"What is the next ingredient?" "Nutmeg." "What? No its not." "Yes, it is." "What' your name, soldier." "Townsends, sir." "Oh, right, carry on. Nutmeg it is."
"Doctor Johnson proposed to define the word ‘oats’ thus: ‘A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.’ And I replied: ‘Aye, and that’s why England has such fine horses, and Scotland such fine people.’" -James Boswell.
Vin lmao I know I was just joking I was in the marines and sometimes we eat the same bond things everyday and it gave me flashback to the “again” kind of thing haha
I can proudly say, yes i have watched a man boil water with oatmeal and then add molasses and eat it for 8 minutes when i could've been asleep at 2 am on a week day.
You are spot on sir 👏👏👏👏 I said that if you say Burgoo really slowly it sounds like Porridge 👍👍👍👍 I myself, abserlutly Love Burgoo/Porridge and have eaten it all my life, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe the Bur is short for Butter and goo is the gooey Porridge that's mixed with a pinch of salt and molasses or as we do it, mix in some Honey ???
@@dizzybabyy211 ah yes, clicking on a video to answer a question that could be answered in two seconds, yet isn't for multiple minutes is totally the very definition of being entertained.
HEHEHE I AM A SUPAHSTAR SKETCH [ace736] if it could be answered in 2 sec why even click the video ? Oh yeah thats right cause ur interested in the video ... dumbass
You have to keep in mind that the beer was what's known as "small beer", which had just enough alcohol to keep it from turning bad as water does, but not enough to get you intoxicated. It's along the same lines as grog.
Pretty sure Drachinifel talked about the beer served in Navy rations as being somewhere around 1% alcohol. I don't know what their beer is like over there, but most of the mainstream beers here in the states are around 5%. So a gallon seems like a lot but in reality it's like drinking 2 modern beers. I'm just curious what it tasted like, I'd love to be able to go back and try it.
As soon as I heard “burgoo” I thought about burghul, an Arabic term for a food made from parboiled groats. Wikipedia suggests a Welsh etymology for burgoo so I put the Arabic hypothesis aside, but today I casually searched the Oxford Dictionary, and guess what? Burgoo actually comes from burghul! Makes 100% sense after all.
Wiktionary says: "Of unclear origin. Apparently from the dialectal term burgood (“yeast”). Perhaps ultimately from Welsh burym (“yeast”) + cawl (“cabbage, gruel”),[1] or perhaps from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul).[2]"
It migth sound fancy and exotic when one doesnt know the language, but good ol' "boiled grain" is a nigh on universal classic. In norway this would probably go by the name "grøt".
@@henryviape1201 Every culture in the world has some boiled grain once agriculture develops whether it is rice porridge in China, wheat in Mesopotamia, millet in Africa, corn in the Americas, Oats in Northern Europe, etc. Grøt is obviously similar to the English groat and Old English grytt and in the US a corn porridge is called grits.
Medieval era 5th to the 15th century this is the 18th century. Remember this guy is inspired by a time that America was being discovered the medieval era is centered around Europe and the middle east. If you want to know what food was back then it's real simple everything is cooked to death in water they used bread plates and after they ate the bread. This was in castles most peasants probably were happy if they had food at all.
Kwa ndo There’s a few medieval cookbooks man, don’t knock medieval cooking until you’ve tried it, they knew what they were doing. Sour flavours were the most popular back then.
I can just imagine the sailors trying to sleep on the creaky wooden boats during rough seas in those times. The saying is "That's when the ships were made of wood and the men were made of iron". Really enjoying these wonderful videos.
"Hey...you making oatmeal?" "Nah, mate. I'm gonna whip me up some of this burGOO real quick..." "Did...did you......wtf did you just say?" "You 'eard me. Come get some of this burGOO. Fix ye right up." "Why are you putting so much emphasis on the 'goo'? And why are you talking like a character from Oliver Twist??" "I said what I said."
It IS just oatmeal ... Once you have cooked the oats, you can put anything on them you like. What you put on them doesn't make it "burgoo", it's still oatmeal and dude here is just guessing what they might put on their oatmeal.
@@acts9531 You weren't listening closely enough. Remember the book at the beginning? The memoir of a British sailor, that's where he finally turned up the recipe for 'burgoo' So he wasn't guessing, he made it according to how it was done in the Royal Navy during the 18th century.
This channel truly feels like it’s meant to be on actual cable TV or Hulu. The music, the script, the topic, all of it feels like the educational videos I actually enjoyed as a child.
For those wondering...the 1-gallon beer daily ration was in place of what we now drink everyday and take for granted...CLEAN filtered water. Back in the 18th century, fresh clean water was even difficult to find while on land and any fresh water on a ship is reserved for cooking (and possibly bathing). Beer could be stored for long periods of time at relatively warm temperatures and would provide the sailors with enough water to keep them hydrated plus the alcohol helped with moral etc. Cheers!
That’s how it was in the North Atlantic; beer doesn’t keep very well in the tropics without refrigeration. Fortunately, there _was_ an alcohol that would keep for a long time in hot weather before spoiling that could be produced in great quantities for a reasonable price in the very place this was a problem. *_Rum._*
On land, you can scoop water from the nearest river or even stream and boil it freely to drink, but at sea it is more difficult because it was very problematic to remove the salt from the water back then.
Growing up in Kentucky we always had something called burgoo that was pretty much a throw whatever you have in the pantry to make a stew. Similar to a gumbo.
I'm English and it's link to the Royal Navy is a stew with leftovers of any meat and any vegetables cooked with porridge of any grain , oats , wheat , barley left over from breakfast like an Irish stew .
