Loki wrote:

> On Sat, 22 Oct 2005 16:03:06 GMT, The Joneses >
> wrote:
>
>>Julie Bove wrote:
>>
>>> "The Joneses" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>> > I think this is something near what we do. ... In thinking about
>>> > saving/preserving food for disasters, I've googled up a few recipes
>>> > for hardtack crackers. ... My goal is to make a long storing thick cracker
>>> > that tastes good. I will vacuum seal them. ...
>>> > Any thoughts?
>>>
>>> I've never actually tried hardtack, but from what I've read about it, it was
>>> not tasty at all. The very things that kept it from spoiling are the very
>>> things that meant it had no taste. I don't know that much about vacuum
>>> sealing. Would that keep the crackers crisp?
>>
>>The old bums never *tried* to make it tasty. Yeah, I think it would stay crispy
>>because of no moisture laden air. What with new technology of freeze drying, a
>>cracker with dried powdered herbs, onions, & garlic might be tasty. Or dried
>>cocoa and cinnamon, with a bit of extra (vanilla?) sugar. I wanted a cracker
>>with more to it than a saltine, more like ceramic tile (gg). OTH, the new
>>flavored pretzels might just solve my idea for me...
>>Edrena
>
> When we were in high school, one of our group decided to try some
> Civil War re-enactment. He got the clothes and we tried our best to
> provide authentic hardtack. We found an old recipe from that era and
> made it according to the directions.

You can obtain a pamphlet (actually probably more of a pamph) of Civil
War recipes at Grant's Tomb in NYC.

> It was awful. Beyond awful. It was so hard you had to soak it in
> liquid to make it edible.
> That's what it was too. We'd evidently made it correctly.

Yep, sounds like it. Back in the days when rfc was doing "exchanges" I
wound up with someone from Nova Scotia and that's what they sent. Along
with dried cod, maple syrup, and salt pork. Apparently, you were
supposed to soak the hardtack and cod, boil them together and top with
the cubed-up-and-fried salt pork and finish with the maple syrup.

We didn't.

That was maybe 12 years ago and I'm sure the hardtack is still somewhere
around.

B/