
During wartime or a natural disaster, food shortages and lack of natural 
gas or electricity for cooking requires a great deal of improvisation 
and reliance upon back-to-basics cooking techniques used by our 
forefathers in order to survive. In an emergency it helps to know what 
to do with all the wheat, rice, cornmeal, sugar, molasses, vegetable oil 
and dried beans, milk, fruits and vegetables which you've wisely cached 
along with firewood or cooking fuel. Colonial, pioneer and nineteenth 
century military cooking methods and recipes are useful when preparing 
meals from simple cached staples. Many of the recipes included in this 
information paper don't need perishables like meat, eggs or yeast which 
you might not have. Recipes for the modern kitchen with a temperature 
controlled oven will naturally have to be adjusted by trial and error if 
you are baking in a clay oven in the field or cooking over a campfire. 
Improvisation is called for to substitute what is available. For example 
if a recipe calls for bacon drippings, you can use any cooking fat like 
lard, margarine, butter, vegetable oil or shortening. Butter Flavor 
Crisco can be used in most recipes, doesn't require refrigeration and is 
available in easy to measure sticks. The interaction between a 
sweetener, baking soda and buttermilk or sour milk (which you can make 
by adding a little vinegar to reconstituted dry milk; 1 tablespoon per 
cup of milk and let stand 5 minutes) can substitute for yeast if none is 
available. White hardwood ashes can replace baking powder as a leavening 
agent. Honey, molasses or syrups and be substituted for sugar in most 
recipes by using less water (1 cup honey = 1-1/4 cup sugar plus 1/4 cup 
liquid). Use whatever dried fruit is available regardless of what the 
recipe calls for. Experimentation is the order of the day. If you 
remember to add spices in stages (they can't be removed if you use too 
much) and if all of the ingredients you use are food, then the chances 
are the end result will be edible (especially if you are hungry enough). 


Sources of Recipes. Living history reenactors of the American Revolution 
and the War of Northern Aggression take great delight in recreating 
authentic army meals around their campfires and hardcore reenactors 
actually eat the mess. Patricia B. Mitchell has published a series of 
cookbooks (available from Sims-Mitchell House Bed & Breakfast, 242 
Whittle Street SW, P.O. Box 429, Chatham, VA 24531) to make this task 
easier and many excerpts from her books "Revolutionary Recipes," "Union 
Army Camp Cooking," "Confederate Camp Cooking," "Confederate Home 
Cooking" and "Cooking for the Cause" are included in this paper. Some 
recipes have been included from "Colonial Treasure Cookbook" (Hutcraft, 
High Point, NC 27262) and from "Colonial Fireplace Cooking & Early 
American Recipes" (Shoestring Press, 430 N. Harrison, East Lansing, MI 
48823). Regional cookbooks, especially from the South, are a source of 
recipes for nutritional meals from simple foods. Recipes have been 
included from various southern cookbooks including "Cookin' Yankees 
Ain't Et" (The Merry Mountaineers, Highlands, NC 28741), "Southern 
Recipes" and "Piggin' Out in Dixie" (Southern Cookbooks, P.O. Box 
100905, Nashville, TN 37224). Recipes and field cooking techniques have 
also been excerpted from "The Green Beret Gourmet" (The Guttenberg Press 
Publications, P.O. Box 973, Rockledge, FL 32955). Some quick bread 
recipes which don't require yeast come from "Sunset Breads" (Sunset 
Publishing Corp., Menlo Park, CA 94025), a cookbook with recipes from 
all over the world. If you have active dry yeast or sourdough starter, 
this book is an excellent reference for other bread recipes not included 
in this paper. Vegetarian cookbooks should also be a good source of 
survival recipes, but being a confirmed carnivore, the writer of this 
paper has no personal knowledge of any such books. Backpacking books are 
also an excellent source of field cooking techniques and recipes. There 
is a chapter on field nutrition and camp cooking as well as an extensive 
appendix of recipes in "The National Outdoor Leadership School's 
Wilderness Guide" (Simon & Schuster, Inc., Simon & Schuster Building, 
Rockefeller Center, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020). 
"Roughing It Easy" by Dian Thomas (The Dian Thomas Company, P.O. Box 
171107, Holladay, UT 84117; 1-800-846-6355) is a comprehensive 
collection of outdoor cooking recipes and techniques, including many 
variations on improvised tin can stoves and ovens, pit and open fire 
cooking, dutch oven cooking, building a solar reflector cooker or solar 
oven and a section on drying fruits, vegetables and jerky. 