Burgoo was one of my favorite memories of the Horatio Hornblower novels. In it, as captain he was provided burgoo for breakfast and a biscuit that he had to tap to drive the weevils out of it. In addition, he had "Coffee" , which was actually an extract of fresh water with the dregs of burnt biscuit that it was strained though. In the novel, they reach the South American coast and revicualate with South American Delights. But...dang...burgoo...read the novels...it's great....
I loved the part when Hornblower was fighting to keep his steely composure when hearing the South American rebels could supply his ship with coffee, cigars and rum! By God!
I have been eating oatmeal sweetened with molasses and fruit for a couple weeks once a day. I mill the oatmeal before cooking. Had no idea I was eating burgoo. If you mill the oats before cooking it makes the oatmeal smoother but you have to stir vigorously otherwise it clumps.
John, I've so thoroughly enjoyed your videos and the old world craftsmanship of the things you build and foods you prepare. As an experienced sailor (I've sailed sailboats on the open ocean, in Alaska's Inside Passage, etc), I can tell you that this burgoo would be like the perfect breakfast meal. These ships didn't have much in the way of heat and in England during the late fall and winter, this meal would have been a warm, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs dish that would have been appreciated. One thing I've learned from a few thousand miles of sailing is that you work hard, so a hearty meal shared with friends goes a long way to making a passage that much more comfortable. It becomes something to look forward to! And adding the molasses and nutmeg? Over the top!
Jon, You will need to come down to Kentucky in September. All over Kentucky are "Burgoo Festivals." You will not be bored with the versions. Traditionally here, burgoo was made after the fall hunting and animal slaughtering was done, and the last of the harvest was taken in. The holler folk would get together and have a big potlatch contributing whatever vegetables, greens, and assorted wild and domestic meats to the cookpots.
Loblolly is the also the original term for us Corpsman who brought food and cared for the sick and injured. We were eventualy called pharmacists mates then after along while Corpsman.
It is interesting to see the same word use for two different dishes. I grew up eating burgoo in Kentucky as a stew made with lots of vegetables and different types of meat.
a little further info on 'loblolly', the word remained in use for the very thin gruel that was served to invalids and wounded in the sick-bay of Royal Navy ships, and the common name for the sick-bay attendant who served them their food (among many other duties) was the 'loblolly boy'. *edit* Just heard your comment about 'officer's burgoo' and actually there WAS a special version of burgoo called 'skillygalee' which is burgoo kicked up in flavor with butter and sugar, possibly goat's milk if it is available.
First time I read the word was in the novel Sharpe's Trafalgar. They eat Burgoo more often than they wanted. Thank you for showing me what it might have looked like.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 In the USA Oatmeal is made from Oats, Grits is made from corn. Its always been like this as far as im aware. Whoever made your oatmeal mightve just messed it up, although I dont know how thats possible because oatmeal is dirt simple to make.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 grits is made from corn. Porridge is to describe a soupy dish made from grains. So oatmeal is a type of porridge, grits is also a porridge and congee is a porridge.
The tiny town my mom grew up in has an annual Burgoo Festival. Their version of burgoo is a thick stew. I don't know what it's made of, but based off the texture I can see it being this oatmeal as a base with plenty of meat, vegetables, and grease added. They cook it in an outdoor pavilion with huge vats heated by wood fires beneath, then at the festival they sell it by the gallon. People freeze it and eat it over the winter.
I sat down to watch UA-cam while having some oatmeal and this video was recommended 😂 What a great episode! I LOVE watching your channel. I even recommended it to my Mother and grandfather. We are all watching now! Thank you for such wonderful content 💕
I'm from northern Kentucky. Yes, it just depended on what you had on hand for meat but the tomatoes and lima beans and sometimes corn were the main ingredients. I have no idea where this idiot got the idea that oatmeal was burgoo. I think he's just stupid.
In another usage, in Kentucky "burgoo" is a stew akin to what is elsewhere called Brunswick Stew. I think that, technically, Kentuckian burgoo must contain rabbit as one of the meats used.
My Mother used to make Tapioca pudding from scratch (took forever) and I would mildly dust it with fresh whole Nutmeg, no other desert like it. I Love you Mom R.I.P.🙏🤟
And lines to the head forming early the next morning... "Who's throwing the ballast rocks o'er board?" "Tis not rocks, Captain. Tis last nights burgoo."
In Southern Bavaria, we have a traditional dish called "Brennsupp'n" which best translates as "burned soup". It was, starting from celtic times, the food of the pour masses and served daily in both houses and taverns. You take any available flour - here int the Allgäu mostly rye or spelt - whith any available oil or fat - mostly linseed oil or pork - and heat the mixture up until the flour begins to bubble and smell slightly crisp. Then, water is added and the mash ist thinned with water to the desired thickness. According to the time of the year, any available herbs, dried fruits and salt were added. So I wonder if the ship's cook did fry up his flour prior to the additve water. It does add a lot of taste to the dish. I grew up with this meal and I still love it now in my older days!
Wow! That's not at all what I expected. Appalachian style burgoo is more like a stew/porridge/chilli hybrid. You stew up whatever game meat you have, then add grains and vegetables at simmer it low and slow until everything comes together. P.S. I see that E. Rivertree also knows the style I recall. Nice!
In Asia, we have something just like this, but it's made with rice, which has been boiled in extra quantities of water for a long time. And for flavor, we use dried fish flakes, powdered shrimp, sesame oil, and soy sauce.
I asked for more Naval stuff like this and you've delivered...Great stuff and Thank you for your dedication, your care and attention to detail your careful caveating of sources etc and your balanced approach. Gem of a channel.
ghostofonyx Both my husband I served and did our time Cranking and he backs me up on the boxes of meat marked “unfit for prison consumption” When all the Filipino MSs (CSs now) made pancit, lumpia, and other Philippine delicacies we all were thrilled! But white rice? Always on the menu.
