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Hardtack is a simple type of cracker or biscuit, made from flour, water, and salt. Cheap and long-lasting, it was used during long sea voyages and military campaigns as a primary foodstuff which was usually dunked in water, brine, coffee, or some other liquid or cooked into a skillet meal. This cracker was little more than flour and water which had been baked hard and would keep for months as long as it was kept dry. The name derives from the British seamen's slang for food, "tack", and the fact it is so hard and dry.
Hardtack resembles a large soda cracker in appearance. It is about three inches square and approximately 1/4 inch to 1 inch thick with 16 - 1/8 inch holes in the center. It is made of flour, water and salt thickened to a paste then placed in a press to create its shape and perforate the 16 holes. Once dried, it becomes very hard and can last for years if kept dry.
Hardtack was eaten in various ways. One could have jam, fat, lard or anything spreadable on it and it can be eaten like bread. However, oftentimes, the hardtack was so hard that it was impossible to chew. Hardtack could be crunched up by pounding it with a rifle butt or rock and placed in coffee or mixed in with bacon grease making a soggy goo called Skillygalee or Coosh. If sugar or berries were available they could be mixed in as well. Another treat was when the crushed hardtack was mixed in with a can of condensed milk to make what soldiers called Milk Toast.
Soldiers often complained of the hardtack being moldy or infested with weevils, worms, or maggots. The mold came from either becoming wet after being opened or the baking company not allowing the hardtack to dry thoroughly before packaging. Soldiers would routinely tap their biscuits to knock out most of the weevils before eating. Another trick was to dunk hardtack in the hot water of coffee in order to chase out the bugs, which could then be removed from the cup with a spoon.
One soldier, complaining about the infestation of his hardtack, said: "I threw it away three times but it kept walking back".
“The only meat we get is the worms in the hard bread!” was another popular phrase heard around a camp.
Hardtack was also known as "Tooth dullers," "sheet iron," or "molar breakers".
(Some information from Wikipeda Free Encyclopedia )
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