The Improvised Kitchen. You should have a camping stove for emergency 
cooking purposes. Two-burner stoves are useful in a fixed location or if 
you are vehicle mobile. Propane stoves are easy to use but fuel is 
expensive, the high pressure steel canisters are heavy and not likely to 
be widely available during a long-term emergency. A multifuel stove 
capable of using either white gas (lantern fuel or Coleman fuel) or 
ordinary gasoline is easier to resupply in an emergency. However, 
gasoline burns hotter than propane and is not as useful for low heat 
simmering of foods, so it might be wise to have both types of stove. If 
you are in a fixed location like a survival retreat or base camp, 
nothing beats a cast iron skillet, covered kettle and especially a dutch 
oven for open fire or hot coal cooking. An excellent configuration for a 
cooking fire is the keyhole type. Build a fire ring of rocks with a 
rectangular extension, build a fire in the circular part and coals can 
be raked or shoveled into the rectangular cooking area as needed. A 
grill or griddle can be supported over the rectangular cooking area 
(bricks can be used instead of rocks here for more stability) or the 
area can be used with a dutch oven. A metal tripod (or one fashioned 
from green branches) to hang a kettle can be used for boiling water or 
directly cooking over the flames in the circular part of the fire ring. 
The book "Roughing It Easy" shows how useful heavy duty aluminum foil is 
for outdoor cooking; stock up. Also, if you store food in large #10 cans 
(1 gallon) or in five gallon square cans, get this book and a pair of 
tin snips to convert the empty cans into many useful stove and oven 
variations. A cookie cooling rack can be used over a small pit of coals 
or an improvised #10 can barbecue. A grill and dutch oven can be 
arranged to allow simultaneous use as a baking oven and for frying. Dig 
a shallow hole 9 to 12 inches in diameter and 3 to 4 inches deep; place 
coals or charcoal briquets in the hole and place the grill across the 
hole; put the pan containing the item to be baked on the grill and cover 
with an inverted dutch oven; place coals on the base of the dutch oven 
which is now the top; place the inverted dutch oven lid on the base 
tripod legs and it becomes a griddle for frying foods. Another useful ac
cessory for either base camp cooking or for use in the field is a 
folding pack grill. Such a grill can be used for directly broiling 
meats, as a stand over the coals for a skillet, griddle or a stock pot 
(used for soups and stews, as a steamer or as an oven for baking or 
roasting), as a reflector oven (using disposable aluminum cooking pans 
for reflectors), as a stand for an inverted dutch oven lid allowing it 
to be used for frying, as a dirt free stand for placing a dutch oven lid 
when adding ingredients to or checking the progress of food in the oven 
and as a stand away from the fire for serving or for safely adding 
ingredients without burning yourself or spilling the food. The Coghlan's 
brand pack grill is cheap enough (about $3 to $4 in discount stores) tha
t several can be purchased for use in a base camp. A single pack grill 
and a lightweight nesting cooking set or GI mess kit can be carried in 
your rucksack to simplify field cooking. You can also add a folding 
pocket stove or GI canteen cup stand and solid fuel tablets to your 
rucksack for reheating prepared foods or preparing hot beverages like 
instant soup, coffee, tea or cocoa. To ease the cleanup chore when 
reheating cooked food, immerse the food container (can, MRE pouch, 
vacuum seal bag or freezer bag) in boiling water in your cooking pot; 
pierce the food container above the water line so it doesn't explode. In 
the field this method of heating food reduces cooking odors and lessens 
the chance of giving away your unit's position to enemy scouts. A 
single-burner butane or multifuel backpacking stove can be shared 
between two or three people. Most butane cartridges nowadays are filled 
with iso-butane which can be used down to about 20 degrees but, like 
with two-burner camp stoves, a multifuel stove is easier to resupply. 
Get an extra GI canteen cover and you can carry your stove attached to 
the side of your GI rucksack. If you are on the move without a vehicle 
or pack animals to carry heavy cooking vessels like cast iron skillets 
and dutch ovens (or in case you get separated from your well stocked 
rucksack), here are some of the many other ways of cooking food using 
natural materials described in "The Green Beret Gourmet": 

