Archaeologists Are Recreating Recipes from 17th-Century Ships

http://mentalfloss.com/article/503719/archaeologists-are-recreating-recipes-17th-century-ships

SEA PROVISIONS FOR COMMON SAILORS AND PIRATES, PART 1

More information Here: https://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/

Mary Rose sailors ate diet of salt beef and biscuits, bone analysis shows.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/earth/environment/archaeology/9310778/Mary-Rose-sailors-ate-diet-of-salt-beef-and-biscuits-bone-analysis-shows.html

Ships Biscuit.

I have read several recipes for ships biscuit but none of them appear to use the constant kneading or "knocking down" method. Somewhere in my memory I seem to recall that this kneading & knocking down (pounding with the side of a clenched fist) was an important part of making ships biscuit. Anyway, here are the links to three articles on this biscuit.

Ship’s Biscuits made by Jeff Pavlik, as featured in John Pavlik, “‘Consisting Merely of Flour and Water’: Reproducing the Eighteenth-Century English Biscuit,” Journal of the Early Americans 1, no. 11 (April/May 2011), 7-11.

http://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/

http://www.westfordminutecub.com/resources/Biscuit+Recipe.pdf

http://colonialbaker.net/A%20Summary%20of%20Reproducing%20the%2018th%20Century%20English%20Sea%20Biscuit.pdf

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2013/04/ships-biscuits.html

Succariebread, Field provisions of the 1718 campaign

https://historyhysteria.wordpress.com/2016/02/10/succariebread-fieldprovisions-of-the-1718-campaign/

Rations While At Sea.

More Information Here: http://csphistorical.com/2016/01/24/salt-pork-ships-biscuit-and-burgoo-sea-provisions-for-common-sailors-and-pirates-part-1/?blogsub=confirming#blog_subscription-3

Could You Survive on a 18th Century Seaman’s Diet? A Link.

Gabriel Bray, “Four Marines Eating Pease,” 

http://uncoveringhiddenlives.com/2014/08/12/could-you-survive-on-a-18th-century-seamans-diet/

Samuel Hearne.8. June 1770. Pack Weight and Shelter.

The snow was by this time so soft as to render walking in snow-shoes very laborious; and though the ground was bare in many places, yet at times, and in particular places, the snow-drifts were so deep, that we could not possibly do without them. By the sixth, however, the thaws were so general, and the snows so much melted, that as our snow-shoes were attended with more trouble than service, we all consented to throw them away. Till the tenth, our sledges proved serviceable, particularly in crossing lakes and ponds on the ice; but that mode of travelling now growing dangerous on account of the great thaws, we {29} determined to throw away our sledges, and every one to take a load on his back.[82]

This I found to be much harder work than the winter carriage, as my part of the luggage consisted of the following articles, viz. the quadrant and its stand, a trunk containing books, papers, &c., a land-compass, and a large bag containing all my wearing apparel; also a hatchet, knives, files, &c., beside several small articles, intended for presents to the natives. The awkwardness of my load, added to its great weight, which was upward of sixty pounds, and the excessive heat of the weather, rendered walking the most laborious task I had ever encountered; and what considerably increased the hardship, was the badness of the road, and the coarseness of our lodging, being, on account of the want of proper tents, exposed to the utmost severity of the weather. The tent we had with us was not only too large, and unfit for barren ground service, where no poles were to be got, but we had been obliged to cut it up for shoes, and each person carried his own share. Indeed my guide behaved both negligently and ungenerously on this occasion; as he never made me, or my Southern Indians, acquainted with the nature of pitching tents on the barren ground; which had he done, we could easily have procured a set of poles before we left the woods. He took care, however, to procure a set for himself and his wife; and when the tent was divided, though he made shift to get a piece large enough to serve him for {30} a complete little tent, he never asked me or my Southern Indians to put our heads into it.
Beside the inconvenience of being exposed to the open air, night and day, in all weathers, we experienced real distress from the want of victuals. When provisions were procured, it often happened that we could not make a fire, so that we were obliged to eat the meat quite raw; which at first, in the article of fish particularly, was as little relished by my Southern companions as myself.[83]

