Hardtack (or hard tack) is a simple type of dense
biscuit
A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
or
cracker
Cracker, crackers or The Crackers may refer to:
Animals
* ''Hamadryas'' (butterfly), or crackers, a genus of brush-footed butterflies
* '' Sparodon'', a monotypic genus whose species is sometimes known as "Cracker"
Arts and entertainment Films ...
made from
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
, water, and sometimes
salt
Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quantitie ...
. Hardtack is inexpensive and long-lasting. It is used for sustenance in the absence of perishable foods, commonly during long sea voyages, land migrations, and military campaigns.
Along with
salt pork
Salt pork is salt-cured pork. It is usually prepared from pork belly, or, more rarely, fatback. Salt pork typically resembles uncut side bacon, but is fattier, being made from the lowest part of the belly, and saltier, as the cure is stronger an ...
, hardtack was a standard
ration
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
for many militaries and navies from the 17th through the early 20th centuries.
Etymology
The name is derived from "tack", the British sailor slang for food. It is known by other names including ''brewis'' (possibly a
cognate
In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words in different languages that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymology, etymological ancestor in a proto-language, common parent language. Because language c ...
with "
brose
Brose is a Scots word for an uncooked form of porridge: oatmeal (and/or other meals) is mixed with boiling water (or stock) and allowed to stand for a short time. It is eaten with salt and butter, milk or buttermilk. A version of brose made w ...
"), ''cabin bread'', ''pilot bread'', ''sea biscuit'', ''soda crackers'', ''sea bread'' (as rations for sailors), ''ship's biscuit'', or pejoratively as ''dog biscuits'', ''molar breakers'', ''sheet iron'', ''tooth dullers'', ''armor plates'' (Germany) and ''worm castles''.
Australian and New Zealand military personnel knew them with some sarcasm as ''
ANZAC
The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force. It was formed in Egypt in December 1914, and operated during the Gallipoli campaign. General William Birdwood comma ...
wafers'' (not to be confused with
Anzac biscuit
The Anzac biscuit is a sweet biscuit, popular in Australia and New Zealand, made using rolled oats, flour, sugar, butter (or margarine), golden syrup, baking soda, boiling water, and (optionally) desiccated coconut. Anzac biscuits have long b ...
).
History
The introduction of the baking of processed
cereal
A cereal is any Poaceae, grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, Cereal germ, germ, and bran. Cereal Grain, grain crops are grown in greater quantit ...
s, including the creation of
flour
Flour is a powder made by grinding raw grains, roots, beans, nuts, or seeds. Flours are used to make many different foods. Cereal flour, particularly wheat flour, is the main ingredient of bread, which is a staple food for many culture ...
, provided a more reliable source of food.
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian sailors carried a flat brittle loaf of
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...
bread called
dhourra cake, while the
Romans
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
had a
biscuit
A biscuit is a flour-based baked and shaped food product. In most countries biscuits are typically hard, flat, and unleavened. They are usually sweet and may be made with sugar, chocolate, icing, jam, ginger, or cinnamon. They can also be ...
called bucellatum.
King Richard I
Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
of England left for the
Third Crusade
The Third Crusade (1189–1192) was an attempt by three European monarchs of Western Christianity (Philip II of France, Richard I of England and Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor) to reconquer the Holy Land following the capture of Jerusalem by ...
(1189–1192) with "biskit of muslin", which was a mixed grain compound of barley, bean flour, and rye.
The more refined captain's biscuit was made with finer flour. Some early physicians associated most medical problems with digestion. For sustenance and health, eating a biscuit daily was considered good for one's constitution.
As the biscuits would soften and become more palatable with time due to exposure to humidity and other weather elements, the bakers of the time made biscuits as hard as possible.
Because it was
baked
Baking is a method of preparing food that uses dry heat, typically in an oven, but can also be done in hot ashes, or on hot stones. The most common baked item is bread but many other types of foods can be baked. Heat is gradually transferre ...
hard, it would stay intact for years if kept dry. For long voyages, hardtack was baked four times, rather than the more common two, and prepared six months before sailing.