Thankfully, I either avoided or was unaware of the unfit for prison consumption, but recall the "all purpose patties" served as whatever meat the galley chose that day. I also remember it being one of the better meals, when served as chicken parmigiana that we called scabs. They looked like huge scabs from skinned knees. A good cook made life aboard so much better.
Two worst things I had in the valley as a sailor: Braised beef cubes, which had so much hard fat, I could bounce it on the table. And the worst, an underdone omelet, halfway-done whites looking like a something from a porn film, totally disgusting. I switched to scrambled eggs only, after that.
Mr. Townsend. Keep the content coming, I am partial to your sailor cooking and the like, being I am a cook in the Navy. It's Incredible to see the way my fellow cooks took care or their crew. Thanks for the video good Sir.
@@stanlygirl5951 The quality could be quite good in the case of ships of the line. They frequently had colliers loaded with live cattle that would be used to supply the ships. They also had salt preserved meats for long voyages where they didn't have immediate access to the colliers. Salt pork was a smoking step away from being bacon.
Nik Burton mixed with the other comments on this video your experience might explain the linguistic drift. Former naval personnel bring the name along, and eventually it is applied to mutton soup with oats/oatmeal as thickener, and then later it becomes more like a hearty meat/veg stew as preferences or resource access changes. My Mormon heritage has a frybread tradition that for whatever reason is called “scones”, often known as Utah scones outside of the culture. We might have (and this is just an educated guess here) picked it up from Native American groups in New Mexico, like the Navajo, when the Mormon Battalion was raised and volunteered to serve in the war with Mexico. This is also where we picked up dryland farming technology that was brought back for use in the Utah valley after a segue in California just before the Gold Rush. But yeah. “Scones”. Talk about linguistic drift.
My father talked about getting burgoo (porridge) in the Australian Navy he joined 1945 left 1983. Issued the the last rum issue as officer of the day in HMS Hermes on exchange with the Royal Navy early 70s. And Plum Duff (plum pudding) was a desert in the RAN in 1980s when I served. Sailors loved the old Nick names for things food and people.
We preferred the finer Asian cuisine: two packs of dried rice noodles, left to sit for 4 min in hot water from a tea-cooker, remove the hot water, add the powdered ingredients (hoping that it doesn't give you Parkinson's in later years), et voila... repeat once the daily rations of hemp have been consumed from an empty tin of coke with two holes...
I absolutely LOVE your channel. Those who feel that history is boring have never gotten into the day to day living during a specific time. So informative.
My Strange Addiction: In tonights episode we get to hear the story of John Townsend, an American man with a life-long addiction to nutmeg. "I can't go a day without it, sometimes I even wake up three, four times a night just to get some".
Thank you for doing such a great job keeping living history alive, your channel helps preserve and pass on knowledge onto future generations, so thank you for all you and your teams hard work.
The thumbnail photo looks like plain rice porridge with soy sauce. It's an extremely cheap and very common meal for poor Chinese folks. I grew up on that stuff.
Common for poor American folks as well. At least it was 60 years ago. Oatmeal or rice was the daily breakfast. We did have sugar and milk to add in. Supper staples were potato soup or pinto beans. Occasionally we did have meat, and we had a small garden.
Kentucky Burgoo had any critter that you could scrounge up... Possum just happened to be one of the easiest of all the varmints to catch. But beef and pork, and chicken were fine too... if you were rich... But in general Kentucky Burgoo was poor folk food... And so, varmints...
Northern variants often include weasel, fisher, mink, and pine martin as the stew base. Then you add normal meats such as chicken, duck, venison, pig, cow, whatever cheap cuts could be bought. Then in go root vegetables. Most of the French that came through the Great Lakes areas utilized weasel-based meats since they trapped them for their fur and would stew the meat remains instead of wasting it. Supposed to taste kind of oily
It's interesting, in Appalachia, burgoo and Loblolly are both still well used terms, though they mean different things than suggested in this video. When I saw the videos name, about "burgoo" I thought this would be about a type of thick stew. And loblolly is a road or path with lots of ups and downs, not paved, and generally references a really difficult, messy way to go.
That salt beef “slush” didn’t go to waste once they stopped giving it to the men, it was used as fuel for lamps and used to grease cables and lines to protect them from rotting and weathering
Stephen M. Stouter, the slush, when not used, was saved by the cooks and was sold back to the ship’s company for various uses, the money he got for it was one of the cooks perks and gave rise the term ‘Slush fund’
Thank You, John. I have read stories of sailing ships, and they had mentioned both Lob Lolly, and Burgoo. I assumed they were separate meals. Not the same with different names. I would agree with the molasses choice. Black strap is extremely heavy in sulfur compounds. Not something most would enjoy with oatmeal, but in the 1700's it was a cheap product, being left over from the manufacture of rum and sugar.
Modern day burgoo is a Rocky Mountain favorite stew. It’s three types of meats, some type of vegetable, and spices. Each recipe is different as everyone has their own idea of what it should be but it is covered in water and left to stew for along time.
Is it possible the etymology of burgoo is something like: “beurre gout”? Which would seem like bastardized French for “butter taste” or maybe “buttery”?
absolutely lost it when John basically did historical fiction about an officer just to justify putting nutmeg in there. Never change, buddy.
Yup! 😂😂😂
time? ah got it 6:08
Robert Thompson SPICE MELANGE
LOL
Big Pitzmans vibes
My mans singlehandedly keeping the nutmeg industry viable.
edit: A year later and some people haven't figured out it was a joke
Illuminutmeg confirmed!
Wtf... tons of restaurants and bakers use nutmeg
@@user-tr2dh4xx6u oh u
nutmeg is essential in Jamaican Jerk marinade.
@@brians7181 nahh they don't personally use nutmeg so no one does
"What is the next ingredient?"
