The official diet of the Royal Navy consisted of the
following:
Sunday: 1 lb. biscuit, 1 lb. salt pork, ½ pt. peas
Monday: 1 lb. biscuit, 1 pt. oatmeal, 2 oz. butter
Tuesday: 1 lb. biscuit, 2 lbs. salt beef
Wednesday: 1 lb. biscuit, ½ pt. peas, 1 pt. oatmeal, 2 oz. butter, 4 oz. cheese
Thursday: Same as Sunday
Friday: Same as Monday
Saturday: Same as Tuesday
Sample a sailor’s diet (Remember, the following recipes
are a full sailor’s portion – if only sampling the dishes, make a
proportionate amount to avoid waste):
2 cups Flour
½ tsp. Salt
½ to ¾ cups Water
Mix the flour and salt together then add enough water to make a very stiff dough. Knead the dough for a few minutes then beat with a rolling pin until flat, about ½ inch thick and cut into 2 inch by 2 inch sections. With a fork, punch it full of holes. Bake in an ungreased, flat pan at 250° F for 2 to 3 hours.
1 lb. Salt Pork
½ pt. Dried Peas
¾ quarts Water
Soak the pork and peas separately in cold water overnight. Cut the pork into bite-size pieces and place in a pot with the peas, along with ¾ quarts of water. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until peas have turned to mush. Salt and pepper to taste.
½ pt. Steel-cut Oats
2 cups Water
1-½ to 2 tbs. Butter
2 tsp. Sugar
Gradually add the water to the oats.
Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat and simmer until oats
are tender. Remove oats into bowls
and add butter, sugar, and salt to taste, stirring until dissolved.
In place of meat, a sailor might have been given ‘pudding:’
2 lbs. Flour
¼ lb. Suet
½ lb. Raisins or ¼ lb. Dried Currants
Approx. 2 cups Water
Mince or grate the suet after removing all meat and connective tissues. Mix into the flour thoroughly, then add enough water to make a stiff dough. A little sugar can be added if desired. Add the raisins or currants and mix again to evenly distribute them throughout the pudding. Dampen a large cotton cloth, wringing out the excess water very well. Flour the center and place the pudding in the center of the cloth. Pull up the edges and, making sure that all the edges are gathered into the center, tie a cotton string around the “neck” of the package. Lower into boiling water and, making sure it is completely covered, boil about 1-½ hours.
Leftover pudding can be sliced and fried in butter.
Going ashore, a sailor would have eaten the same foods as
others of his class. Their diet may
have included some of the following popular items.
2 lbs. White Pea (Navy) Beans
¾ lb. Salt Pork
1 tbs. Salt
½ cup Maple Sugar (or syrup) or brown sugar or molasses
Soak the beans overnight in a pot covered by twice the
volume of water. In the morning
change the water (drain and add new). Add
the salt, bring to a boil, then simmer until tender. Slice the salt pork, put in bean pot with beans.
Add maple sugar, put on tight lid. If
you like, you can add ½ tsp. dry mustard, some chopped onion, or an onion
studded with cloves. Bake at 250° for 8 to 10 hours.
4 lbs. Corned Beef Brisket
1 tsp. Thyme
1 Onion stuck with cloves
3 Onions
6 Carrots
2 lbs. Cabbages
Fill a large pot with cold water.
Add beef and spices. Bring
to a boil. Add onions and carrots and return to a boil.
Then simmer gently for three hours.
Remove the cloved onion. Quarter
the cabbages, add to pot and simmer half an hour – until cabbage is tender.
Drain and serve, dotted with butter and well peppered.
Boiled potatoes were often eaten with this.
1 cup Flour
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup Sugar
1 Egg
¼ tsp. Baking Powder
2 tbsp Milk
1tsp. grated Lemon Rind
Cut butter into flour until crumbly, mix in sugar. Beat egg and combine with milk and baking powder. Blend with flour thoroughly. Mix in grated lemon rind.
1 lb. Fresh Brambles (blackberries)
½ cup Sugar
Stew the berries with the sugar and water to cover. When berries are tender, spoon batter over them. Bake for twenty minutes at 350° F.
Repair to the Lesson Plan #9 Page