Ship's Biscuit (Long Voyage Cracker)
A cracker of flour, water and salt, baked then rebaked until hard as wood. Without fat to go rancid, it keeps almost indefinitely — provided you soak it before attacking it.
A cracker of flour, water and salt, baked then rebaked until hard as wood. Without fat to go rancid, it keeps almost indefinitely — provided you soak it before attacking it.
Don't laugh at this stone, lad: it's what will keep you alive offshore. Flour, water, a pinch of salt, and you bake, then bake again, until it sounds hollow like a plank. Not a drop of fat, else it goes rancid and you toss it overboard. Soak it in broth or rum before you put tooth to it — and tap it on the table first, to dislodge the critters that lodge in it.
- •Wheat flour — a barrel's measure (base)
- •Water — enough to bind (binder)
- •Salt — a pinch (flavor and preservation)
Ship's Biscuit (Long Voyage Cracker)
A cracker of flour, water and salt, baked then rebaked until hard as wood. Without fat to go rancid, it keeps almost indefinitely — provided you soak it before attacking it.
Why this dish? The inseparable companion of every crossing: the hard cracker that doesn't rot and lasts months in a sloop's damp hold. For Rackham and his men, sailing from Nassau to Jamaica, ship's biscuit was the foundation of all meals — soaked, crumbled, or gnawed as is on lean days.
Don't laugh at this stone, lad: it's what will keep you alive offshore. Flour, water, a pinch of salt, and you bake, then bake again, until it sounds hollow like a plank. Not a drop of fat, else it goes rancid and you toss it overboard. Soak it in broth or rum before you put tooth to it — and tap it on the table first, to dislodge the critters that lodge in it.
Ingredients (period version)
- Wheat flour — a barrel's measure (base)
- Water — enough to bind (binder)
- Salt — a pinch (flavor and preservation)
Ingredients
- Wheat flour (all-purpose or wholemeal) — 250 g (base)
- Water — 120 ml (binder)
- Salt — 1 tsp (flavor and preservation)
Method
- Mix flour and salt; add water gradually to form a firm, dry dough.
- Knead briefly, then roll out to about 1 cm thick.
- Cut into squares or rounds; prick with a fork.
- Bake at low heat (160°C) for 30 minutes, then reduce to 120°C and dry for another 30-40 minutes until hard and dry.
- Cool completely in the air: the biscuit hardens further. Store dry; always soak before eating.
How it was made : Ship's biscuit ('hardtack', 'war bread') was baked up to four times to drive out all moisture. Stored for months, it ended up infested with weevils and 'biscuit weevils'; sailors often ate in the dark to avoid seeing what they swallowed, or tapped the cracker to knock out the worms. It was the most reliable ration in the sailing world.
The contemporary twist : Stencil a skull and crossbones — Calico Jack's flag — before baking, for a 'pirate biscuit' to dip in soup.
Sources : Janet Macdonald, Feeding Nelson's Navy (2004) · Charles Johnson, A General History of the Pyrates (1724)
Calico Jack · Charactorium
