Food

Rations Authenticity Guidelines

First, all members of the FCD should read the article entitled Rations,The Reenactor's Dilemma posted on the home page. This will give tremendous insight into the world of period rations. One will quickly find that a period diet is much better than the common practice of using modern canned meat and other products. 

Second, the haversack is for food and cooking utensils only.

Third, coolers and modern cooking equipment is not necessary and should be strictly avoided. Only cooked or cured meat should be carried thus a cooler is unnecessary. Non period drinks may be stored at your vehicle or obtained by the event vendors. Our camps should be kept free of these anachronisms that always kill a good impression and tend to be seen even when a great effort is taken to keep them concealed. 

Fourth, let us establish a simple rule. No plastic or modern containers, ever. These are not necessary and they can ruin an impression for you or your file mate who is trying to "get lost" in the time period. Even if you choose not to carry period food items, remove what you have from its plastic container and put it into a period one. The following are some ideas: Cotton draw-string polk sack  simple inexpensive bags that can be adapted to carry anything. Brown Wax Paper or Plain Brown Paper  perfect for cooked or greasy meat. Brown wax paper is now being manufactured and carried in many grocery stores. Small tin or glass containers  good for small herb , salt or pepper. Glass containers should have cork tops or screw zinc lids. 

Food: The following is a list of foods appropriate to the Army of Tennessee: Meat: Salt Pork, Cured Ham, boiled Beef, Slab Bacon Bread: Cornbread, biscuits or corn fritters (hoe-cakes). Hard tack should be limited. Drinks: Coffee (beans or course ground) or tea. Grains: Cornmeal, grits, and rice. Vegetables: Sweet potatoes, potatoes, turnips, corn on the husk, Black-eyed peas, carrots, beans, and hominy. And of course peanuts (although this is not actually a vegetable). Plain Corn Nuts are a good reproduction of "Parched Corn" a staple of the CSA.  Herbs: Garlic, rosemary, coriander, basil, Tabasco pepper and bay leaves Sweets: The best idea for a sweat tooth is Ginger snap cookies which were very common and easy to find in today's markets. The most correct sugar to carry is the "Mexican" cone sugar often found for $1.00 per 7oz in the Spanish foods section of your market. The other alternative is raw or brown sugar. Molasses is another very good Southern alternative. **Sugarthe sugar you carry should never be white processed sugar.