Hardtack & Hell Fire Stew - Tasting History Reaction
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- Опубліковано 13 тра 2024
- See the original here - • Hardtack & Hell Fire Stew
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Union soldier : " Boy, these rations suck!" Confederate soldier: " You got food?"
Will y'all destroyed the whole South and basically burnt everything we didn't have no goddamn food. And yet there are people complaining about blockades being war crimes. Bet you that changes when you mentioned the South than its oh thats part of war
Atun Shei had a great exchange with Johnny Reb and… whatever the union guy is called exchanging tobacco (not available in the north to the usual folk) for coffee (not available in the south because of blockades).
@@JustanotherconsumerBilly Yank, the actual “names” given to the soldiers on each side.
"Yall have shoes?!"
Hardtack? *Clack clack*
Glad to see another tasting history reaction
Can't believe it became such a long running joke for Tasting History. 😂
I cannot hear the word Hartack without the Clack Clack following it anymore
@@detjen6403 same
I love that running gag. It’s beautiful.
@@svenrio8521 I hope it never ends, lol
Hard Tack *clack clack*. The birth of the Classic Tasting History Meme
The best lol 😂 here is hoping he reacts to the original soon lol.
Chris, if I could persuade you to go down the historical food rabbit hole, I would highly recommend the channel "Townsends." Their channel is dedicated to 18th and early 19th century living. Everything from Food to Lighting, from Camping to Homesteading. I'd love to hear your commentary on their content.
I second this!!! Townsends is the best :D
dang i literally wanted to comment this! hard agree, townsends is great
I concur! All of Townsends videos are amazing, but the fish industry one and pork would be excellent ones for Mr. Moery, if I may say so.
I get the feeling he's already an avid Townsends viewer, judging by his reaction to their mention in this video
Agreed!!!
Max is really fun to watch. I don't think he's done a video where I didn't learn something new. He makes some of the more obscure parts of history really fun and interesting.
My 3X great grandfather, Moody Cook Tolman, was the Surgeon for the 2d Minnesota. You are quite correct that regiment was raised in mid 1861 and the veterans were furloughed for four months in early 1864 near the end of their three year enlistments. Many (included Dr Tolman) re-enlisted after their furlough and the unit continued. Unlike the more famous 1st Minnesota, the 2d saw action in the west, including Perryville, Chickamauga, Resaca, the siege of Atlanta, and the March to the Sea.
I have Dr Tolman's surgeon's chest (without its instruments, sadly). I use it to store many genealogical treasures.
That's awesome. What a great connection to have!
@@VloggingThroughHistorycould you (have you) ever done a reaction to any MREsteve videos? That guy is a legend... I feel like what he does is important for the historical record. Or is it destructive?
Max's videos are some of my favorites on YT, and I'm super glad you're reviewing his! Also, the "clack clack" is classic!
Amateurs think tactics, experts think logistics.
And professionals consider both?
"An army marches on its stomach" -some French dude
@@Nokiaar1It is more part of strategy than tactics but logistics does inform tactics you decide to use of course because it is crucial in war.
@@Nokiaar1 Professionals know that tactics is stuff like positioning and maneuvering while strategy is the use of the combination of tactics, logistics, and other influences to determine what the best course of action is.
So no, professionals would realize tactics and logistics are two separate things that typically go hand in hand with a good strategy
@@Nokiaar1 In many people’s minds yes. But strategy in military matters is more the big picture of the war and tactics is the small picture on the ground where you are managing troop maneuvers and what not. There is also the operation level which kinda sits in between and rose up during more modern conflicts as warfare got even more complex but that is not super important for this discussion.
In other words, tactics is “let’s bring the cavalry around to strike their rear once they engage our line” and strategy is “let’s go take their castle. Without it the enemy has no chance of resisting us long term.” This is why you will see many historians refer to tactical victories/losses and strategic victories/losses. They can be mutually exclusive.
You know, Tasting History DID an episode of Civil War coffee. It was made with sweet potatoes and rye. His reaction at the end was precious. “Is it good? Yes. Is it coffee? No.”
To make true hardtack, the grind of the flour is important. It needs to be "cracker grind." Flour from the grocery store shelf will give a mostly inedible rock-like dense material. As a reenactor, i used to order some from a company that used the correct grind. It was dry, tasteless, but edible. Even in the 1980s, the military Meals Ready to Eat (MRE) had a cracker in it. Three ingredients: flour, salt, and water.
Interesting. I've always wanted to make some. Good to know beforehand
I always thought that being basically concrete was how hardtack was supposed to be.
@@Shaun_Jones if you can’t use it as improvised body armor, what good is it?
Even going back to the C-Ration, there were crackers, but more "saltine" than "hardtack." But, like the soldiers with hardtack, there were any number of things that were done to add variety to various rations. Most former military can tell you about "ranger pudding" and other delights.
