Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1898-07-13
a9tiseetlaneol1s 8eading.
UNCLE SANS COOK BOOK.
How the American Soldiers Are Instruct
ed to Prepare Their Food.

ed to Prepare Their Food.
From the New York Sun.
Uncle Sam has a special cook book
of his own, which he has designed for
the use of army cooks in garrison and
camp. 1t was published in 1896 aud
is volume of 800 pages. Strangely
enough the dishes prepared in Spanish
style are favored by Uncle Sam, who
gives several recipes rarely included
in ordinary cook books. There are
such dishes as Spanish stew, Spanish
steak, Estifado salza, frijoles, stuffed
chiles tamales, tortillas, chile con
carne, Jambalaya and Spanish fried
rice.
"Chile con carne," a favorite dish
with epicures, is prepared, according
to Uncle Sans method, out of these
ingredients Round steak, table
spoonful of hot drippings, two spoon
fuls of rice, one cup of boiling water,
two large red peppers (dry), one half
pint of boiling water; salt, onions and
-four. "Cut the steak" says Uncle
Sam, "in small pieces. Put in frying
pan with the hot drippings, hot water
and rice; cover closely and cook slow
ly till tender. Remove seeds and part
of veins from peppers. Cover with
one-half pint boiling water and let
them stand till cool. Then squeeze
them with the hand until the water is
thick and red. If not thick enough
add little -four. Season with salt
and little onion if desired. Pour
sauce on meat and serve very hot"
The methods of cooking in camp
are, of course, much simpler than in
the garrison, the recipes being all
adapted for speedy preparation in the
field. Each regiment has its cooks,
assistants and kitchen police whose
duties are "the preparation of vegeta-
bles and food the setting of the tables
and placing the food thereon, and the
removing and cleansing of the dishes
after each meal and all work incident
thereto, and such work as the steward
may prescribe"
In the cavalry it is usual toalloW
the cooks to ride with the wagons or
pack trains. When both wagons and
packs are provided the cooks ride with
the latter, and have on the pack mules
sufficient rations and utensils with
which TO prepare a meal upon arrival
in camp. When no transportation is
provided, which may occur in marches,
in the presence of the enemy, troops
are required to carry their rations. A
soldier can carry three days subsis-
tence-the infantry man in the haver-
sack or pack and the cavalryman in
his saddlebags. Under such con.
ditions only bacon, hard bread, coffee,
sugar, salt and pepper can be carried,
with various forms of compressed
foods. The regulation meat can, tin
cup, knife, fork and spoon are all the
cooking utensils for this individual
cuisine.
The recipes for camp cookery are of
such primitive nature that the care
full housewife would be somewhat
taken back if she were obliged to pre-
pare food as directed. For instance,
when the soldiers arrive in camp, Un-
Gle Sam says, "the dough for bread may
be mixed on rubber blanket" and he
also states that, "if breakfast is de-
layed, pans and kettles can be thrown
into the wagon dirty and carried to the
next camp, where warm water will be
available TO cleanse them"
Coffee is one of the most welcome
beverages to the soldier, and Uncle
Sam gives directions for parching or
roasting it, saying somewhat brusque-
ly: "Coffee requires great care and
attention in roasting-don't leave it to
do something else." To prepare it
according to the camp method cold
water is put into a coffee boiler, al
lowing a good quart to every man.
Add to it the coffee ground fine two
quarts of ground coffee to so men),
aud when the whole boils remove it
from the fire ten minutes to settle.
Here is recipe for "fried bread, !"
baked in frying pan by Uncle Sans
method: "Take FIVE quarts of flour
and one and two-thirds tablespoonful
of yeast powder mix thoroughly while
dry, adding a little salt to suit the
taste. Then mix in well one table
spoonful of drippings or lard then
add water in small quantities at a
time until biscuit dough is made !;
knead slightly. Grease the frying pan
and set it over the hot embers until
the grease begins to melt; put the
dough, rolled 10 the thickness of half
an inch, in the pan and set it on the
fire. Shake the pan every few mo-
ments to prevent the dough from ad-
herring; after the crust has formed on
the bottom take the bread out of the
pan and set it upright on edge, close
to the fire, turning it occasionally to
be sure that it is baked through"
A somewhat weird dish that Uncle
Sam has named "a Camp Morsel" is
prepared in delightfully."- simple style
as follows: "Take can of mackerel
and can of salmon or lobster chop
with raw onions and pickles and pour
vinegar over"
AS to the soup, Uncle Sam says ::
"Hang the camp kettle on the crane
,,,o n oox,a, lyoar ont chpc conh