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Pirate Food
If ye be a pirate on a long journey across the Atlantic or in the
Caribbean ye might likes to know what ye be eatin' at any moments
notice. That is why I be here laddies and lassies to tell ye that
at first a pirate's grub be fresh and plentiful, but as ye journey
ventures on longer this pirate food turns scarce and what is left
be rotten to the core.
Pirate food, in fact, may not look like anything ye have been eatin'
before. The journey may start out all joyous with barrels of salted
meat, a cow down below, chickens for eggs, fresh vegetables, biskits,
beans, milk and a variety of pickled foods not to mention rum and
more rum.
But a pirate's appetite be fierce and some journeys, they be long.
So before a fortnight is gone, the supplies in the hull start to
suffer. Ye may start to notice that our pirate cook in the ship's
galley is using more spices than usual.
This be the first sign that we be running out of pirate food. The
spices and herbs are to cover up thee taste of rotting meat and
vegetables. Maggots crawl through thee meat and weevils get into
thee biskits.
When we be out for months at sea, we pirates finally eat thee cow
and then thee chickens for meat. Some of me pirates already got
thee scurvy from not having enough to fill thee bellies.
If we are near a port, sure as the sunset we will fill thee vessel
with as much meat and vegetables as we could get our hands and hooks
onto. But, if we be out to sea, we need to raid another ship with
fresh supplies. Otherwise they might just be in as dire straights
in regard to pirate food as we Arrrrr.
One problem with we pirates is that we ain't be good fishermen.
Yea, occasionally we be bringing in a sea turtle or some other creature
we could catch that wouldn't send us down to Davy Jones Locker,
but our mainstay be whatever we brung with us from the habitat of
landlubbers.
If we be havin' a lucky strike we might be bringing onboard dishes
like sour kraut, bumboo, hard tack, bone soup, sweetbreads, meat
pie, pirate's stew, honey cakes or even the occasional stuffed hen
that thee captain and his first mate may enjoy in private beyond
the prying eyes of the other mateys.
Now, if we had the luckiest strike of all and we pirates raided
an English ship with fresh supplies we might be dining on sheep,
ducks, turkey legs, boar, hogs and even goats. Of course we be eatin'
our mutton with our hands, wiping our mouths on our sleeves and
drinking rum while singing songs.
That be the pirate way.
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