For my birthday trek this year I combined a short turkey hunt and cookout. It was an unusual morning, foggy four-plus over the entire area. I saw no thin spots in my 25-mile drive to the woods, and could not see 100 yards when I got there. Temperature was 26°, so many things were covered with a white coating of frozen fog, really pretty to see.
I wore my colonial garb and set up to try ambushing a turkey in an area I’ve had success doing that, before. No luck this time, and I gave up on that after a couple of hours.
Writing in 1728, William Byrd said that woodsmen could usually shoot something to eat in the wilderness, but he recommended some back-up supplies be taken along in the event that wasn’t possible some days. His recommendation was for a few pounds of rockahominy, parched and ground corn, “the essence of bread”, and portable soup, “the essence of meat.” He called those days without hunting luck “jours maigre”, meager days. I decided to see what those meager days might be like for the old boys by making my meal of those supplies.
I picked my spot and gathered squaw wood for my fire, then broke out my fire kit. I’ve been experimenting with tinder tubes, and used one I made of cane.
It was a bright day, so I used my burning glass to catch a spark, and the tinder tube worked very well, caught a spark very quickly and held it a long time. Using shredded cedar bark I soon had a fire.
I first boiled two cups of sassafras tea, one to drink while I worked, one for my meal, which I kept warm sitting on a rock by the fire. Sweetened with maple sugar, that first cup sure hit the spot on that cold morning.
Byrd’s recommendation was for a broth of portable soup thickened with the rockahominy. Because of my own curiosity, I had brought along some venison jerky, and added that to the dish. I boiled the jerk in the portable soup broth for half an hour, or so, then added the rockahominy to thicken it and some salt for seasoning, simmered it another twenty minutes.
I was also trying something else I’ve always wondered about which I know the old boys did a lot, ash cakes. They frequently used flour, but I decided to make mine of cornmeal. I worked on making a bed of ashes for that, but I was burning mostly cedar wood, and that makes little ash. In the end, I decided to just cook the cake directly on the coals, lightly covered with coals, too.
I cooked the cake about 10 minutes, a tad too long. It was charred around the edge, but was well cooked, otherwise, and I was easily able to break off the charred edge.
My timing was good, and I was ready for a hot meal. A gourd bowl of boiled venison jerky in venison broth, with parched corn, a hot ash-cooked corn pone and a hot cup of sassafras tea, what's not to like? To top it off, I had some black walnut nutmeats gathered from the yard last year. Not bad, not bad at all.
Byrd’s fall-back days might have been meager for him, but they seemed like a small feast, to me.
And a happy eighty-twoth to me. :grin:
Spence
I wore my colonial garb and set up to try ambushing a turkey in an area I’ve had success doing that, before. No luck this time, and I gave up on that after a couple of hours.
Writing in 1728, William Byrd said that woodsmen could usually shoot something to eat in the wilderness, but he recommended some back-up supplies be taken along in the event that wasn’t possible some days. His recommendation was for a few pounds of rockahominy, parched and ground corn, “the essence of bread”, and portable soup, “the essence of meat.” He called those days without hunting luck “jours maigre”, meager days. I decided to see what those meager days might be like for the old boys by making my meal of those supplies.
I picked my spot and gathered squaw wood for my fire, then broke out my fire kit. I’ve been experimenting with tinder tubes, and used one I made of cane.
It was a bright day, so I used my burning glass to catch a spark, and the tinder tube worked very well, caught a spark very quickly and held it a long time. Using shredded cedar bark I soon had a fire.
I first boiled two cups of sassafras tea, one to drink while I worked, one for my meal, which I kept warm sitting on a rock by the fire. Sweetened with maple sugar, that first cup sure hit the spot on that cold morning.
Byrd’s recommendation was for a broth of portable soup thickened with the rockahominy. Because of my own curiosity, I had brought along some venison jerky, and added that to the dish. I boiled the jerk in the portable soup broth for half an hour, or so, then added the rockahominy to thicken it and some salt for seasoning, simmered it another twenty minutes.
I was also trying something else I’ve always wondered about which I know the old boys did a lot, ash cakes. They frequently used flour, but I decided to make mine of cornmeal. I worked on making a bed of ashes for that, but I was burning mostly cedar wood, and that makes little ash. In the end, I decided to just cook the cake directly on the coals, lightly covered with coals, too.
I cooked the cake about 10 minutes, a tad too long. It was charred around the edge, but was well cooked, otherwise, and I was easily able to break off the charred edge.
My timing was good, and I was ready for a hot meal. A gourd bowl of boiled venison jerky in venison broth, with parched corn, a hot ash-cooked corn pone and a hot cup of sassafras tea, what's not to like? To top it off, I had some black walnut nutmeats gathered from the yard last year. Not bad, not bad at all.
Byrd’s fall-back days might have been meager for him, but they seemed like a small feast, to me.
And a happy eighty-twoth to me. :grin:
Spence