Because it is dry and hard, hardtack (when properly stored and transported) will survive rough handling and temperature extremes.
Un-moistened hardtack was inedible and “nearly dense enough to stop a musket ball".
To soften, hardtack was often dunked in
brine
Brine is a high-concentration solution of salt (NaCl) in water (H2O). In diverse contexts, ''brine'' may refer to the salt solutions ranging from about 3.5% (a typical concentration of seawater, on the lower end of that of solutions used for br ...
,
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
S ...
, or some other liquid, or
cooked into a skillet meal. In 1588, the daily allowance on board a
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
ship was one pound of hardtack, plus one gallon of
small beer
Small beer (also known as small ale or table beer) is a lager or ale that contains a lower amount of alcohol by volume than most others, usually between 0.5% and 2.8%. Sometimes unfiltered and porridge-like, it was a favoured drink in Medieval Eu ...
.
In 1667,
Samuel Pepys
Samuel Pepys (; 23 February 1633 – 26 May 1703) was an English diarist and naval administrator. He served as administrator of the Royal Navy and Member of Parliament and is most famous for the diary he kept for a decade. Pepys had no mariti ...
first regularized naval victualing with varied and nutritious rations.
Hardtack, crumbled or pounded fine and used as a thickener, was a key ingredient in New England seafood
chowder
Chowder is a thick soup prepared with milk or cream, a roux, and seafood or vegetables. Oyster crackers or saltines may accompany chowders as a side item, and cracker pieces may be dropped atop the dish. New England clam chowder is typically ...
s from the late 1700s.
[John Thorne and Matt Lewis Thorne, ''Serious Pig: An American Cook in Search of His Roots''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1996. pp.163–166.]
In 1801, Josiah Bent began a baking operation in
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...
, selling "
water crackers
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a s ...
", biscuits made of flour and water that would not deteriorate during long sea voyages from the port of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
. These were also used extensively as a source of food by the
gold prospectors
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
who migrated to the
gold mine Gold Mine may refer to:
*Gold Mine (board game)
*Gold Mine (Long Beach), an arena
*"Gold Mine", a song by Joyner Lucas from the 2020 album '' ADHD''
See also
* ''Gold'' (1974 film), based on the novel ''Gold Mine'' by Wilbur Smith
*Gold mining
...
s of
California in 1849. Since the journey took months, hardtack, which could be kept a long time, was stored in the
wagon train
''Wagon Train'' is an American Western series that aired 8 seasons: first on the NBC television network (1957–1962), and then on ABC (1962–1965). ''Wagon Train'' debuted on September 18, 1957, and became number one in the Nielsen ratings. It ...
s. Bent's company later sold the original hardtack crackers used by troops during the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
. The
G. H. Bent Company
The G. H. Bent Company, better known as Bent's Cookie Factory and recognized as bakers of "cold water crackers" since 1801, was a business specializing in cookies that operated in Milton, Massachusetts for over two centuries. Bent's also sol ...
operated in Milton and sold these items to Civil War re-enactors and others, up until at least 2016.
During the
American Civil War
The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...
(1861–1865), three-inch by three-inch (7.5 cm by 7.5 cm) hardtack was shipped from Union and Confederate storehouses.
Civil War soldiers generally found their rations to be unappealing, and joked about the poor quality of the hardtack in the satirical song "
Hard Tack Come Again No More". The song was sung to the tune of the
Stephen Foster
Stephen Collins Foster (July 4, 1826January 13, 1864), known also as "the father of American music", was an American composer known primarily for his parlour music, parlour and Minstrel show, minstrel music during the Romantic music, Romantic ...
song "
Hard Times Come Again No More
"Hard Times Come Again No More" (sometimes, "Hard Times") is an American parlor song written by Stephen Foster. It was published in New York by Firth, Pond & Co. in 1854 as Foster's Melodies No. 28. Well-known and popular in its day, both in Ame ...
", and featured lyrics describing the hardtack rations as being 'old and very wormy' and causing many 'stomachs sore'. Some of this hardtack had been stored from the 1846–1848
Mexican–American War
The Mexican–American War, also known in the United States as the Mexican War and in Mexico as the (''United States intervention in Mexico''), was an armed conflict between the United States and Mexico from 1846 to 1848. It followed the 1 ...