 

Notwithstanding these accumulated and complicated hardships, we continued in perfect health and good spirits; and my guide, though a perfect niggard of his provisions, especially in times of scarcity, gave us the strongest assurance of soon arriving at a plentiful country, which would not only afford us a certain supply of provisions, but where we should meet with other Indians, who probably would be willing to carry part of our luggage. This news naturally gave us great consolation; for at that time the weight of our constant loads was so great, that when Providence threw any thing in our way, we could not carry above two days provisions with us, which indeed was the chief reason of our being so frequently in want.

Samuel Hearne on his Journey to the Coppermine, 1770
Charles William Jefferys/Library and Archives Canada/C-070250

More on Ranger Trail Foods.

JOURNAL OF ROBERT ROGERS THE RANGER ON 

HIS EXPEDITION FOR RECEIVING THE 

CAPITULATION OF WESTERN 

FRENCH POSTS 

(October 20th, 1760, to February 14. 1761) 

The 8th I halted at this Town to Mend Our Mogosins, & Kill some Deer, the 

Provisions I brought from Detroit, being entirely Expended, I went a hunting 

with ten of the Rangers, and by 10 o Clock Kill'd More Venison than we Wanted.

On the 10th Set out Travelled E : S : E : half a Mile, Cross'd a Meadow three 

quarters of a Mile Wide, East half a Mile S : S : E One Mile, S : E : half a Mile 

Cross'd a Brook running East, travelled S: E (23) Four Miles and Cross'd a 

Brook run[n]ing E: by N: Travelled S: E: One Mile, E: N: E: One Mile, 

Cross'd a large Creek about ten Yards Wide, it Runs W : S: W : E : S : E : half 

a Mile, travelled up a Small Brook about half a Mile to our left where we en- 

camped; this Day on our March Kill'd tree Bears & two Elks besides other 

Game.

On the 12th travelled S : E : half a Mile, East two Miles, Cross'd a River about 

20 Yards Wide on the Ice, the River runs N : Travelled S : E : half a Mile, E : 

by N : half a Mile. S : E : One Mile, East One Mile, & came to the same River 

we Cross'd this Morning, at this place it is about 23 Yards Wide, a Swift Cur- 

rent runs South, at this River encamped, this evening went a hunting for Beaver 

killed some.

13th. At this Town I stayed till the 16th in the Morning to Re- 

fresh my Party, & get some Corn of the Indians to Boil with our Venison. 

[Signed:] Rob Rogers 

New York February 27th 1761 

http://archive.org/stream/journalofrobertr00roge/journalofrobertr00roge_djvu.txt 

School Fare, 1748. A Link.

http://www.theoldfoodie.com/2012/05/school-fare-1748.html

Diets Of 18th century Sailors.

The Victualing Board actually kept meticulous records of a sailor’s official rations: 1 lb of bread and 1 gallon of beer per day (!), plus 1 lb of pork twice a week, 2 lbs of beef twice a week, or butter and cheese the other three days. But when the going got tough out in the middle of watery nowhere, did sailors actually get their rations? Yes, it seems, based on an analysis of nitrogen isotopes extracted from the bones of 80 sailors. The elevated levels of nitrogen suggested that sailors did get as much beef and pork as the Victualing Board recorded. And despite being at sea, they didn’t seem to eat much fish.

More of the story here:

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2012/03/27/old-bones-tell-the-tales-and-reveal-the-diets-of-18th-century-sailors/

18th Century Chocolate Part 2.

