What the Pirates ate?

[SPIEZ]

This may have been how it was the first few weeks at sea
because meat and rum was plentiful but the rest of the voyage was not so plentiful. In fact the food that was available further into the voyage was a bit scarce and a bit on the rotten and gross side of things; unless they lucked up on stealing food from a ships galley after a raid. Utensils were not exactly the fashion on a ship either; so if you're thinking about men eating with their fingers most of the time, you would be right.

What did Pirates eat and drink?

The first couple of weeks at sea was full of meat, cheese, fresh veggies, eggs, and you name it. After that the food slowly but surely started to spoil, rot, mold and go rancid. That's why most of the food in storage was either dry beans, pickled food or salted food like salted meat. The quality and variety of the food was certainly found lacking after a few months at sea. Chickens were kept for the eggs until they were eaten or died. Cows were kept for the milk until the food supply for the cow had depleted. When the cow no longer had food to live, it was then time to eat the cow.

The meat was frequently rotten and it was very common to see maggots. The bread was full of weevils, even the hardtack sea biscuits which usually lasted for up to 12 months if kept dry. Pirates were known to catch a sea turtle here and there which was a welcomed meal. Bones from everything was kept to make Pirate Bone Soup for when the going got rough.

Galley cooks were known to use a lot of herbs and spices to cover up the taste of spoiled ingredients. Vegetables and meat were usually pickled or salted to preserve the food. Ships on long voyages relied on biscuits, dried beans and salted beef to live. Without proper food, many sailors got sick and died of scurvy.

Now, having said all that; it must also be said that in the Mediterranean Sea, ships were never far from a pirate haven, the crew would land as often as possible and could stock up on food - they could also eat and drink as much as they wanted while on land

 

[SPIEZ]

1) Sour Krout / Sour Kraut / Saucerkraut
Sour Krout (Sauerkraut pronounced / (ˈsaÊŠrkraÊŠt, German "¦ The word comes directly from the German language , which literally translates to sour cabbage.) "¦ was a common dish found on ships and was prepared in the German manner, with water and salt. Sour Krout would keep for a long time and part of it's popularity was because it would prevent scurvy. Sea water was actually used to boil the cabbage to make the Sour Krout.

2) Bombo / Bumboo
They drank bombo or bumboo, a mixture of rum, water, sugar, and nutmeg. Rumfustian was
another popular drink that blended raw eggs with sugar, sherry, gin, and beer. Pirates also enjoyed beer, sherry, brandy, and port

3) Salted Meat:
"Salted meat was a staple of the mariner's diet in the
Age of Sail. It was stored in barrels, and often had to
last for months spent out of sight of land. The basic
Royal Navy diet consisted of salted beef, salted pork,
ship's biscuit, and oatmeal
(see National Oatmeal Month or porridge recipe),
supplemented with smaller quantities of peas, cheese
and butter. Even in 1938, Eric Newby found the diet on
the tall ship Moshulu to consist almost entirely of
salted meat. Moshulu's lack of refrigeration left little
choice as the ship made voyages which could exceed
100 days passage between ports."

4) Hard Tack or (better know as Sea Biscuits by sea goers)
Hard Tack was a pirates bread- it was used during long sea voyages and eaten along side of stews & soups like Bone Soup. Sea Biscuits were usually dunked in water, brine, coffee, broth (or some other liquid) ; floated on top of soup so it could soak up the liquid of the soup, or placed on top of food cooking in a skillet meal.

 

[Bhadra]

Hmm .. what else? why couldn't they catch fish, dolphins, sharks etc and what about dry fruits. The Pakistani terrorist survive on dry fruits in J&K for many days.

And why this classification and separation for Pirates only. It means the navies also had the same system of food? Uless you mean Pirates had smaller boats and were not that well organised?

Did they eat each others?

 

[SPIEZ]

Hmm .. what else? why couldn't they catch fish, dolphins, sharks etc and what about dry fruits. The Pakistani terrorist survive on dry fruits in J&K for many days.

And why this classification and separation for Pirates only. It means the navies also had the same system of food? Uless you mean Pirates had smaller boats and were not that well organised?

Did they eat each others?

They were much smaller and very much less organised.
Also they used primitive method. The Navies were well organised and had access to better food.

Pirates used Chickens till the gave eggs, cows till they gave milk and once food for these ran out, they themselves turned into food.
They have often captured Sea turtles and other creatures as food