You walk in, your square plate in hand. After such a hard day’s work, wow! you’re ready to woof down some food. In the galley (kitchen) aboard your 1700s ship-of-the-line, you take in a long, deep, serene breath. And smell . . . bread (which is probably infested with maggots), beef (but you can only have one pound of it), and potatoes . . . or is that turnips? Do turnips have a smell? It’s gotta be potatoes. Oh, and it’s Wednesday. Only two more full 24-hours until everyone gets pudding for mealtime! This you know for sure (100%) because the VIII. Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies(1775) article 44 declares so. 😉
Tis the truth. In fact, VIII. Rules for the Regulation of the Navy of the United Colonies(1775) article 44 does not just mention pudding, it lists the menu for everyday of the week:
| Sunday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. beef | 1 lb. potatoes or turnips | |
| Monday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. pork | ½ pint peas | 4 oz. cheese |
| Tuesday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. beef | 1 lb. potatoes or turnips | pudding |
| Wednesday | 1 lb. bread | 2 oz. butter | 4 oz. cheese | ½ pint of rice |
| Thursday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. pork | ½ pint of peas | |
| Friday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. beef | 1 lb. potatoes or turnips | pudding |
| Saturday | 1 lb. bread | 1 lb. pork | ½ pint peas | 4 oz. cheese |
Still hungry? Honestly, Friday’s meal sounds the best to me.
However, sailor’s rations differ. According to the USS Constitution Museum Ranks + Rates (sorry it’s a little after our 1700s era), the captain was allowed to have eight rations a day! Lieutenant: 3 rations a day. Boatswain (Bosun): 2 rations a day. Chaplain: 2 rations a day. Surgeon’s mate: 2 rations day. Midshipman: 1 ration a day. Quartermaster: 1 ration a day. And . . . the list goes on.
Before I go and let you eat, let’s take in our surroundings, shall we? USS Constitution Museum Ranks + Rates also claims, “The cook oversaw the steep tub (the barrel in which the salt meat was allowed to soak before cooking), tended the fire in the camboose (stove) to ensure the food was roasted, baked, or boiled properly, and oversaw the scouring of the copper boilers in which the crew’s rations were prepared. The selling of slush, the grease and fat that rose to the surface of the boilers during cooking, was his special privilege, but he first had to provide the boatswain with all that was needed for lubricating various moving parts on the ship.” What a picture, right? The cook observing the cooking operation over a barrel, at a hearth, and the cleaning of the boilers to be rewarded with grease that could be sold. Obviously, not the 21st century fad on money making, but life on the old sea t’was difficult.
Since we’re talking about food and the sea . . . [a little bonus, here] eating turtles or tortoises is a rare specialty. In the 1700s, that is. You see, cooks decide to get a little creative by preparing turtle replicas for their masters. From E. Taylor, The Lady’s, Housewife’s, and Cookmaid’s Assistant (1796), Children’s Lives at Colonial London Town explains, “Take a calf’s head with the skin on, scald off the hair, and boil it with the skin on; then cut it from the bones in thin slices. Stew a knuckle of veal, with a bundle of sweet herbs, an onion or two, a piece of rind of lemon, some Cayan pepper, and salt. When it is a strong gravy, and all the goodness boiled out of the veal, strain it; add to it the brains, with some oyster or anchovy liquor, a quart of Madeira wine, the juice of three or four lemons, a little Cayan pepper; put in the sliced head, stew it till tender. It will take above an hour: then add ten or a dozen egg balls, some force-meat balls, truffles, and morels. The breast of a fowl, and a cow heel may be added, if agreeable. Send it to table in a soup dish, or if you have the back-shell of a turtle, line it with paste of flour and water, set it into the oven to harden, before you put in the ingredients. When they are in, set it into an oven to brown the top” (para. 2). If any of you don’t try this turtle recipe, I won’t blame you. However, if you do try this recipe, I would be very interested in hearing how it turns out. (;
Well, this wraps up tour 5 of a ship-of-the-line (estimated 74 gunned ship in the 1700s). Thanks for sticking with me. I’m sorry this post is late. ): I won’t deny that this galley research was a little tricky.
As always, each one of you is welcome to fill up the “Leave a Reply” box below or the “Comment” section above with questions, comments, or a simple “Hey there”. Hope everyone has a great rest of their week!
Resources:
Michala Woodruff 
Leave a reply to Simply Perfect Co. Cancel reply