"Scrape four ounces of chocolate and pour a quart of boiling water upon it; mix it well and sweeten it to your taste; give it a boil and let it stand all night; then mix it again very well; boil it in two minutes, then mix it till it will leave the froth upon the tops of your cups."
1769 in The Experienced English Housekeeper:

French & Indians 1745 carrying chocolate.
http://books.google.com.au/books?id=zwVS5gsJMUcC&pg=RA2-PA39&lpg=RA2-PA39&dq=18th+century+military+chocolate+rations&source=bl&ots=DhsFbYDEXv&sig=Qy6zNmgDO8lPD19--MU-OYTP-iU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=APJGT7S9NamjiAf-2YijDg&sqi=2&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=18th%20century%20military%20chocolate%20rations&f=false


Benjamin Franklin secured six pounds of chocolate per officer as a special supply for soldiers marching with General Braddock’s army at the onset of the French & Indian War. Connecticut soldier Daniel Sizer supplemented his meager diet on the northern New York frontier with rations of chocolate in 1759. Chocolate was supplied to the British troops during construction of His Majesty’s Fort at Crown Point, New York, in 1768. During the American Revolution, commissaries accounted for a steady supply of chocolate at such northern defenses as Fort Ticonderoga, where Captain Moses Greenleaf regularly “breakfasted on chocolate”. In 1777 it was forbidden to export chocolate from Massachusetts, as it was required “for the supply of the army”.

http://americanheritagechocolate.com/html/history/choco_colonilal_army.htm

And for your health:

Milk chocolate, or milk coffee, which is not made too strong of the coffee, or too thick with chocolate, may be taken in common, as breakfast or supper; milk porridge, leek porridge, etc. are very proper. Dry toasted bread, with honey, or some preserve, or marmalade of fruit, etc. may be eaten with the tea, chocolate, etc. where tea, or any of the above things do not agree, some of the aromatic herbs may be used as such.

Thomas Hayes, 1796. A Serious Address on the Dangerous Consequences of Neglecting Common Colds.

http://americanheritagechocolate.com/html/history/choco_health.htm

”Mr. Hill, Mr. Lucas, & I went to Mr. Burland’s to see his and his wife’s Pictures, & Breakfasted on Chocolate.”

Dr. C Morris 21 Feb 1721.

http://18thcenturydiary.org.uk/chocolate-and-tea/

I was amazed at how difficult it was to research chocolate. Though several companies claim to be using period wrapping, there is no documentation to back this up. Linen paper was available and this seems to be the most likely choice, but people would have wrapped their own to suit their purpose.

As to what chocolate looked like when produced for sale, the most likely shape is in bar form, but this too was hard to research. Chocolate was available in the 17th century:

 In Bishopsgate St is an excellent West India drink called chocolate to be sold, where you may have it ready at any time, and also unmade at reasonable rates.

Public Advertiser 1657.

”One penny was spent on chocolata”

The account book of Sarah Fell of Swarthmoor hall.

November 1675.

"April 24, 1661 - Waked in the morning with my head in a sad taking through the last night’s drink, which I am very sorry for; so rose and went with Mr Creede to drink our morning draught, which he did give me in jocolatte to settle my stomach"

"November 24, 1664. About noon out with Commissioner Pett, and he and I to a Coffee-house, to drink jocolatte, very good; and so by coach to Westminster, being the first day of the Parliament's meeting."

Samuel Pepys Diary.

Early 18th century Valencia Spain.

Here you can see the bars of chocolate ready for melting.
http://users.telenet.be/worldstandards/chocolate%20-%20history.html

Luis Melendez 1715-1780. Here it appears that the chocolate has been made in biscuit form, and looks as though it was wrapped in linen paper.

As this chocolate was supplied in a solid form, there is nothing to say that the chocolate was not eaten as a food as well as being used for a drink. It would indeed make a reasonable trail food, though in its original form without added nutmeg, cinnamon, sugar or honey it would no doubt have tasted a little bitter.

I suggest that if you intend to produce your own chocolate sticks from melted dark chocolate, that you simply wrap it is paper and then place it in a linen or cotton bag.

18th Century Chocolate Part 1.