.
With
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
infestation common in
improperly stored provisions, soldiers would break up the hardtack and drop it into their morning coffee. This would not only soften the hardtack but the insects, mostly
weevil
Weevils are beetles belonging to the Taxonomic rank, superfamily Curculionoidea, known for their elongated snouts. They are usually small, less than in length, and Herbivore, herbivorous. Approximately 97,000 species of weevils are known. They b ...
larva
A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle.
The ...
e, would float to the top, and the soldiers could skim off the insects and resume consumption.
Some men also turned hardtack into a mush by breaking it up with blows from their rifle butts, then adding water. If the men had a frying pan, they could cook the mush into a lumpy pancake; otherwise they dropped the mush directly on the coals of their campfire. They also mixed hardtack with brown sugar, hot water, and sometimes whiskey to create what they called a pudding, to serve as dessert.
Royal Navy hardtack during
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...
's reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualing Yard at
Gosport
Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...
,
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
, stamped with the Queen's mark and the number of the oven in which it was baked. When machinery was introduced into the process, the dough was thoroughly mixed and rolled into sheets about two yards long and one yard wide, which were then stamped in one stroke into about sixty hexagonal shaped biscuits. The hexagonal shape meant a saving in material and time and made them easier to pack than the traditional circular shaped biscuit.
[''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge'' Vol III (1847), London, Charles Knight, p.354.] Hardtack remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor's diet until the introduction of
canned food
Canning is a method of food preservation in which food is processed and sealed in an airtight container (jars like Mason jars, and steel and tin cans). Canning provides a shelf life that typically ranges from one to five years, although un ...
s; canned meat was first marketed in 1814, and preserved beef in tins was officially introduced to the Royal Navy rations in 1847.
During the
Spanish–American War
, partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence
, image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg
, image_size = 300px
, caption = (clock ...
in 1898, some military hardtack was stamped with the phrase "Remember the
''Maine''".
Cocket bread
Cocket bread was a type of bread in England, as referenced in the
Assize of Bread and Ale
The Assize of Bread and Ale ( la, Assisa panis et cervisiae) was a 13th-century law in high medieval England, which regulated the price, weight and quality of the bread and beer manufactured and sold in towns, villages and hamlets. It was the firs ...
, 51
Hen. III (ca. 1266), where it is one of several kinds of bread named. It seems to have been hard
sea-biscuit, which perhaps had then some mark or seal (a
cocket
A seal is a device for making an impression in wax, clay, paper, or some other medium, including an embossment on paper, and is also the impression thus made. The original purpose was to authenticate a document, or to prevent interference with a ...
) on it; or else, was so called from its being designed for the use of the
coxswain
The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boat ...
s, or seamen.
["Cocket". ''Oxford English Dictionary''. Oxford University Press. 2nd ed. 1989]
Modern use
![Polish SU-1 Hardtack DB2K4744](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/df/Polish_SU-1_Hardtack_DB2K4744.jpg)
Commercially available hardtack is a significant source of
food energy
Food energy is chemical energy that animals (including humans) derive from their food to sustain their metabolism, including their muscle, muscular activity.
Most animals derive most of their energy from aerobic respiration, namely combining the ...
in a small, durable package. A store-bought 24-
gram
The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram.
Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...
cracker can contain 100
kilocalorie
The calorie is a unit of energy. For historical reasons, two main definitions of "calorie" are in wide use. The large calorie, food calorie, or kilogram calorie was originally defined as the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of on ...
s (20 percent from fat) from 2 grams of
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, respo ...
but practically no
fiber
Fiber or fibre (from la, fibra, links=no) is a natural or artificial substance that is significantly longer than it is wide. Fibers are often used in the manufacture of other materials. The strongest engineering materials often incorporate ...
.
