- Joined
- Dec 16, 2019
- Location
- Corinth MS
“Our Christmas rations were a half pint of meal to the man and a quart of beans to the company. The beans were put into the largest camp kettle we had and dully boiled….You know the usual effect of beans provided certain ingredients are not cooked out of them and they never are. That quart of beans had enough of said ingredients for a whole barrel and the effect was simply wonderful and overpowering. There was little if any sleep that night. The only place you could get a breath of fresh air was out in the middle of the parade ground. Inside the quarters the air was thick enough to cut with a knife."
As being a student of 19th century cooking I am well aware of the olfaction of which they speak. Hence why the muster dinner was outside. When you combine young men with foods such as these the worst is inevitably going to happen. Some things never change.