page_title: Hardtack
section_title: Canada
hierarchical_section_title: Hardtack / Modern use / North America / Canada
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of a bag of Purity hard bread with one biscuit sitting in front of the bag
context_page_description: Hardtack is a simple type of biscuit or cracker made from flour, water, and sometimes salt. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns. Along with salt pork, hardtack was a standard ration for many militaries and navies throughout the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
context_section_description: Hardtack is a mainstay in parts of Canada. Purity Factories is one Canadian maker of traditional hardtack. They specialize in a high density, high caloric product that is well suited for use by expeditions.
  Located in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, they currently bake three varieties of hardtack: 
  The first variety, a cracker similar to a cross between an unsalted saltine and hardtack, Crown Pilot Crackers. It was a popular item in much of New England and was manufactured by Nabisco until it was discontinued in the first quarter of 2008. It was discontinued once before, in 1996, but a small uprising by its supporters brought it back in 1997. This variety comes in two sub-varieties, Flaky and Barge biscuits.
  The second is Hard Bread, a traditional hardtack, and is the principal ingredient in fish and brewis, a traditional Newfoundland and Labrador meal.
  The third variety is Sweet Bread, which is slightly softer than regular hardtack due to a higher sugar and shortening content, and is eaten as a snack food.
caption: A package of Canadian Purity hard bread with one hard bread biscuit in front
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