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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 23, 2019 9:59:01 GMT -7
The question that usually comes up the most and is often a difference in personal preference for many is food provisions in a period manner. Eating well in the forest or whilst at a period function shouldn't be a chore, nor a complicated endeavor. I wanted to lay out the contents of my market wallet and what I usually carry as a steady supply. The "Market Wallet" made of hand sewn natural cotton with linen thread.    My number one main staple is bison or beef jerk. I always carry a enough jerk in regards to my time abroad. Self made and a personal favorite jerk is easy to make and excellent for stews, pottages and enjoyed alone. I carry my meat rations in one of my simple linen sacks that is tucked away along with the rest of my wallet contents (just not pictured because I ate the last batch). Next staple you'll never catch me without is a handful of whole weat flour and corn meal from the local mill. Obviously a multitude of cooking and baking uses come from meal and flour. Johnny cakes, ships bread, ash cakes and a thickener, a must have.  Now three sacks containing beans, dried peas and corn along with whole grain brown rice. These dried provisions need no introduction and are always a nutritional necessity.  Two tins which contain my black English tea and lavender leaf mix along with dried wild nettle leaves. I'll eat the nettles once the tea is enjoyed! I also carry a small linen infuser bag for steeping.  A small tinned spice kit containing cinnamon, crushed red cayenne pepper, thyme and turmeric. A small horn of salt and black pepper are carried as well.  One small vile of natural honey, oil and sugar. I choose not to carry a sugar cone nor nippers as it's just not practical for a woodsman.  Last necessity are my horn spoon, fork, tinned cup and trade kettle along with spare linen sacks for harvesting any edibles along the way.  Complete layout of wallet contents  |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 23, 2019 11:13:09 GMT -7
Hawk,
Excellent display and layout!
May I ask about your carriage of the market wallet whilst trekking : How do you wear it? It looks a little cumbersome, unless you have a method of wearing that prevents it from getting in the way
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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 23, 2019 15:08:57 GMT -7
Hawk, Excellent display and layout! May I ask about your carriage of the market wallet whilst trekking : How do you wear it? It looks a little cumbersome, unless you have a method of wearing that prevents it from getting in the way Thank you good sir, I have settled on essentially flopping it over my left shoulder. While moving along it truly isn't that cumbersome at all. I have tried several methods of carry in conjunction with my knapsack, for me it's very easy and more comfortable to just toss it over the shoulder and off we go. |
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990 
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Post by Keith on Jun 23, 2019 18:14:14 GMT -7
Excellent post, well done. My supplies are pretty much the same as yours, except for the spices which I don't carry.
Question: I have spent a lot of time researching cook kettles, & although I have found mention of "small tin kettles", I have yet to find any documentation on actual size or shape. Do you have any documentation for the kettle you use?
Please note I am not sitting in judgement here or calling you out in any way my friend; until I cut down my brass kettle I was carrying a tin kettle myself, but I am still interested in finding more info on these "small tin kettles".
Regards, Keith.
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Post by spence on Jun 23, 2019 21:26:24 GMT -7
Keith, I've found very little info describing tin containers. Here's one for pots, whatever they were, and cups, offered for sale. Kettles are mentioned separately, so they are not the same as pots, in this one instance, at least.
The South-Carolina GAZETTE
November 19, 1763
....a great quantity of tin quart and pint pots and cups, kettles, sauce-pans, cassada graters, and a variety of other tin ware,...
Spence
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990
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Post by Keith on Jun 23, 2019 22:27:21 GMT -7
Thank you Spence, every little bit if info helps paint a bigger picture. Much obliged.
Keith.
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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 24, 2019 2:57:54 GMT -7
Excellent post, well done. My supplies are pretty much the same as yours, except for the spices which I don't carry. Question: I have spent a lot of time researching cook kettles, & although I have found mention of "small tin kettles", I have yet to find any documentation on actual size or shape. Do you have any documentation for the kettle you use? Please note I am not sitting in judgement here or calling you out in any way my friend; until I cut down my brass kettle I was carrying a tin kettle myself, but I am still interested in finding more info on these "small tin kettles". Regards, Keith. I'll grab what I have on that little pot once I'm settled in this morning. I have one mention of it in a fort here in Ohio. |
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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 24, 2019 5:13:09 GMT -7
Keith, I can't find the image I had of the original little kettle but I will continue to search for it. It's currently in a Pennsylvania museum last I remember, whether that still remains the case I can't say with certainty.
