- Chopstix
- Nov 20, 2002
-
|
Can anyone recommend any books on rationing? I've read "Salt", which was great, but was more interested in how rationing worked and nutrition for like, long sea voyages, canned food during Napolean's time, stuff like that.
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2014 14:09
|
|
- Adbot
-
ADBOT LOVES YOU
|
|
|
#
¿
May 13, 2024 09:48
|
|
- Chopstix
- Nov 20, 2002
-
|
You certainly could bake bread - the largest model of the RN's 'Brodie pattern' stove (as fitted to first-rates) had space to (theoretically) bake 80 loaves at a time. But with 850 men on board that's not going to go far and that's using all the oven space that could be better used for other meals, so fresh bread was only semi-regularly provided for the wardroom and the sick bay, with the rest of the crew being issued with biscuit. Bread using the best quality flour and kept in a sealed container only lasted about eight days at sea, so really wasn't viable as a staple in the way that the 'hard tack' biscuit was.
By the Georgian period the RN had a pretty good grip on what kept men healthy at sea (even if the exact science wasn't understood) but the real problem was the logistics of supplying ships with the provisions and keeping them in good condition on a voyage. Men of all ranks on a freshly-provisioned ship on a short voyage could eat very well while if you were on blockade duty for months in the Bay of Biscay in winter you could quickly be subsisting on porridge, biscuit, duff and salted pork. There was also the skill of the cook onboard to consider.
Meat was issued four times a week (pork on two days, beef on two days) and was usually salted from barrels but some captains allowed officers (and, more rarely, the ship's company as a whole) to buy a few pigs or ship to keep live to provide fresh meat, but to provide a decent amount for every man on even a small ship like a sixth-rate frigate would need about 80 pigs on board, which clearly wasn't practical. Meat was served with boiled vegetables, usually peas and spices. Each day one man from each mess would collect the meal ration for him and his messmates and take the whole lot to the galley to be cooked in one go in one bag per mess - the cook usually did very little actual 'cooking' but was expected to provide a soup to be ladelled out for each man with his meal, too.
On the non-meat ('banyan') days the men were issued with biscuit, butter and cheese as well as oatmeal and porridge. More often that not the cook would spend time on the 'hot meal' days also preparing the infamous duff, which is basically a suet pudding (beef fat, breadcrumbs, fruit, spices - all handy leftovers from the other provisions) which provided something heavy, rich and filling. There were variations such as the plum duff and the jam roly-poly but it's all basically the same.
That's the basic provisions taken care of but any half-decent commanding officer (and any vaguely enthusiastic crew) would take any chance to stock up with much more variety than what the Admiralty victualling list required. What exactly those extras were depending on the state of the ship's finances (and the wealth of the captain/officers) and the region the ship was serving in - the Mediterranean, the Middle East, India and South America offered huge potential for buying-in more exotic fruits and vegetables while Australia, the South Pacific, East Africa and other stations did not.
It's also worth pointing out that there was, officially, no difference between the rations given to officers and those given to enlisted men, but it was socially expected that the 'gentlemen' would eat to a better standard. The wardroom officers would invariably club together to buy their own additional provisions to add a bit of freshness or variety to their meals while any captain with some spare cash could live quite comfortably - this is where Jack Aubrey's soused hog's face comes into the picture (it's a boiled-up pig's head with the meat soaked in wine and vinegar for a few days). An admiral with a big budget, a large ship and a good personal cook and steward and a large party to entertain could offer up a weekly five-course meal with a choice of meats, pies, fruits, puddings and vegetables.
I've mentioned this before but I have a weird fascination with rations and food preservation (ever since reading the book "Salt"), got any recommendations for books?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 21, 2015 04:54
|
|
- Chopstix
- Nov 20, 2002
-
|
There is a game, T.A.B.S. (Totally Accurate Battle Simulator) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJPSlcbUZ9Q which is currently in Alpha but is very similar to this, albeit very basic. Big fan of Total War but these battles seem way more fun to watch.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2016 17:53
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2014 14:09
