A typical food list such as that from Joel Palmer's guide would include for each adult:
two hundred pounds of flour, thirty pounds of pilot bread, seventy-five pounds of bacon, ten pound of rice, five pounds of coffee, two pounds of tea, twenty-five pounds of sugar, half a bushel of dried beans, one bushel of dried fruit, two pound of saleratus [baking soda], ten pounds of salt, half a bushel of corn meal; and it is well to have half a bushel of corn, parched and ground; a small keg of vinegar should also be taken.
When cooks loaded their wagons, they had more to think about than simply packing pounds of flour and sugar. They needed to know if the sugar had to be sifted before use, if bacon would spoil or if it was possible to make an eggless pudding over an open fire. They had to decide which mill ground the best flour and if the "meat biscuits" advertised for sale in the local newspaper were as good as the advertisement reported. Knowing the best type of foods to bring and the right
amount to pack was essential.
Did you know that sugar should be pounded in a mortar?
Baking bread was a daily activity.
Next to bread, bacon was the food most eaten-often on the menu twice a day.
Read more here: http://www.oregonpioneers.com/FoodChoices.htm
Credit should be given to: Jacqueline Williams
No comments:
Post a Comment