Duke Crocker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
betterthanaplan) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2019-10-23 12:32 am
betterthanaplan) wrote in fandomhigh2019-10-23 12:32 am
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So You Want to Be a Pirate!, Wednesday, period two
Class met below-decks again, this time in the ship's galley, a long room stocked with barrels and jars of dubious color, and a small gimballed stove. Duke leaned against the counter while the students gathered, then spread his hands when it seemed like everyone who was going to show up had.
"Welcome to the galley, aka a ship's kitchen. I hope you all brought your appetites, because today we're going to talk about pirate food!" His grin was just a little bit evil. The students had probably better watch out.
"Now, I'm guessing most of you all spent the last week on a pretty fancy ship, down in the Galapagos. It probably had big, varied menus, maybe even some room service on offer. But I'm guessing it probably didn't have any livestock on board. Or a garden. The fact is, the only food you're likely to find on any ship — other than what you can catch with a rod or a net — is whatever food you bring with you from land. When you're on a big modern ship with electricity and refrigeration, that's not too bad. You can store a lot of food, keep it fresh and good to eat for a long time. Back in the glory day of the pirate, though, that just wasn't true. This ship has no electricity. If you're sailing from somewhere cold enough, you might have ice for a little while, but otherwise, the only way to keep food from going bad on you is to salt or pickle it. And let me tell you: jerky gets old real fast.
"You can live on it for a good while though. Get some protein, fat, water, your body will keep trucking, hopefully long enough to get to your next port of call — with all your teeth. A classic insult in pirate world is 'ya scurvy dog!' It's referring, of course, to what happens when humans — the ones from Earth, anyway — don't get enough vitamin C in their diet. Their teeth fall out. They start bleeding all over the place. And it goes on long enough, they die. We know nowadays that humans need fresh produce to stave that off. Oranges. Broccoli. Kale. Tomatoes. Back in the day, they just knew that if you spent too long at sea, you were probably going to end up sick.
"Anyway." Duke straightened and brushed his hands together. "Enough lecturing. I've managed to dig up some classic 'survive until shore' foods for you all to try: Pemmican, which is basically meat powder mixed with rendered fat and . . . I think some dried cranberries in this case; and hardtack. You're probably going to want to soak that in water first, so you don't break your teeth. And, you know, so the insects that've been trying to live on it too float to the surface."
Mmmm. Tasty.
"Welcome to the galley, aka a ship's kitchen. I hope you all brought your appetites, because today we're going to talk about pirate food!" His grin was just a little bit evil. The students had probably better watch out.
"Now, I'm guessing most of you all spent the last week on a pretty fancy ship, down in the Galapagos. It probably had big, varied menus, maybe even some room service on offer. But I'm guessing it probably didn't have any livestock on board. Or a garden. The fact is, the only food you're likely to find on any ship — other than what you can catch with a rod or a net — is whatever food you bring with you from land. When you're on a big modern ship with electricity and refrigeration, that's not too bad. You can store a lot of food, keep it fresh and good to eat for a long time. Back in the glory day of the pirate, though, that just wasn't true. This ship has no electricity. If you're sailing from somewhere cold enough, you might have ice for a little while, but otherwise, the only way to keep food from going bad on you is to salt or pickle it. And let me tell you: jerky gets old real fast.
"You can live on it for a good while though. Get some protein, fat, water, your body will keep trucking, hopefully long enough to get to your next port of call — with all your teeth. A classic insult in pirate world is 'ya scurvy dog!' It's referring, of course, to what happens when humans — the ones from Earth, anyway — don't get enough vitamin C in their diet. Their teeth fall out. They start bleeding all over the place. And it goes on long enough, they die. We know nowadays that humans need fresh produce to stave that off. Oranges. Broccoli. Kale. Tomatoes. Back in the day, they just knew that if you spent too long at sea, you were probably going to end up sick.
"Anyway." Duke straightened and brushed his hands together. "Enough lecturing. I've managed to dig up some classic 'survive until shore' foods for you all to try: Pemmican, which is basically meat powder mixed with rendered fat and . . . I think some dried cranberries in this case; and hardtack. You're probably going to want to soak that in water first, so you don't break your teeth. And, you know, so the insects that've been trying to live on it too float to the surface."
Mmmm. Tasty.
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