Canned Beef Hash on Excavation Biscuit
Shredded canned beef, browned in a pan with onion and spices, served on softened hardtack or stale bread — the makeshift camp meal when fresh supplies did not arrive.
Shredded canned beef, browned in a pan with onion and spices, served on softened hardtack or stale bread — the makeshift camp meal when fresh supplies did not arrive.
I will not hide from you, friend reader, that the Valley has neither butcher nor market within reach. So we always kept in the dig house stores these tin cans of beef — bully beef, as our soldiers call it. You shred it, fry it with an onion and a pinch of cumin, spread it on a hard biscuit soaked in a little hot water, and there is an honorable dinner in the depths of the desert. It is no feast, I grant you, but after a day of dusty trenches, a man gets on well enough with it.
- •Canned beef (bully beef / corned beef) — one tin (preserved protein)
- •Onion — one, sliced (aromatic)
- •Clarified butter or fat — a knob (cooking)
- •Cumin and pepper — a pinch (spices)
- •Ship's biscuit / stale bread — as needed (base)
Canned Beef Hash on Excavation Biscuit
Shredded canned beef, browned in a pan with onion and spices, served on softened hardtack or stale bread — the makeshift camp meal when fresh supplies did not arrive.
Why this dish? Among the typical items of Carter's field diet was canned meat: the 'bully beef' of the British in Egypt, which kept for months in the heat and allowed one to eat meat far from any market, deep in the Valley of the Kings.
I will not hide from you, friend reader, that the Valley has neither butcher nor market within reach. So we always kept in the dig house stores these tin cans of beef — bully beef, as our soldiers call it. You shred it, fry it with an onion and a pinch of cumin, spread it on a hard biscuit soaked in a little hot water, and there is an honorable dinner in the depths of the desert. It is no feast, I grant you, but after a day of dusty trenches, a man gets on well enough with it.
Ingredients (period version)
- Canned beef (bully beef / corned beef) — one tin (preserved protein)
- Onion — one, sliced (aromatic)
- Clarified butter or fat — a knob (cooking)
- Cumin and pepper — a pinch (spices)
- Ship's biscuit / stale bread — as needed (base)
Ingredients
- Canned corned beef — 1 can (340 g) (protein)
- Onion — 1 large, sliced (aromatic)
- Butter or oil — 2 tbsp (cooking)
- Ground cumin — 1/2 tsp (spice)
- Black pepper — to taste (spice)
- Rustic stale bread or thick crackers — 4 slices (base)
- Parsley — a little (freshness (optional))
Method
- Brown the onion in butter until soft and golden.
- Add the shredded corned beef, cumin, and pepper; let it crisp slightly at the edges.
- Meanwhile, moisten the stale bread or crackers with a little hot water to soften.
- Spoon the hot hash onto the bread, sprinkle with parsley.
- Serve immediately, ideally with strong tea.
How it was made : Salted beef then canned in tin, popularized in the 19th century, was the companion of all expeditions and armies of the British Empire. Light to carry, non-perishable in the heat, it was the protein base of isolated camps. It was eaten as is, or reheated as hash with whatever the camp offered.
The contemporary twist : Top the hash with a fried egg with a runny yolk and call it 'Archaeologist's Breakfast' — the brunch version of the desert improviser.
Howard Carter · Charactorium