"Nutmeg."
"What? No its not."
"Yes, it is."
"What' your name, soldier."
"Townsends, sir."
"Oh, right, carry on. Nutmeg it is."
you are funny love
Unknown to me, I had Burgoo this morning.
I’m pretty sure nutmeg to John is like crack to a crackhead
lol you got a point there with that
"Doctor Johnson proposed to define the word ‘oats’ thus: ‘A grain which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people.’ And I replied: ‘Aye, and that’s why England has such fine horses, and Scotland such fine people.’"
-James Boswell.
“Well that just puffens my mustache!”
I approve of this message.
@@charlessalmond7076 Wonders, lad.
I've seen this line in a early 20th century manual for housewives
Day 1: oh yummy!
Day 31: oh no, not again.
They didn't have it every day they got meat and veggies throughout the week too
Vin how do you know fam? Where you there in person???
@@jarteaga1793 In the memoir it stated that they had different meals for different days. But your right I wasn't there fam.
Vin lmao I know I was just joking I was in the marines and sometimes we eat the same bond things everyday and it gave me flashback to the “again” kind of thing haha
@Matt Laclair thanks.
I can proudly say, yes i have watched a man boil water with oatmeal and then add molasses and eat it for 8 minutes when i could've been asleep at 2 am on a week day.
Same tbh
1am for me :)
I’m here at 11pm
3:29am on a Tuesday
Haha how relatable
In the Australian Navy, not sure of others, the term burgoo is still used when the cooks serve up porridge.
You are spot on sir 👏👏👏👏 I said that if you say Burgoo really slowly it sounds like Porridge 👍👍👍👍
I myself, abserlutly Love Burgoo/Porridge and have eaten it all my life, I'm thinking that maybe, just maybe the Bur is short for Butter and goo is the gooey Porridge that's mixed with a pinch of salt and molasses or as we do it, mix in some Honey ???
How do they keep it from falling out of the bowl, being upside down and all that?
@@Someloke8895 The cooks would nail it to our wooden bowls. Just like our mothers used to do. : )
This comment section made me smile
@@Someloke8895 maybe a dingo ate your burgoo
John: "Burgoo is basically oat--"
John's subconscious: "ADD NUTMEG"
If he stops grinding the nutmeg the voices get loud.
Alright, let's get this out onto a tray... NICE!
Sure could use some Coffee Instant Type 2, eh?
Nice hiss!
Steve references are the best 👌
They NEED to collab. Steve tries 18th century rations.
Probably still better than the vomlet
Yesssssssssss
He just talked about oatmeal for 7 minutes and somehow we're all entertained by that
No we're not
@@rc5924 Then get off the videos...
Ryan Castleberry you gotta be you clicked on the video😂😂🤦🏽♀️
@@dizzybabyy211 ah yes, clicking on a video to answer a question that could be answered in two seconds, yet isn't for multiple minutes is totally the very definition of being entertained.
HEHEHE I AM A SUPAHSTAR SKETCH [ace736] if it could be answered in 2 sec why even click the video ? Oh yeah thats right cause ur interested in the video ... dumbass
You have to keep in mind that the beer was what's known as "small beer", which had just enough alcohol to keep it from turning bad as water does, but not enough to get you intoxicated. It's along the same lines as grog.
Depends how much you drank
@@MarlboroughBlenheim1 Yeah but you had to drink a colossal ton of it like even non alcoholic beer if you drink 30 of them you will get drunk
Pretty sure Drachinifel talked about the beer served in Navy rations as being somewhere around 1% alcohol.
I don't know what their beer is like over there, but most of the mainstream beers here in the states are around 5%.
So a gallon seems like a lot but in reality it's like drinking 2 modern beers.
I'm just curious what it tasted like, I'd love to be able to go back and try it.
@@deejayimm I believe it indeed had an ABV between 1 and 2. My guess is it had the same taste as a wheat ale, without the bite.
The miser Ebenezer Balfour in "Kidnapped", set in the mid-18th century, seems to live on porridge, with small beer as his main beverage.
As soon as I heard “burgoo” I thought about burghul, an Arabic term for a food made from parboiled groats. Wikipedia suggests a Welsh etymology for burgoo so I put the Arabic hypothesis aside, but today I casually searched the Oxford Dictionary, and guess what? Burgoo actually comes from burghul! Makes 100% sense after all.
I think you mixed something up. Burghul is a grain, much like quinoa, maybe your thinking of bhuna?
Wiktionary says: "Of unclear origin. Apparently from the dialectal term burgood (“yeast”). Perhaps ultimately from Welsh burym (“yeast”) + cawl (“cabbage, gruel”),[1] or perhaps from Arabic بُرْغُل (burḡul).[2]"
What's for breakfast, boatswain, is that oatmeal?
No, is burghul, it's arabic
Ooh, something foreign, how fancy
It migth sound fancy and exotic when one doesnt know the language, but good ol' "boiled grain" is a nigh on universal classic. In norway this would probably go by the name "grøt".
@@henryviape1201 Every culture in the world has some boiled grain once agriculture develops whether it is rice porridge in China, wheat in Mesopotamia, millet in Africa, corn in the Americas, Oats in Northern Europe, etc. Grøt is obviously similar to the English groat and Old English grytt and in the US a corn porridge is called grits.
This channel is a hidden gem.
Dont think a channel with 800k subs is "hidden", but it is a gem for sure!
Do you know how many channels they’re that do the same thing, that are somewhat related to this. It’s a hidden gem.
I just found it today even tho I wacth cooking video everyday!
Gem??
Uhhh they had almost 1m when you commented that you’re dumb
As soon as Primitive Technology gets to the medieval age, you guys should do a collab.
He still has 4000 years to go
I don't think this channel has ever done medieval recipes.
