Jolly Roger-and All That Jazz
The Golden Age of Piracy may also have been the Golden Age of Gourmet. Consider: pirates had to be creative. Their home and hearth were wherever the four winds blew them. They constantly faced a new assortment of exotic foods and spices to explore and experiment with. "Booty" could just as well turn out to be the finest spices on the prizes they captured. And most certainly they took for granted the fresh bounty of the sea, an abundance of fish, shrimp, oysters and other delicacies from the deep.
Whether it was a hard day of pirating or the boredom of the doldrums-either would brew a hearty appetite, and appetite is something pirates knew all about. From their original destinations in Spain and England, to anchorages in the Islands and on to the New World-who had better opportunity to taste and test and try new foods combined in old recipes adapted to necessary expediency?
No inhibitions here! No cookbooks in the galley. No chefs on board. No secret to good food except a hunger and a willingness to put your scabbard to a higher and better use!
Some of the recipes include:
Filet of Fish with Rum Crabmeat Stuffing
Blackbeard's Gun Powder Punch
Sea Bass in Saffron Sauce
Fish Soufflé
And more! Enjoy!
