Hardtack (or hard tack) is a type of thick, hard cracker made from flour, a little water, and sometimes salt. It is very cheap and can stay good for a long time if kept dry, making it useful as food when fresh food is not available. It was often used during long trips on the sea, land journeys, and military battles. Along with salt pork and corned beef, hardtack was a common food supply for many armies and navies from the 17th century to the early 20th century.
Etymology
The name comes from "tack," a word British sailors used to mean food. The first known use of this term, recorded in the Oxford English Dictionary, was in 1830.
This item is also called by many other names, such as brewis (possibly related to "brose"), cabin bread, pilot bread, sea biscuit, soda crackers, sea bread (used as food for sailors), ship's biscuit, and in a negative way, dog biscuits, molar breakers, sheet iron, tooth dullers, weevil hardtack, Panzerplatten ("armor plates" in Germany), and worm castles. Australian and New Zealand soldiers sometimes called it ANZAC wafers, though this is different from Anzac biscuits.
History
The baking of processed cereals, including the creation of flour, provided a more reliable source of food. Egyptian sailors carried a flat, brittle loaf of millet bread called dhourra cake. A cracker called bucellatum is known from Ancient Rome. King Richard I of England left for the Third Crusade (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 5th century BCE physicians, such as Hippocrates, associated most medical problems with digestion. For sustenance and health, eating a biscuit daily was considered good for one's constitution.
Because hardtack biscuits were baked hard, they 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. Dry hardtack is dense and virtually inedible; troops issued it usually made it edible by dampening or crushing the biscuits.
When James VI and I set sail for Norway in October 1589, his provisions included 15,000 "bisquit baiks." In 1665, Samuel Pepys first regularized naval victualling in the Royal Navy with varied and nutritious rations, to include "one pound daily of good, clean, sweet, sound, well-baked and well-conditioned wheaten biscuit." By at least 1731, it was officially codified in Naval regulation that each sailor was rationed one pound (450 g) of biscuit per day.
Hardtack was also utilized by the Pilgrims during their 1620 voyage, primarily due to its easy storage and long lifespan. However, the travelers struggled with insect infestation, as well as having to dip the hardtack into water for it to be edible. Hardtack, crumbled or pounded fine and used as a thickener, was a key ingredient in New England seafood chowders from the late 1700s.
In 1801, Josiah Bent began a baking operation in Milton, Massachusetts, selling "water crackers" made of flour and water that would be resistant to deterioration during long sea voyages from the port of Boston. These were also used extensively as a source of food by the gold prospectors who migrated to the gold mines of California in 1849. Since the journey took months, hardtack was stored in the wagon trains. Bent's company later sold the original hardtack crackers used by troops during the American Civil War. The G. H. Bent Company operated in Milton and sold these items to Civil War re-enactors and others until 2018.
By 1818, the United States Navy had outlined that each sailor was to be given 14 ounces (400 g) of bread per day as part of their daily ration while serving onboard in the form of hardtack. The procurement of these stores was the responsibility of the ship's Purser, and was not strictly outlined by the Board of Navy Commissioners.
During the American Civil War (1861–1865), three-by-three-inch (7.6 by 7.6 cm) hardtack was shipped from Union and Confederate storehouses. Civil War soldiers generally found their rations to be unappealing; hardtack's ability to host worms earned it the "worm castles" nickname, and soldiers 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 song "Hard Times Come Again No More," and featured lyrics describing the hardtack rations as being "old and very wormy" and causing many "stomachs sore." John Billings, a soldier in the 10th Massachusetts Battery, outlines many details on how hardtack was utilized during the war in his book Hard Tack and Coffee.
With insect 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 larvae, would float to the top, and the soldiers could skim them off and eat the biscuits. The grubs "left no distinctive flavor behind." Some men 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's reign was made by machine at the Royal Clarence Victualing Yard at Gosport, Hampshire, 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 (6 ft; 72 in; 183 cm) long and one yard (3 ft; 36 in; 91 cm) wide, which were then stamped in one stroke into about sixty hexagonal shaped biscuits. The hexagonal shape saved material and time and made them easier to pack compared to the traditional circular shaped biscuit. Hardtack remained an important part of the Royal Navy sailor's diet until the introduction of canned foods; canned meat was first marketed in 1814, and preserved beef in tins was officially introduced to the Royal Navy rations in 1847.