What I do know is the kettle is a creation based upon a few originals found at Wakatomika village along the Muskingum river. Piece dates to 1778 which is four years after the Dunmore war. This is also the location were Simon Kenton ran the Shawandase gauntlet.
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Keith
City-dweller
Bushfire close but safe now. Getting some good rain.
Posts: 990
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Post by Keith on Jun 24, 2019 13:51:03 GMT -7
Keith, I can't find the image I had of the original little kettle but I will continue to search for it. It's currently in a Pennsylvania museum last I remember, whether that still remains the case I can't say with certainty. What I do know is the kettle is a creation based upon a few originals found at Wakatomika village along the Muskingum river. Piece dates to 1778 which is four years after the Dunmore war. This is also the location were Simon Kenton ran the Shawandase gauntlet. Thank you, appreciated. Keith. |
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Post by spence on Jun 25, 2019 8:56:11 GMT -7
My custom concerning food and cooking while trekking is a bit different. I'm fascinated by 18th-century cooking and really enjoy trying period recipes at home, some quite elaborate. When in the boonies, though, I'm in a different frame of mind. The main goal of my re-enacting is to experience just a bit of what the old boys did, and that carries over into trekking provisions. I almost always take along only foods I've seen described in the period, and try to prepare them in the way they did. A very high percentage of the time that works very well, I enjoy the food and the cooking. If not, then I tell myself old whatshisface in 1780 probably experienced that, too.
My persona was purposefully designed to keep it that way, solo treks of only 1-2 days duration, carrying all provisions and cooking gear in one haversack, sometimes depending for my food on what I can catch or collect.
It's not hard to emulate the hunters described by Johann David Schöpf in his Travels in the Confederation, 1783-1784.
"When they go out to hunt they take with them a blanket, some salt, and a few pounds of meal of which they bake rough cakes in the ashes ; for the rest they live on the game they kill. Thus they pass 10-20 days in the woods ; "
Spence
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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 25, 2019 10:29:01 GMT -7
My custom concerning food and cooking while trekking is a bit different. I'm fascinated by 18th-century cooking and really enjoy trying period recipes at home, some quite elaborate. When in the boonies, though, I'm in a different frame of mind. The main goal of my re-enacting is to experience just a bit of what the old boys did, and that carries over into trekking provisions. I almost always take along only foods I've seen described in the period, and try to prepare them in the way they did. A very high percentage of the time that works very well, I enjoy the food and the cooking. If not, then I tell myself old whatshisface in 1780 probably experienced that, too. My persona was purposefully designed to keep it that way, solo treks of only 1-2 days duration, carrying all provisions and cooking gear in one haversack, sometimes depending for my food on what I can catch or collect. It's not hard to emulate the hunters described by Johann David Schöpf in his Travels in the Confederation, 1783-1784. "When they go out to hunt they take with them a blanket, some salt, and a few pounds of meal of which they bake rough cakes in the ashes ; for the rest they live on the game they kill. Thus they pass 10-20 days in the woods ; " Spence I would say my provisions are a bit drastic concerning the average woodsman of the period. While I'm a large fan of meal and meat alone I do like variety. Do you strictly carry only meal and jerk? I'm always curious to learn what others carry along. |
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Post by spence on Jun 25, 2019 12:20:33 GMT -7
Every trip is different, but I usually plan to try something I've read about...making ash cakes, baking bread on a stick, catching a fish and cooking it, etc. I've had a day when I only took the rockahominy with maple sugar so often mentioned, and others when I had only hoecakes to eat. I've gone out with no food and no bullets, molded balls, killed a squirrel and cooked it, etc.
My trips are always short, no more than a couple of days, usually only one, so if what I try doesn't work out it's no big deal. As long as I stay hydrated, I could go completely without food for the whole trip with no problem. I think of my little excursions as learning exercises. As I said in another post, if I use the same equipment they did and do the same things they did, many of my experiences will be the same as theirs. That's true for the food and cooking equipment, too. If I really were out there as my persona character was, I would do the least work possible, make everything as simple as possible, just to get a bite and then get on with it.
One of my favorite things about living history/reenacting/experimental archeology is that we can each do it as we like, all do it differently and all have fun. Lots of fun.
Spence
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Post by hawkeyes on Jun 25, 2019 15:16:02 GMT -7
Very well said! Such is the joy of living history, enduring the good and bad. I love reminiscing and journaling about my personal experiences along the way. It's great to compare those experiences to what ones might have went through during the period as you mentioned. Certainly gives a good perspective and conversation around the fire if one has company along. More than anything I find the experiences to be very humbling in a world of instant gratification and life altering in ways.
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