Yummy Iron Rations

[Glade Riven]

Oh, and beans. Can't forget beans. In fact, anything that you can purchase in the grocery store that comes dried (beans, rice) that can be reconstituted into edibility by adding water and cooking. Potatos and corn (maize), though, are "New World" foods that were later imported into Europe, if such details are importaint for you. Armies usually ran on the cheapest and most plentiful staple foods they could get their hands on, often from the countryside they were walking through. May not be practical for adventurers, though.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

OTOH, there are not-so yummy, nutritionally complete foods like this:

Nutraloaf

I've seen news reporters spit this stuff out, and if you read the wiki entry, you'll note that there have been legal challenges to it's use in prison systems.

 

[Umbran]

No wonder infection was rampant when the troops were wounded, their bodies immune systems must have been soused.

Lack of germ theory probably played a bigger part of that. If you don't know how your sickness starts, you can't effectively prevent it. Little of what we'd today call antiseptic procedure... or even something so simple as soap... you get the idea. Infection was rampant because, by today's standards, little at all was done to prevent it.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Dunno ... sure looks like a fruitcake that has been recycled for a couple of holidays. but I bet it beats hardtack ... or MREs.

 

[Thunderfoot]

Dunno <SNIP> but I bet it beats <SNIP>... or MREs.

Which of course stands for Meals Refused by Ethiopians...

[MENTION=177]Umbran[/MENTION], true, but we were discussing nutrition vice medicine.

 

[RedTonic]

I like MREs.

Chocolate bars are still part of that; probably wouldn't be economical for a medieval setting unless cocoa trees are intensively cultivated in the given nation/region. Berries weren't that rare, and in many areas, farmers released their pigs into local woodlands to forage nuts as well. Given that, I'm inclined to say the cost of nuts varied by locale. If the trees were common to an area...

 

[El Mahdi]

...but I bet it beats...MREs.

Hey, some of those aren't too bad...as long as you use the included tobasco!

Remember those greenish omelots in the early MRE's? They always had a little extra eggish-liquid in them...(*cringe*) Or those dehydrated pork patties...

And who can forget Country Captain Chicken!!!!


But hey, at least if you didn't eat the main meal in the MRE, you could still have fun making a bomb out of the heating pack (of course though, I would have never done a thing like that...)

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Which of course stands for Meals Refused by Ethiopians...

BWAH-HA-HA-HA-haaaaaa!

 

[Scott DeWar]

Hey, some of those aren't too bad...as long as you use the included tobasco!

Remember those greenish omelots in the early MRE's? They always had a little extra eggish-liquid in them...(*cringe*) Or those dehydrated pork patties...

And who can forget Country Captain Chicken!!!!


But hey, at least if you didn't eat the main meal in the MRE, you could still have fun making a bomb out of the heating pack (of course though, I would have never done a thing like that...)

but the ham or beef preheated on the engine block of a jeep was quite tasty!

otoh:

I know the subject of the bible is considered off limits,but i have to inclued the following:
date cakes, raisin cakes and Ezekiel bread.

 

[scourger]

...as long as you use the included tobasco!...

Tabasco sauce features rather prominently in our current Realms of Cthulhu game, and it has been very interesting learning about the history of that condiment. One of the early owners was a retired military officer and cultivated its inclusion at mess halls. I think that's how it eventually made it into MREs.