The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-13
JACKS BILL OF FARE.
DELlcAcIEs AND sUBSTANTIALs OF
THE FOREcASTLE TABLE.
The sIvsteries of scOuse in All It's Varie-
ties-sea Doughnuts Fried in Pure
Whale BIubber-ship
Bill of Fare.
New York Sun ]


store the other day and looked over the
odds and ends displayed, When one of
them saw a substantial iron spoon among
other stuff he took out some money and
laid cents for the spoon.
What did you buy that spoon for.
Jack?" said young man who recognized
the two men as sailors.
We'll, sonny, | don't mind givin' you
a bit Of information. That ere spoon is
TO hist in a scouse. Generally | uses my
knife, but my mate here says a spoon is
more periite, and enables a teller to git to
windward of the rest of the mess when
they hogs it. "
"scouse?" said the young man inquir-
ingIy "Scouse? What's scouse?"
~Scouse," said the gray haired junk
man. who Lad been a sailor for many
common article of food aboard ship. 1t
is made Of biscuit or what the soldiers
call hard tack. The biscuit is broken up
and soaked in water. Then whatever
odds and ends of meat may have been left
over from the preceding meal in the cabin
and perhaps an additional amount equal
TO a pound of meat for ten pounds of
scouse. is mixed in. The whole is baked
and sent to the men in the fOrecastle at
meal time in the dish it was cooked in.
The men scoop it out into little tin pans
and eat it with their knives. Some times
potatoes take the place of biscuit
and that makes lobscouse Sometimes
beans and biscuit are mixed in about equal
parts, and then 1t is called bean scouse-
You wouldn't fancy eating beside dozen
men like those two Just now, but after you
had got your sea appetite you would call
scouse a good dish, especially if two or
three onions had been cut in.
w hat else do the sailors have TO eat?"
"Dandyfunk is a common dish. You
would call it molaSses scouse, maybe, for
il is mixture of powdered biscuit and
moIasses, baked in a pan. 1t is not an APP
petiZing dish, but it is nourishing feed.
and that is the main thing at sea. With
the solid grub, the men get what
is called coffee for breakfast and
dinner, and tea for supper l have
never been able to learn just what
those drinks were made of, but they
are hot and bitter. and serve to warm the
men in cold weather and quell the crav-
ings of appetite. Vinegar is served out
also, and when the meat is bad it helps
the men to eat it. The vinegar neutral
ICES the taste of saltpetre in salt beef and
the faint of pork. l have seen beef
served with the crystals of saltpetre adj
herring to it. Vinegar is pOwerless in such
cases
"Dont the men have any dessert?"
"Yes; on Sunday Every one has
heard of duff 1t is made of flour boiled
in a canvas bag. EXtravagant cooks put
in little lard and salt On rare coca
sions handful OF two of raisins will be
added. This is served with molasses.
Pumpkin funny is a sea luxury. and it
is made of dried pumpkins stewed up
into sauce and sweetened with molasses.
Ships vary as much as boarding houses in
the matter of grub, but the most of them
vary only in the cheapness of the stuff
and in its lack of good qualities
l shipped on a bark out of New
Fedford once for cruise in the
Pacific. We had a green hand for cook,
but after wed trained him a bit he
did pretty we'll He was an inventor. He
made mince pies for all hands one Sun
day after we'd been three months at sea.
on will wonder where he got his fresh
beef He didn't have any; he freshened
the salt beef, until it was about tasteless.
He didn't have any cider but he had
some grog from the cabin, and what with
a plenty of chopped raisins and dried ap-
Piles, it made that good a pie that he could
have got the boatswain to split kindling
for him afterward by just saying the
word You see it was getting toward
Thanksgiving, when Yankee sailor
bankers for mince pie.
did you ever eat any of the whale
meat2"
"Yes. but sailors aren't partial to it.
The rule is to serve out a barrel of flour
every time whale is killed. The -four
is mixed with molasses into doughnuts,
which are dropped into the try kettles
filled with boiling blubber. "
"In the fish oil?"
"You never made bigger mistake in
your life than when you imagined it was
offensive fish oil The fresh blubber is as
sweet to the smell and taste as any leaf
lard you ever saw Old Yankee shippers
who eat both kinds say that sea dough-
nuts are better than shore doughnuts
every day in the year.
How do they feed you on fishing
smack?"
"The grub's all right We have plenty
of meat, bread, vegetables and coffee and
tea. Sea pie is a good enough dish for
me- 1t is made of beef and pork hashed
up and boiled with lot of hashed vege
tables. and little powdered biscuit for
thickening When it's about done the
cook makes a crust of -four and lard and
baking powder and puts it in q pan and
pours the stew into it, and covers the
whole over with another crust; and when
it's baked he sends it into the cabin,
and the watch below turns to and scaffs
it quick.
The following is the bill of the food
consumed on one mackerel schooner be-
tween June 80 and Nov Is: Veal, 10
pounds; pork, 40 pounds; beef, 142
pounds; four 2G3 pounds; meal, pecks;
bread (hard tack, 445 pounds; potatoes,
81 bushels; molasses, 50 gallons; rice, SO
pounds; beans. 3 bushels; vinegar,
gallons; mustard, 1 can; saleratus, 1
pound; peppersauce, bottle; coffee, 30
pounds; chocolate, 1 pound; lard, 34f
pounds; butter, pounds.
The quantity and quality of a sailors
food are regulated by law. When the
law is obeyed sailors live well, but not so
well as mechanics of corresponding skill
and intelligence on shore. Here is Jacks
bill of fare for one week, as laid down
in the act of congress approved
June z, 1872: Sunday, 1 pound of bread.
Il of beef, ounce of tea, ounce of
coffee, 2 ounces of sugar, and 3
quarts Of water. The allowance Of bread,
tea, coffee, sugar and water is the same
for every day. Monday, II pounds of
pork, pound Of flour, pint peas. Tues
day, Thursday and Saturday he must
have the same allowance that he had on
Sunday: Wednesday and Friday, the
same that lie had on Monday Molasses
may be substituted for sugar, and it is
almost always preferred. It's cheaper
They are also entitled to rice and barley,
but, as the quantity is not mentioned, it
is frequently infinitesimaL