Asia
Hardtack, baked with or without the addition of fat, was and still is a staple in Russian military rations, especially in the Navy, as infantry traditionally preferred simple dried bread when long shelf life was needed. Called ''galeta'' (галета) in Russian, it is usually somewhat softer and more crumbly than traditional hardtack, as most varieties made in Russia include at least some fat or shortening, making them closer to
saltine cracker
A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square cracker usually made from white flour, sometimes yeast (although many are yeast free), and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surf ...
s. One such variety, ''khlyebtsy armyeyskiye'' (хлебцы армейские), or "army crackers", is included in Russian
military rations
Military rations are food intended to feed military personnel. Types of military rations include garrison rations and field rations. They may be used where fresh meals are not available.
Australia
* Combat Ration One Man (CR1M)
Canada
* Indiv ...
. Other brands enjoy significant popularity among the civilian population as well, both among
campers and the general populace.
Ma Bo
Ma Bo (born August 22, 1947) is a Chinese non-fiction writer who currently resides in Beijing, China. After graduating from Beijing University with a degree in journalism, he wrote and published the book ''Blood Red Sunset'' in 1988 which sold ov ...
mentioned hardtack as being a staple food of Chinese hard-labor workers in
Inner Mongolia
Inner Mongolia, officially the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. Its border includes most of the length of China's border with the country of Mongolia. Inner Mongolia also accounts for a ...
, during the
Cultural Revolution
The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People's Republic of China (PRC) launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Its stated goal ...
.
Hardtack was a staple of military servicemen in Japan and
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
well into the late 20th century. It is known as ''Kanpan'' (乾パン) in Japan and ''geonbbang (geonppang, 건빵)'' in South Korea, meaning 'dry bread', and is still sold as a fairly popular snack food in both countries. (Canned kanpan is also distributed in Japan as emergency rations in case of earthquake, flood, or other disaster.) A harder hardtack than Kanpan, called ''Katapan'' (堅パン), is historically popular in Kitakyushu City, Fukuoka, Japan as one of its regional specialty foods. In Korea, geonppang (hardtacks) mixed with
byulsatang (star candy) as a medley is considered a popular snack.
Europe
In
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, hardtack was and still is a traditional addition to a fish and vegetable salad called
cappon magro
''Cappon magro'' (; lij, capon magro ), is an elaborate Genoese salad of seafood and vegetables over hardtack arranged into a decorative pyramid and dressed with a rich sauce.
A similar but much less elaborate dish is called ''capponata'' in L ...
.
In
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, hardtack is included in every military ration and colloquially known as ''Panzerplatten'' (tank plates) or Panzerkekse (tank cookies). Due to conscription for many years, a large part of the male population knows about them from their service and thus, they became very popular even in civilian use. The company that makes them also sells them unaltered to the civilian market. They are said to have many properties, some jokingly assigned, such as the ability to combine them with standard issue shoe polish to create a flammable device, or to glue them onto vehicles to increase their armor protection. One quality, liked by many soldiers, is its ability to hinder one's need to defecate, some claiming they didn't need to defecate for 3 days after consuming large quantities of them.
In
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
, hardtack wafers (known by their official name: ''Suchary Specjalne SU-1'' or ''SU-2 - Special Hardtacks'') are still present in
Polish Army
The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...
military rations. In military slang they are jokingly called ''Panzerwaffel'' (tank wafers), a pun on
Panzerwaffe
''Panzerwaffe'', later also ''Panzertruppe'' (German for "Armoured Force", "Armoured Arm" or "Tank Force". ''Waffe'': ombat"arm") refers to a command within the Heer of the German Wehrmacht, responsible for the affairs of panzer (tank) and ...
, the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previous ...
armored motorized forces (the German words "Panzer" and "Waffe" mean "tank" and "weapon", respectively). They are also very popular amongst civilians, and are a common part of a meal in some regions.
Melanesia
Hardtack remains popular today in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
. The Lae Biscuit Company, which is the most commonly found and popular brand in that country, makes multiple lines of different varieties of hardtack.
North America
Canada
Hardtack is a mainstay in parts of Canada.
Purity Factories
Purity Factories Limited is a food processing company based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Founded in 1924 by C. C. Pratt, A. E. Hickman, and W. R. Goobie, Purity is known for its cream crackers, Peppermint Nobs, Candy Kisses, and fla ...
is one Canadian maker of traditional hardtack. They specialize in a high density, high caloric product that is well suited for use by expeditions.