@@namanor No, but PT will probably only get to resonance era tech at around 2100
Medieval era 5th to the 15th century this is the 18th century. Remember this guy is inspired by a time that America was being discovered the medieval era is centered around Europe and the middle east. If you want to know what food was back then it's real simple everything is cooked to death in water they used bread plates and after they ate the bread. This was in castles most peasants probably were happy if they had food at all.
Kwa ndo
There’s a few medieval cookbooks man, don’t knock medieval cooking until you’ve tried it, they knew what they were doing.
Sour flavours were the most popular back then.
I can just imagine the sailors trying to sleep on the creaky wooden boats during rough seas in those times. The saying is "That's when the ships were made of wood and the men were made of iron". Really enjoying these wonderful videos.
"Hey...you making oatmeal?"
"Nah, mate. I'm gonna whip me up some of this burGOO real quick..."
"Did...did you......wtf did you just say?"
"You 'eard me. Come get some of this burGOO. Fix ye right up."
"Why are you putting so much emphasis on the 'goo'? And why are you talking like a character from Oliver Twist??"
"I said what I said."
LMFAO!!!
PyroProspectParagon this is underrated as hell lmaoooo brilliant
I'm dead. 😂💀
Split personality takes over
May I have more... please?
I never knew Burgoo was an actual dish, I thought it was just what my grandma called oatmeal.
Porridge.
@@zakofrx thats what ive always heard it called
It IS just oatmeal ... Once you have cooked the oats, you can put anything on them you like. What you put on them doesn't make it "burgoo", it's still oatmeal and dude here is just guessing what they might put on their oatmeal.
Oatmeal porridge is awesome.
@@acts9531 You weren't listening closely enough. Remember the book at the beginning? The memoir of a British sailor, that's where he finally turned up the recipe for 'burgoo' So he wasn't guessing, he made it according to how it was done in the Royal Navy during the 18th century.
Me: How to play guitar like Peter Frampton
UA-cam: Allow me to show you what food sailors ate in the 18th Century
LOL, ikr?
I came here from watching a review on the new Disney Star Wars Mandalorian show. Such random suggested videos on my sidebar.
Google doesn't care what you WANT to watch. It shows you what you NEED to watch.
@@dacypher22 Then they are evil. Anyone who thinks that is good, is indoctrinated.
@@ItsNotMeItsYou007 It was just a joke lol
This channel truly feels like it’s meant to be on actual cable TV or Hulu. The music, the script, the topic, all of it feels like the educational videos I actually enjoyed as a child.
I love his enthusiasm and passion and how he imagines everything from the past. Beautiful. Love this guy
For those wondering...the 1-gallon beer daily ration was in place of what we now drink everyday and take for granted...CLEAN filtered water. Back in the 18th century, fresh clean water was even difficult to find while on land and any fresh water on a ship is reserved for cooking (and possibly bathing). Beer could be stored for long periods of time at relatively warm temperatures and would provide the sailors with enough water to keep them hydrated plus the alcohol helped with moral etc.
Cheers!
I've also read that beer back then contained about 2-3% alcohol, not the 5-6% like today. So a gallon of beer back then would be very hydrating.
So why did they drink water from scuttlebutts?
That’s how it was in the North Atlantic; beer doesn’t keep very well in the tropics without refrigeration.
Fortunately, there _was_ an alcohol that would keep for a long time in hot weather before spoiling that could be produced in great quantities for a reasonable price in the very place this was a problem.
*_Rum._*
On land, you can scoop water from the nearest river or even stream and boil it freely to drink, but at sea it is more difficult because it was very problematic to remove the salt from the water back then.
No one:
John Townsend: You're gonna add a little nutmeg to it.
But it's my birthday-present 300$ computer!
*Nutmeg, NOW.*
Lmao 😂 😂 😂
@@DerVasto that made no sense.
@@dickJohnsonpeter its an AI :D
Naval Officers can have a little nutmeg with their burgoo as treat
Growing up in Kentucky we always had something called burgoo that was pretty much a throw whatever you have in the pantry to make a stew. Similar to a gumbo.
I'm English and it's link to the Royal Navy is a stew with leftovers of any meat and any vegetables cooked with porridge of any grain , oats , wheat , barley left over from breakfast like an Irish stew .
Ghost on a pirate ship: Burgooooo!
I’ll show myself out.
Yep, you better go
👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏😆😆😆😆😆😆😆😁😁😁😁
LOL
😂😂😂
@@NationalismDjazair he's "burgone" now
“They say he carved the wooden spoon himself... out of a bigger spoon!”
love that simpson reference.
That was the chili cook off wasn’t it?
😂😂 great Simpson’s reference!
This channel is so pure. Got hooked on it about a year ago now. I always watch and rewatch these videos.
The joys of a Townsends binge watch fest..... aaahhhh
How do you make officer pizza?
John: Just add nutmeg
Burgoo was one of my favorite memories of the Horatio Hornblower novels. In it, as captain he was provided burgoo for breakfast and a biscuit that he had to tap to drive the weevils out of it. In addition, he had "Coffee" , which was actually an extract of fresh water with the dregs of burnt biscuit that it was strained though. In the novel, they reach the South American coast and revicualate with South American Delights. But...dang...burgoo...read the novels...it's great....
I loved the part when Hornblower was fighting to keep his steely composure when hearing the South American rebels could supply his ship with coffee, cigars and rum! By God!
It's never Townsends without a smatter of Nutmeg
Keep doing what you do John, you're awesome
Absolute unabashed nutmeg fiend.
Yeah and for food wishes chef john its cayenne
yeah i smile how he said it was fancy and only for high officer. but here , in my country it costed only 1/6 $ each.
Because they had nutmeg in everything back then
@@bdl2871 your country is poor ?