Clay Ovens: Construct an arched structure of green sticks (similar in 
shape to a beehive), insert a thick stick vertically through the top to 
form a flue opening and daub with wet clay until it is completely 
covered except for a front opening. Pile on successive layers of clay 
until a thick wall is made. Allow the layers to dry between applications 
by either placing hot coals inside or, if time is not a problem, by the 
sun. If each layer is not thoroughly dry, the oven will crack when you 
try to use it. A clay oven can also be made by hammering a thick 
sharpened stick down through a bank or slope about three feet back from 
the edge. Scoop out the size of the oven you want about a foot or so 
down the bank. Leave a thick ceiling. Leave a narrow front opening and 
dig back and hollow the bank as far as the stick which you hammered 
down. Pull the stick out to form the chimney opening. Wet your hands and 
smooth the interior surfaces, then harden the walls by building a small 
fire inside. After your oven is prepared, to use it build a fire inside. 
When the fire has burned down, scrape out the coals and ashes. Lay food 
inside on stones, leaves or hardwood slabs. Close off the front opening 
and flue. Leave food inside to cook. Cooking time depends upon the type 
of food being cooked. 

Cooking in Natural Containers: A stone with a hollow in it makes an 
excellent container. If it is small enough you can build a fire around 
the stone. Bark can be used to fashion pots to boil water, cook soups, 
stews or any foods with liquids over a fire. Peel a square of bark and 
fold the corners inward and hold them in place with wooden pegs. Keep 
the flames from touching your bark pot above the liquid level and your 
meal will cook in this simple container. Large leaves make an instant 
"aluminum foil" when baking or steaming food, but be sure to use edible 
nonpoisonous leaves. 

Baking in Clay. This method is excellent for small game or fish. Remove 
the entrails from the animal being prepared. This is easiest to do if 
the animal is already dead. Do not skin, pluck or scale. Cover with a 
layer of clay about an inch thick. Place it in hot ashes and build a 
fire above it. Cooking time varies with animal size and taste 
preference. A one pound animal will be cooked in approximately 30 to 40 
minutes. The meat will be stripped clean of fur, feathers or scales when 
you break off the clay. 

Baking on a Stick. Heat a peeled green stick by the fire while you 
prepare a bread dough. Mix a GI canteen cup of flour with a mound of 
baking powder the size of a quarter and a dash of salt. Add water 
gradually to make a soft dough. Work quickly so the bread will rise as 
it bakes. Wrap dough around heated stick and place upright next to the 
fire to let it bake. 

Cooking in Ashes. Foodstuff is placed in warm ashes and then covered 
with embers. Self-contained foods such as vegetables do not need to be 
wrapped in anything; simply place them in the ashes and dust them off 
after cooking. Cooking time depends upon the type of food and personal 
preferences. You can test vegetables by feeling for softness and putting 
them back if they still feel firm. 

Cooking on Wood Slabs. Select a green hardwood slab (evergreens season 
the food with a pine or turpentine taste) large enough to lash or peg 
the animal. Fish and very small game can be successfully cooked this 
way. Clean the animal and flatten down on the slab. Either pin the 
animal down with wooden pegs or lash to the slab with whatever is 
available. Lean the slab up in front of glowing coals. Turn a few times 
so the food will cook evenly. This recipe comes from Richmond, Virginia 
in the Confederate States of America when Yankee invaders were marauding 
and food was in short supply: 

Roasted Rat 
The rat must be skinned, cleaned, his head cut off and his body laid 
upon a square board, the legs stretched to their full extent and secured 
upon it with small tacks, then baste with bacon fat and roast before a 
good fire quickly like canvasback ducks. 


Broiling on a Stick. This is a good method for cooking a small amount of 
food. Fish, birds and small animals (large animals must be cut into 
smaller chunks) can be cleaned and then skewered on a peeled green wood 
stick. If the food tends to slide, a bark twine can be used to tie it 
down by splitting the wood down to the game on both ends and twisting 
bark through the splits. Sear the meat in the flame to seal in the 
juices. The skewer can be laid over forked green sticks at both ends of 
an ember bed. As long as the fire does not flame up, the meat needs only 
occasional turning so it cooks evenly. 


Steaming in a Hole. This method can be used to cook small or enormous 
amounts of food with great results. Build a fire and place some stones 
in it to heat. Don't select rocks from a stream bed, limestone or 
sandstone since they can contain trapped moisture and may explode when 
heated. While the stones are heating, dig a hole. Put the stones in the 
pit and place a thick layer of wet vegetation like grass or seaweed over 
them. Lay the food on top of the wet vegetation and place a stick near 
the edge of the pit. Fill with dirt. Pull the stick out and pour water 
down this opening onto the rocks to steam the food. Tamp down the top 
and leave the food to steam for at least two or three hours. If you are 
cooking something larger than fish or small game, the cooking time will 
need to be extended. 