Located in
St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador
St. John's is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador, located on the eastern tip of the Avalon Peninsula on the island of Newfoundland.
The city spans and is the easternmost city in North America ...
, they currently bake three varieties of hardtack:
* The first variety, a cracker similar to a cross between an unsalted
saltine
A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square cracker usually made from white flour, sometimes yeast (although many are yeast free), and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surf ...
and hardtack,
Crown Pilot Crackers
Crown Pilot was a brand of cracker popular in much of New England in the United States. It was manufactured by Nabisco (a subsidiary of Kraft Foods as of 2000) until it was discontinued in the first quarter of 2008. The cracker was unsalted, and ...
. It was a popular item in much of New England and was manufactured by
Nabisco
Nabisco (, abbreviated from the earlier name National Biscuit Company) is an American manufacturer of cookies and snacks headquartered in East Hanover, New Jersey. The company is a subsidiary of Illinois-based Mondelēz International.
Nabisco's ...
until it was discontinued in the first quarter of 2008. It was discontinued once before, in 1996, but a small uprising by its supporters brought it back in 1997. This variety comes in two sub-varieties, Flaky and Barge biscuits.
* The second is Hard Bread, a traditional hardtack, and is the principal ingredient in
fish and brewis
Fish and brewis (pronounced "brews") is a traditional Newfoundland meal consisting of cod and hard bread or hard tack. With the abundance of cod around the coasts of Newfoundland and Labrador it became synonymous with many Newfoundland househo ...
, a traditional Newfoundland and Labrador meal.
* The third variety is Sweet Bread, which is slightly softer than regular hardtack due to a higher sugar and shortening content, and is eaten as a snack food.
United States
![Sailor Boy Pilot Bread in Barrow, Alaska](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e0/Sailor_Boy_Pilot_Bread_in_Barrow%2C_Alaska.jpg)
Interbake Foods of
Richmond, Virginia
(Thus do we reach the stars)
, image_map =
, mapsize = 250 px
, map_caption = Location within Virginia
, pushpin_map = Virginia#USA
, pushpin_label = Richmond
, pushpin_m ...
, produces most of the commercially available hardtack in the United States, under the "Sailor Boy" label. As of January 2015, 98 percent of its production goes to
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
. Alaskans are among the last to still eat hardtack as a significant part of their normal diet. Originally imported as a food product that could endure the rigors of transportation throughout Alaska, hardtack has remained a favored food even as other, less robust foods have become more readily available. Alaskan law requires all
light aircraft
A light aircraft is an aircraft that has a maximum gross takeoff weight of or less.Crane, Dale: ''Dictionary of Aeronautical Terms, third edition'', page 308. Aviation Supplies & Academics, 1997.
Light aircraft are used as utility aircraft c ...
to carry "survival gear", including food.
[Title AS 02.35.110. Uniform Air Licensing Act, Emergency rations and equipment.](_blank)
/ref> Therefore, the blue-and-white Sailor Boy Pilot Bread boxes are ubiquitous at Alaskan airstrips, in cabins, and in virtually every village. Unlike the traditional hardtack recipe, Sailor Boy Pilot Bread contains leavening
In cooking, a leavening agent () or raising agent, also called a leaven () or leavener, is any one of a number of substances used in doughs and batters that cause a foaming action (gas bubbles) that lightens and softens the mixture. An altern ...
and vegetable shortening.
Hardtack is also a common pantry item in Hawaii, and The Diamond Bakery's "Saloon Pilot" cracker is available there in grocery and convenience stores. The round hardtack crackers are available in large- and small-diameter sizes.
Those who buy commercially baked hardtack in the continental US are often those who stock up on long-lasting foods for disaster survival ration
Rationing is the controlled distribution of scarce resources, goods, services, or an artificial restriction of demand. Rationing controls the size of the ration, which is one's allowed portion of the resources being distributed on a particular ...
s. Hardtack can compose the bulk of dry food storage for some campers.