As early as the Spanish–American War in 1898, some military hardtack was used by service members in etching or writing notes, often commemorating events or coined with phrases of the time.
Cocket bread was a type of bread in England, as referenced in the Assize of Bread and Ale (temp. incert.) (c. 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) on it; or else, was so called from its being designed for the use of the coxswains, or seamen.
Modern use
Hardtack is a good source of energy in a small, long-lasting package. A 24-gram store-bought cracker can provide 100 calories (20 percent from fat) from 2 grams of protein but has almost no fiber.
Ma Bo mentioned that hardtack was a main food for hard-labor workers in Inner Mongolia, China, during the Cultural Revolution. It was also a common food for soldiers in Japan and South Korea until the late 20th century. In Japan, it is called Kanpan (乾パン), meaning "dry bread," and in South Korea, it is called geonbbang (건빵). These snacks are still sold in both countries. Canned Kanpan is also used as emergency food in Japan during disasters like earthquakes or floods. A harder version of hardtack, called Katapan (堅パン), is a regional specialty in Kitakyushu and Fukuoka, Japan. In Korea, geonppang mixed with byulsatang (star candy) is a popular snack.
Hardtack, made with or without fat, has been used in Russian military rations, especially in the Navy. Russian hardtack is called galeta (галета) and is usually softer and crumbly than traditional hardtack because it often includes fat or shortening. One type, khlyebtsy armyeyskiye (хлебцы армейские), or "army crackers," is included in Russian military food. Other brands are also popular among civilians, including campers and the general public.
In Genoa, hardtack is a traditional part of a fish and vegetable salad called cappon magro.
In Germany, hardtack is included in every military ration and is called Panzerplatten (armor plates) or Panzerkekse (armor cookies/tank cookies). Because of long-term military service, many men knew about them and they became popular in civilian life. The company that makes them also sells them to the public. Some jokingly claim that hardtack can be used with shoe polish to make a flammable device or glued to vehicles for extra armor. Soldiers also note that eating large amounts of hardtack can reduce the need to use the bathroom for several days.
In Poland, hardtack wafers (officially called Suchary Specjalne SU-1 or SU-2) are still used in military rations. Soldiers sometimes call them Panzerwaffel, a joke based on the German term Panzerwaffe, which refers to armored forces. These wafers are also popular among civilians in some regions.
Examples of hardtack include:
– Lithuanian SU-1 hardtack
– A ship's biscuit, claimed to be the oldest in the world (around 1852), displayed in a museum in Kronborg, Denmark
Hardtack is a common food in parts of Canada. Purity Factories in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, makes traditional hardtack. They produce three varieties:
1. Crown Pilot Crackers: A cracker similar to unsalted saltines. It was popular in New England and was made by Nabisco until 2008. It comes in two types: Flaky and Barge biscuits.
2. Hard Bread: A traditional hardtack used in fish and brewis, a meal from Newfoundland and Labrador.
3. Sweet Bread: Slightly softer than regular hardtack due to added sugar and shortening, and eaten as a snack.
Interbake Foods in Richmond, Virginia, makes most hardtack sold in the United States under the "Sailor Boy" brand. As of January 2015, 98 percent of its production went to Alaska. Alaskans still eat hardtack regularly because it is long-lasting and can survive harsh conditions. Alaskan law requires all small planes to carry survival supplies, including food. This is why Sailor Boy Pilot Bread boxes are common in Alaska. Unlike traditional hardtack, Sailor Boy Pilot Bread includes leavening and vegetable shortening.
Hardtack is also a common item in Hawaii, where The Diamond Bakery's "Saloon Pilot" cracker is sold in stores. These round crackers come in large and small sizes.
In the United States, people who buy hardtack are often those preparing for emergencies or disasters. However, most survival foods are now in the form of ration bars or freeze-dried meals. Others who buy or bake hardtack are Civil War reenactors, such as the 3rd US Regular Infantry Reenactors, who make and eat hardtack during reenactment events.