This is one of the best channels on youtube.
The videos arguably need an 'add nutmeg' button rather than a 'like' button.
Joke aside. Its addictively charming. ☺
I have been eating oatmeal sweetened with molasses and fruit for a couple weeks once a day. I mill the oatmeal before cooking. Had no idea I was eating burgoo. If you mill the oats before cooking it makes the oatmeal smoother but you have to stir vigorously otherwise it clumps.
John, I've so thoroughly enjoyed your videos and the old world craftsmanship of the things you build and foods you prepare. As an experienced sailor (I've sailed sailboats on the open ocean, in Alaska's Inside Passage, etc), I can tell you that this burgoo would be like the perfect breakfast meal. These ships didn't have much in the way of heat and in England during the late fall and winter, this meal would have been a warm, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs dish that would have been appreciated. One thing I've learned from a few thousand miles of sailing is that you work hard, so a hearty meal shared with friends goes a long way to making a passage that much more comfortable. It becomes something to look forward to! And adding the molasses and nutmeg? Over the top!
Jon,
You will need to come down to Kentucky in September. All over Kentucky are "Burgoo Festivals." You will not be bored with the versions. Traditionally here, burgoo was made after the fall hunting and animal slaughtering was done, and the last of the harvest was taken in. The holler folk would get together and have a big potlatch contributing whatever vegetables, greens, and assorted wild and domestic meats to the cookpots.
My kin goin' back to the 1840s was from Harlan County.
I am happy nutmeg found its way into the meal!
Nutmeg!
john retconned history to add the nutmeg. the absolute madlad!
Sebastian Bloy but only for the Senior Officers. 😂
an admiral's dish
@@unavailable8813 a Starfleet admiral's dish
Loblolly is the also the original term for us Corpsman who brought food and cared for the sick and injured. We were eventualy called pharmacists mates then after along while Corpsman.
It is interesting to see the same word use for two different dishes. I grew up eating burgoo in Kentucky as a stew made with lots of vegetables and different types of meat.
The entire time I was waiting for nutmeg.
I was not disappointed.
you live life my friend. you live it well.
Why? No one puts nutmeg in oatmeal. What a random thing to be waiting for.
This chap is so enthusiastic he could give me gruel and molasses and I'd enjoy it.Great vids
Once you've had black strap molasses with corn pone, you're' enthusiasm will be curtailed.
*WHO ELSE loves this chap?*
Such an adorable person.
He looks like George w bush or Ricky pontin if you prefer
a little further info on 'loblolly', the word remained in use for the very thin gruel that was served to invalids and wounded in the sick-bay of Royal Navy ships, and the common name for the sick-bay attendant who served them their food (among many other duties) was the 'loblolly boy'. *edit* Just heard your comment about 'officer's burgoo' and actually there WAS a special version of burgoo called 'skillygalee' which is burgoo kicked up in flavor with butter and sugar, possibly goat's milk if it is available.
First time I read the word was in the novel Sharpe's Trafalgar. They eat Burgoo more often than they wanted. Thank you for showing me what it might have looked like.
I learned it by reading Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin novels.
My Grandfather made porridge in the 1970s and called it burgoo. I thought he was joking.
Oatmeal. Always called it porridge.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 I am from Australia.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 In the USA Oatmeal is made from Oats, Grits is made from corn. Its always been like this as far as im aware. Whoever made your oatmeal mightve just messed it up, although I dont know how thats possible because oatmeal is dirt simple to make.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 I have a friend from Canada who refers to oatmeal as porridge.
@@lonewolftrucker3955 grits is made from corn. Porridge is to describe a soupy dish made from grains. So oatmeal is a type of porridge, grits is also a porridge and congee is a porridge.
Saturday morning-Burgoo for breakfast. I believe I even have old-fashioned stone-ground oats on hand...
Thank you Sir, as always!
Townsend's version: Engaging thoughtful storytelling for 7 minutes.
Me: They ate oatmeal twice a week. :)
Bird goo... It's the result of too many seagulls.
Haha! Probably
Townsend didn't remember that sailors couldn't spell worth a flip.lol
Maybe that's where the name 'burgoo' came from. Especially if you had to eat it every single day...
Thems contains the souls of dead sailors, what met their maker
Gross
You get a thumbs up
The tiny town my mom grew up in has an annual Burgoo Festival. Their version of burgoo is a thick stew. I don't know what it's made of, but based off the texture I can see it being this oatmeal as a base with plenty of meat, vegetables, and grease added. They cook it in an outdoor pavilion with huge vats heated by wood fires beneath, then at the festival they sell it by the gallon. People freeze it and eat it over the winter.
When I’m high and I don’t know what to watch. This is always my go 2.
I sat down to watch UA-cam while having some oatmeal and this video was recommended 😂 What a great episode! I LOVE watching your channel. I even recommended it to my Mother and grandfather. We are all watching now! Thank you for such wonderful content 💕
I was in the Army and I can tell you, when you're hungry, you'll eat anything.
So was I and they served burgoo in the mess too...😄😄😄😄
Well.. in western Kentucky burgoo is a slow cooked mutton stew with tomato base and lima beans. Anyone else heard of this ?
This was the first time I had ever heard of a burgoo with oats. Yes, here it is normally a meaty stew with veggies.
I'm from northern Kentucky. Yes, it just depended on what you had on hand for meat but the tomatoes and lima beans and sometimes corn were the main ingredients. I have no idea where this idiot got the idea that oatmeal was burgoo. I think he's just stupid.
In another usage, in Kentucky "burgoo" is a stew akin to what is elsewhere called Brunswick Stew.
I think that, technically, Kentuckian burgoo must contain rabbit as one of the meats used.
Kentucky Burgoo can also contain squirrel meat also.