Many other people who currently buy or bake hardtack in the US are Civil War re-enactors.[Olustee Battlefield Reenactment](_blank)
Everything from bacon and hardtack. Retrieved 2008-10-23. One of the units that continues to bake hardtack for living history
Living history is an activity that incorporates historical tools, activities and dress into an interactive presentation that seeks to give observers and participants a sense of stepping back in time. Although it does not necessarily seek to ree ...
is the USS ''Tahoma'' Marine Guard Infantry of the Washington State Civil War Association.
See also
* G. H. Bent Company
The G. H. Bent Company, better known as Bent's Cookie Factory and recognized as bakers of "cold water crackers" since 1801, was a business specializing in cookies that operated in Milton, Massachusetts for over two centuries. Bent's also sol ...
– Bent's Cookie Factory were purveyors of "water crackers" and hardtack during the American Civil War
* Baati
Baati is a hard, unleavened bread cooked in most of areas of Rajasthan, and in some parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat states of India. It is prized for its long shelf life and high nutritional content, and, in desert areas, for the minima ...
* Bannock
Bannock may mean:
* Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle
* Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying
* Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...
* Compressed food bar – modern analogue
* Cracker (food)
A cracker is a flat, dry baking, baked food typically made with flour. Flavorings or seasonings, such as salt, herbs, seeds, or cheese, may be added to the dough or sprinkled on top before baking. Crackers are often branded as a nutritious and c ...
* Cream cracker
Cream cracker is a flat, usually square, savoury biscuit. The name "cream crackers" refers to the method in which the mixture is creamed during manufacture. The cream cracker is traditionally prepared using fermented dough.
They are made from w ...
* Crisp bread
Crispbread ( sv, knäckebröd (lit. crack bread), ''hårt bröd'' (hard bread), ''hårdbröd'', ''spisbröd'' (stove bread), ''knäcke'', da, knækbrød, no, knekkebrød, fi, näkkileipä or näkkäri, et, näkileib, is, hrökkbrauð, fo, k ...
* List of breads
This is a list of notable baked or steamed bread varieties. This list does not include cakes, pastries, or fried dough foods, which are listed in separate Wikipedia articles. It also does not list foods in which bread is an ''ingredient'' which is ...
* List of crackers
This is a list of crackers. A cracker is a baked good typically made from a grain-and-flour dough and usually manufactured in large quantities. Crackers (roughly equivalent to savory biscuits in the United Kingdom and the Isle of Man) are usuall ...
* Matzo
Matzah or matzo ( he, מַצָּה, translit=maṣṣā'','' pl. matzot or Ashk. matzos) is an unleavened flatbread that is part of Jewish cuisine and forms an integral element of the Passover festival, during which '' chametz'' (leaven and ...
* Meal, Ready-to-Eat
A Meal, Ready-to-Eat (MRE) is a self-contained, individual field ration in lightweight packaging purchased by the United States Department of Defense for its service members for use in combat or field conditions where other food is not availab ...
* Rusk
A rusk is a hard, dry biscuit or a twice-baked bread. It is sometimes used as a teether for babies. In some cultures, rusk is made of cake, rather than bread: this is sometimes referred to as cake rusk. In the UK, the name also refers to a whea ...
* Saltine cracker
A saltine or soda cracker is a thin, usually square cracker usually made from white flour, sometimes yeast (although many are yeast free), and baking soda, with most varieties lightly sprinkled with coarse salt. It has perforations over its surf ...
* Tsampa
Tsampa or Tsamba (; ) is a Tibetan and Himalayan staple foodstuff, particularly prominent in the central part of the region. It is glutinous meal made from roasted flour, usually barley flour and sometimes also wheat flour. It is usually mixed ...
* Water biscuit
A water biscuit or water cracker is a type of savoury cracker. They are thin, hard and brittle, and usually served with cheese or wine. Originally produced in the 19th century as a version of the ship's biscuit, water biscuits continue to be po ...
References
Further reading
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External links
History and Recipe for Hardtack
fro
The American Table
863 American Civil War Hardtack.
{{Authority control
Alaskan cuisine
Biscuits
Crackers (food)
Military food
Fur trade
Maritime culture