Grilling. Meat can be grilled over the coals if it is fat. Lean game 
will end up very dry. Build a bed of hardwood embers and place a grill 
matting of green sticks on it. Place the meat on the grill and turn 
immediately after the sides are seared to seal in the juices. Try not to 
pierce the meat with whatever you are turning it with so you don't lose 
any juices. Keep a small container of water nearby to douse any flames 
that surface from the fat drippings. 

Fire Cake and Hoe Cakes. One of the easiest ways of making flour edible, 
even if not very appetizing, is to make a simple dough and fry or bake 
it over a fire. During the Revolutionary War it was common for soldiers 
to make a thick paste of flour and water (salt was added when available) 
and then bake it on hot rocks around a campfire. The result was an 
unpalatable, chewy, soggy glob which only the starving soldiers at 
Valley Forge probably appreciated. Hoe cakes were made from a corn meal 
dough carried to the fields by slaves and other farm workers. At lunch 
they cleaned their hoes, put the dough on them and cooked it over a 
fire. 

Entrenching Tool Cake 
4 GI canteen cups white cornmeal 
boiling water 
1 GI mess kit spoon (1 tablespoon) bacon drippings 
1 GI mess kit spoon salt 
Scald cornmeal with enough boiling water to make a stiff batter, then 
add bacon drippings and salt. Shape into pones, leaving the imprint of 
four fingers across top. Place batter on the cleaned, greased blade of 
an entrenching tool and set up next to fire to bake. 


Corn Pone 
2 cups cornmeal
3/4 tsp. salt (or less) 
boiling water 
2 tbsp. butter or margarine, melted; or vegetable oil 
Combine all ingredients to make a semi-stiff mush. Spread 1/4-inch thick 
in a well-greased heavy pan and bake at 375 degrees 20 to 25 minutes. 
(Corn pones used to be baked on a greased shovel over glowing coals.) 


Hardtack. During the War for Southern Independence, hardtack was a 
staple food (when fresh bread was unavailable) for both the brutal 
soldiers of the oppressive Federal government and the brave Confederate 
patriots defending their homeland. Hardtack was a virtually 
indestructible 1/2-inch thick cracker about three inches by three 
inches, pierced with sixteen holes and made from flour and water. Tack 
was a contemptuous term for food and the soldiers "affectionately" 
referred to hardtack as worm castles, sheet iron crackers and tooth 
dullers. Some of the hardtack issued to soldiers in the 1860's was 
supposedly left over from the 1846-48 Mexican War. The daily ration was 
nine or ten crackers, but there was usually enough for those who wanted 
more since some men would not draw a full ration. They were eaten plain, 
soaked in coffee or crumbled and added to the stew pot. A dish known as 
Skillygalee was made by soaking hardtack in cold water and then browning 
it in pork fat and seasoning to taste. A favorite seasoning of the times 
was cayenne pepper. Confederate Cush provided a dinner entree that 
consisted of bits of cooked beef, seasoned with garlic, fried in bacon 
grease and then stewed with crumbled hardtack or cornmeal mush. The 
crackers included in military C-rations and the current MREs are similar 
to hardtack, being much more dense, containing more flour and less air 
than commercial saltine crackers. When fresh, hardtack was not 
unappetizing, but when boxes of hardtack sat on railroad platforms or 
warehouses for months before being issued it hardened and often became 
insect infested. Because hardtack was packed in boxes marked "B.C." 
(probably for "Brigade Commissary"), soldiers said they were so hard 
because they were baked "Before Christ". The following account from a 
Yankee invader indicates how much hardtack was appreciated: 

"While before Petersburg, doing siege work in the summer of 1864, our 
men had wormy hardtack, or ship's biscuit, served out to them for a 
time. It was a severe trial, and it tested the temper of the men. 
Breaking open the biscuit and finding live worms in them, they would 
throw the pieces in the trenches where they were doing duty day by day, 
although the orders were to keep the trenches clean for sanitary 
reasons. A brigade officer of the day, seeing some of the scraps along 
our front, called out sharply to our men 'Throw that hardtack out of the 
trenches.' Then, as the men men promptly gathered it up as directed, he 
added, 'Don't you know that you've no business to throw hardtack in the 
trenches? Haven't you been told that often enough?' Out from the injured 
soldier heart there came the reasonable explanation 'We've thrown it out 
two or three times, sir, but it crawls back.'" 

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