My Mother used to make Tapioca pudding from scratch (took forever) and I would mildly dust it with fresh whole Nutmeg, no other desert like it. I Love you Mom R.I.P.🙏🤟
And lines to the head forming early the next morning...
"Who's throwing the ballast rocks o'er board?"
"Tis not rocks, Captain. Tis last nights burgoo."
Mark Williams 😂😂😂
If u would have said this was from a book i would have believed u!
In Southern Bavaria, we have a traditional dish called "Brennsupp'n" which best translates as "burned soup". It was, starting from celtic times, the food of the pour masses and served daily in both houses and taverns.
You take any available flour - here int the Allgäu mostly rye or spelt - whith any available oil or fat - mostly linseed oil or pork - and heat the mixture up until the flour begins to bubble and smell slightly crisp. Then, water is added and the mash ist thinned with water to the desired thickness. According to the time of the year, any available herbs, dried fruits and salt were added.
So I wonder if the ship's cook did fry up his flour prior to the additve water. It does add a lot of taste to the dish.
I grew up with this meal and I still love it now in my older days!
In Star Trek Enterprise any time the characters go to jail or prison, they're fed oatmeal.
And poor T'Pol had to eat it with her hands...
I’m so happy that some one is out there keeping history alive today. Thank you so much Townsends!!!
As someone writing in a setting similar to this era this channel is a great resource!
Wow! That's not at all what I expected. Appalachian style burgoo is more like a stew/porridge/chilli hybrid. You stew up whatever game meat you have, then add grains and vegetables at simmer it low and slow until everything comes together.
P.S. I see that E. Rivertree also knows the style I recall. Nice!
In Asia, we have something just like this, but it's made with rice, which has been boiled in extra quantities of water for a long time. And for flavor, we use dried fish flakes, powdered shrimp, sesame oil, and soy sauce.
I asked for more Naval stuff like this and you've delivered...Great stuff and Thank you for your dedication, your care and attention to detail your careful caveating of sources etc and your balanced approach. Gem of a channel.
as a modern day sailor, i used to complain about the ship's food. i am now thankful for it after seeing this lol
ghostofonyx
Both my husband I served and did our time Cranking and he backs me up on the boxes of meat marked “unfit for prison consumption”
When all the Filipino MSs (CSs now) made pancit, lumpia, and other Philippine delicacies we all were thrilled!
But white rice? Always on the menu.
Thankfully, I either avoided or was unaware of the unfit for prison consumption, but recall the "all purpose patties" served as whatever meat the galley chose that day. I also remember it being one of the better meals, when served as chicken parmigiana that we called scabs. They looked like huge scabs from skinned knees.
A good cook made life aboard so much better.
Two worst things I had in the valley as a sailor:
Braised beef cubes, which had so much hard fat, I could bounce it on the table.
And the worst, an underdone omelet, halfway-done whites looking like a something from a porn film, totally disgusting.
I switched to scrambled eggs only, after that.
U.S. Sailors: Ugh! Our ship food..
Army and Marine ground troops: Hold my MRE.
Mr. Townsend. Keep the content coming, I am partial to your sailor cooking and the like, being I am a cook in the Navy. It's Incredible to see the way my fellow cooks took care or their crew. Thanks for the video good Sir.
Just found this channel, and subbed of course. Love the neat little niche of History you're serving up!
4lb of meat per week, 1/4lb cheese per day
That’s actually really good for the era
But how often were rations lost or damaged. I wonder how close to reality those numbers were...
@Amy Sternheim if everyone had a cabbage per day why would they still need s a i l s? LOL
Um, quantity sounds good enough, but I'm betting against quality of the meat.
Alicia Bell good question.
Given the orderliness of the era I bet it wasn’t too far off... maybe %80 of the time
@@stanlygirl5951 The quality could be quite good in the case of ships of the line. They frequently had colliers loaded with live cattle that would be used to supply the ships. They also had salt preserved meats for long voyages where they didn't have immediate access to the colliers. Salt pork was a smoking step away from being bacon.
I had burgoo as a kid. It was soup made with mutton and it used oats to make it thick.
Nik Burton mixed with the other comments on this video your experience might explain the linguistic drift. Former naval personnel bring the name along, and eventually it is applied to mutton soup with oats/oatmeal as thickener, and then later it becomes more like a hearty meat/veg stew as preferences or resource access changes.
My Mormon heritage has a frybread tradition that for whatever reason is called “scones”, often known as Utah scones outside of the culture. We might have (and this is just an educated guess here) picked it up from Native American groups in New Mexico, like the Navajo, when the Mormon Battalion was raised and volunteered to serve in the war with Mexico. This is also where we picked up dryland farming technology that was brought back for use in the Utah valley after a segue in California just before the Gold Rush.
But yeah. “Scones”. Talk about linguistic drift.
I love your historical recipes and cookings. Thank you for doing what you do.
I love this channel! I just started watching a week ago. What a great way to explore history!!!
5:55 Ha, I knew it! You nutmeg addict :D
Its not an easy addiction to cure sadly, thousands each year fall victum to nutmeg dealers across the colonies. My condolences to him.
Hey don't judge!
I laughed so much in pleasure as he said maybe you could add nutmeg!!! :'D
*_Snorts line of nutmeg*_*
Nutmeg Anonymous is just a phone call away to help this young man beat his addiction.
I think ‘burgoo’ is sailor for ‘when tf do we arrive into a port so I can eat proper food and stop this diarrhea?’
Oatmeal is actually good for digestive health
My father talked about getting burgoo (porridge) in the Australian Navy he joined 1945 left 1983. Issued the the last rum issue as officer of the day in HMS Hermes on exchange with the Royal Navy early 70s.
And Plum Duff (plum pudding) was a desert in the RAN in 1980s when I served. Sailors loved the old Nick names for things food and people.
