a good Hoe Cake receipt, well here it is.
---Ed

[HOUSTON] TRI-WEEKLY TELEGRAPH, September 8, 1862, p. 1, c. 1

Corn Meal.

In reply to the offer of the Weekly Telegraph to the person who would furnish us with the greatest number of ways that corn meal can be served up as an article of food, we have received the following, and a young lady in Independence gets the "Weekly." Who will now say that we cannot dispense with flour altogether?
Corn Crisp.—Take one pint of meal, one table spoon of lard, a little salt and water—spread it on a board thin, and bake it before the fire; turn it with a string or knife.
Ash Corn Cake.—Mix up meal with water and a little salt; wrap it up in corn shucks or a collard leaf, and bake it in hot ashes.
Hoe Cake—Mix up meal and water, and bake on a hoe.
Corn Meal Ginger Cake—Take one pint of meal, three eggs, one cup of molasses, one table spoon of lard or butter, and ginger, or any other spices to suit your taste.
Johnny Cake.—Take equal quantities of sweet potatoes (boiled) and corn meal—mix with salt and lard—and bake it over or on a board before the fire.
Corn Meal Cakes.—Stir to a cream a pound and a quarter of brown sugar, a pound of butter, beat six eggs and mix them with the sugar and butter; add a tea spoonful of cinnamon or ginger; stir in a pound and three quarters of corn meal—bake in small cakes and let it remain till cold.
Corn Cakes.—One quart of milk, one tea spoon full of saleratus, two eggs and corn meal sufficient to make a batter of the consistence of pan cakes.—Bake quick—pans buttered and eat warm.
Corn Bread.—Take six pints of corn meal, one table spoonful of salt, four pints of water, mix with the hand and bake in oblong rolls two inches long—make half an hour before baking—use hot water in winter.
Light Corn Bread.—Stir four pints of meal in three pints of warm water—add one tea spoonful of salt, let it rise five or six hours, then stir it with the hand and bake it in a brick oven.
Another method is to make mush, and before it grows cold stir in a half pint of meal—let it rise and bake as the first.
Corn Cakes.—Six eggs well beaten; one pint of milk; one teaspoonful salt; two pints of mush, almost cold; two pints of meal and three tablespoonsful of melted lard; grease the oven; put one large spoonful of batter in each cake. Do not let them touch in baking.
Corn Muffins.—Made in the same way as the above. Grease the muffling hoops, and heat the oven slightly before putting in either corn cakes or muffins.
Butter or Corn Cake.—Beat the yolk of three eggs very light; add one pint of milk, two pints of mush almost cold; one teaspoonful salt; three teaspoonsful of melted butter. To be well beaten together. Before frying them, ship the whites of the eggs to a strong froth, and stir it thoroughly in the batter. For frying all kinds of batter cakes, use no more lard than is necessary to make them turn well.
Mush.—Two pints of water in a pot to boil; then take one pint of cold water and mix smoothly into a pint of meal. When the water in the pot boils, stir this well into it and let it boil for ten or fifteen minutes, or until it looks clear.
Virginia Corn Bread.—Dissolve one tablespoonful of butter in three and a half pints of boiling milk; into this scald one quart of corn meal; when cool, add a half pint of wheat flour, a little sugar, a teaspoonful of salt, and two eggs well beaten, mix well together, and bake in two cakes; tins well greased or buttered.
Brown Bread.—Mix three parts of corn meal and two parts of rye flour; sift and wet down with sweetened hot water; a little saleratus and yeast; work into a stiff pudding. Bake with a steady strong heat until well done.
Corn Bread.—To three pints of milk add as much corn meal as will make a thin batter, three eggs, two tablespoonsful of butter, a teaspoonful of saleratus, and salt to suit the taste. If not to be had, the bread is good without the eggs.
Corn Oysters.—Take three dozen ears of large young corn, six eggs, lard and butter in equal portions for frying. The corn must be young and soft. Grate it from the cob as fine as possible, and dredge it with flour. Beat very lengthy the six eggs, and mix them gradually with the corn. Then let the whole be incorporated by hard beating; add a teaspoonful of salt.

[Vuhginyuh]

Re: Receipts Using Corn Meal

I have had most of these before. The ash cake and corn crisp are great!
Be carefull what kind of board you use for the crisp. Un-treated wood and no pine! I does work better on a board because the porous surface absorbes the small amount of liquid in the meal.
They are two easy ''field'' recipes.

Hoe cake can be cooked on anything iron, I have never had it cooked on a hoe.

In early summer when the corn is still tender the oysters (fritters) are easy to make and really good with fried fish

What is the difference in mush and grits? Around here what we call mush is made from yellow corn flour and has milk and hoop cheese in it. Polenta is very similar. Grits is dried hominy boiled in water and very popular. (Maybe I answered my own question.)

The brown bread is really great but I would not think it to be a practical compaign item.

Saleratus is baking soda(?)