Stumbled across one of these videos a few days ago. Now subscribed and watching a bunch more
College Burgoo (Wyoming, 1970). 1 can Campbells vegetable soup. I can water. I can minute rice. Bring to boil, cover, remove from heat. Eat.
We preferred the finer Asian cuisine: two packs of dried rice noodles, left to sit for 4 min in hot water from a tea-cooker, remove the hot water, add the powdered ingredients (hoping that it doesn't give you Parkinson's in later years), et voila... repeat once the daily rations of hemp have been consumed from an empty tin of coke with two holes...
I absolutely LOVE your channel. Those who feel that history is boring have never gotten into the day to day living during a specific time. So informative.
James tastes the crew’s daily ration, and obtains an immediate brevet commission just to get the nutmeg.
I'm glad these videos are on here so I can see what I have to look forward to in the near future while I'm building back better.
My Strange Addiction: In tonights episode we get to hear the story of John Townsend, an American man with a life-long addiction to nutmeg. "I can't go a day without it, sometimes I even wake up three, four times a night just to get some".
Thank you for doing such a great job keeping living history alive, your channel helps preserve and pass on knowledge onto future generations, so thank you for all you and your teams hard work.
I just watched your scrambled eggs video. I think this is my favorite UA-cam cooking channel all of a sudden haha.
Your videos are thoroughly enjoyable for me
I’m learning and having fun it’s been a pleasure
The thumbnail photo looks like plain rice porridge with soy sauce. It's an extremely cheap and very common meal for poor Chinese folks. I grew up on that stuff.
Probably every culture has some food like porridge
Well yeah cause poor people need food too.
I could eat Jook all day.
Common for poor American folks as well. At least it was 60 years ago. Oatmeal or rice was the daily breakfast. We did have sugar and milk to add in. Supper staples were potato soup or pinto beans. Occasionally we did have meat, and we had a small garden.
@@artofninelimbs5930 Yeah, I know that a lot of Eastern-Central European countries have buckwheat porridge as a similar staple food.
Oddly the tern burgoo is used in modern Kentucky to denote a mixed meat stew, traditionally with possom as one of the meats.
Kentucky Burgoo had any critter that you could scrounge up... Possum just happened to be one of the easiest of all the varmints to catch. But beef and pork, and chicken were fine too... if you were rich... But in general Kentucky Burgoo was poor folk food... And so, varmints...
Yep had some yesterday.
I was looking for this. Roadkill deer in Wisconsin.
Northern variants often include weasel, fisher, mink, and pine martin as the stew base. Then you add normal meats such as chicken, duck, venison, pig, cow, whatever cheap cuts could be bought. Then in go root vegetables. Most of the French that came through the Great Lakes areas utilized weasel-based meats since they trapped them for their fur and would stew the meat remains instead of wasting it. Supposed to taste kind of oily
That sounds like a Brunswick stew.
These videos are SO interesting. Great that you do them.
It's interesting, in Appalachia, burgoo and Loblolly are both still well used terms, though they mean different things than suggested in this video. When I saw the videos name, about "burgoo" I thought this would be about a type of thick stew. And loblolly is a road or path with lots of ups and downs, not paved, and generally references a really difficult, messy way to go.
The Wikipedia article on burgoo treats it as a kind of stew, referring to the 18th century Royal Navy dish called burgoo as "porridge".
That salt beef “slush” didn’t go to waste once they stopped giving it to the men, it was used as fuel for lamps and used to grease cables and lines to protect them from rotting and weathering
Stephen M. Stouter, the slush, when not used, was saved by the cooks and was sold back to the ship’s company for various uses, the money he got for it was one of the cooks perks and gave rise the term ‘Slush fund’
"I want nutmeg, must have nutmeg... let's make up some pseudohistorical reason for me to have my 'meg." X-D
I love this channel. A little oasis in these troubled times.
We're going to look at this wonderful, mysterious, old-timey food!
>>proceeds to make porridge
Thank You, John. I have read stories of sailing ships, and they had mentioned both Lob Lolly, and Burgoo. I assumed they were separate meals. Not the same with different names. I would agree with the molasses choice. Black strap is extremely heavy in sulfur compounds. Not something most would enjoy with oatmeal, but in the 1700's it was a cheap product, being left over from the manufacture of rum and sugar.
Greetings from Brasil!! Your recipes are great!! I just love this channel!!!
I'm from Kentucky and to say this confused the heck out of me would be an understatement
I really like watching this channel! So cool to learn about the food from those times.
Officer's version is adding nutmeg. Truly elevated that oatmeal!
Hah hah...
Townsend's Law: Nutmeg makes everything so so good!
In Kentucky we have a meat and vegetable stew called Burgoo. It used to be a mix game meats, like deer, and farm raised meats like mutton.
Modern day burgoo is a Rocky Mountain favorite stew. It’s three types of meats, some type of vegetable, and spices. Each recipe is different as everyone has their own idea of what it should be but it is covered in water and left to stew for along time.
Why do I watch these videos all the time? I have no intention of ever doing any 1700s cooking, yet I can't stop watching.
Is it possible the etymology of burgoo is something like: “beurre gout”? Which would seem like bastardized French for “butter taste” or maybe “buttery”?
you're one smart dude
Smart!
Or just burp goo
Or maybe from arabic “bulgur” (برغل bourghoul, "groats"). Cracked parboiled groats of different cereals cooked in water.
@@jollyrogerud thats fiar but how tf would an englishman know about that at the tim
Enjoy all your videos. Thanks for sharing.
This channel brings me joy and happiness.
This is what keeps me alive during University.
Experimental archaeologist in the 24th Century: "Today, we're going to be trying a 21st century dish known as 'instant ramen noodles!'"
@@veraxis9961 ancient candy named tide pods