@@Norbrookc Those crackers in the C-Rats would be the old "John Wayne Crackers". Our dad used to give those to us when we were kids as a treat. Back in the 80's and 90's we used to make MRE pizza with crackers, dehydrated beef or pork patties, ketchup, and cheese packs.
His videos on Pemmican and Rubaboo are also quite good, given it is essentially a meat version of Hardtack
I appreciate VTH in a Union uniform in the thumbnail. I was a member of the 8th Tennessee Volunteer Infantry Regiment US as a reenactor for 2 years. Union, Tennessee? What? I'll let VTH expound upon the nuances😀
I've researched a few soldiers from the 8th Tennessee, USA. Eastern Tennessee was very pro-Union.
Wasn't Tennessee one of the border states that was essentially neutral during the war?
@@johnmcmanus2447 they seceded thus making it a confederate state
@@johnmcmanus2447 Maryland, Delaware, West Virginia, Kentucky and Missouri were border states
@@VloggingThroughHistory Eastern Tennessee along with western North Carolina. The whole Appalachian region was largely pro Union with a few exceptions.
+1 for more Tasting history! I've watched all of his videos and I would enjoy seeing Vlogging Through History's reactions!
I would love to see more of Max on this channel!
You should check some of his Titanic ones, or the Lusitania. Fascinating ones.
Max's video on the Boston Molasses disaster (Boston Brown Bread) was also very interesting.
*CLACK CLACK*
Yesss!! Do more Tasting History! Max always seems like a great guy with a true passion for both history and cooking. Also, I would highly, HIGHLY recommend Townsends.
I'm a Civil War Mexican/American war reenactor. We make this for dinner at events all the time. It's surprisingly delicious.
Max has one if the most fun history related channels; best of all no politics, which is refreshing in these over politicized times.
I'd say the most shocking thing about his channel is that Max is in his 40s but looks like a man in his 20s
@@Kanbei11 Wait what?????? I thought he was mid 30s max
@@MrOats-bs1ry I know right. He mentioned it was his 41st birthday in a community post around a month ago
@@Kanbei11 hardtack don't crack xD
@@rasmusn.e.m1064 still edible after 150 years and Steve indicated it tasted better than some things he’d had that were far younger.
They may have been on to something with “BC.”
You'll enjoy Max's video on Civil war coffee, and his Civil war hospital food video.
Also we get the word biscuit from Latin and or Greek which meant 'twice baked' which is basically how hard tack/ship's biscuit are made.
Hardtack! *clack clack* That clip never gets old. Always gets a laugh from me. Great to see you reacting to Tasting History videos. Combines two of my favorite channels. Keep up the great work! 👍
I would love to see Townsends reactions as well as more Tasting History reactions, especially his ones on the Greek and Roman’s
Hardtack is still available form Nabisco in parts of New England
“Pilot bread” in Alaska is the same stuff. The Sailor Boy brand is basically a state institution.
The second Chris said Potatoes, all i can think of is Sam saying PO TAY TOES. Then this reminded me Hardtack looked like Lembas Bread, even in middle earth they thought about feeding an army or venturing off toward an army.
Which makes sense, given Tolkien's experience as a soldier. The rations during WW1 weren't really that much different from those in the US Civil War.
OMG so true!
Hardtack existed in Tolkien’s stories. The men of the lake called it “cram” and it’s likely the fellowship was familiar with it because Gimli (I think?) that called lembas cram before he understood what it was.
Funny you mentioned that, because in the hardtack episode, Max said that the inspiration for making the episode was a conversation with one of his Patreons (I believe) about Tolkien and made the comparison of hard tack and Lembas bread.
@InDeepGeek made a video about it.
Chris, comment on Lobscouse, that is the dish that gives Liverpudlian's the affectation of "Scousers". It probably does not originate as a recipe from Liverpool, (Liverpool is a port and gains a lot of influences from many destinations,) but it was inexpensive stew which could be made in a single pot quickly but would not spoil.
I know Drachinifel did a video on making the food associated with the RN in the age of sail....Salt beef stew with ships biscuits which is very similar to what max does here.
I believe he has sn episode about it
Confederate soldier: "I'm thinking of defecting to the north."
Other soldier: "Why would you do such a thing dear friend?"
Confederate soldier: "I hear they get chicken nuggies and then pudding for dessert."
I appreciate the reference to Master & Commander - a magnificent film whose biggest fault was having the misfortune to release on the same year as Lord of the Rings: Return of the King and the first Pirates of the Caribbean.
An Army marches on its stomach. The importance of logistic cannot be overstated. We see it play out in every campaign of the Civil War. I have been reading the book "Too Afraid to Cry" about the citizens of the Maryland during the Antietam campaign they often mention the sad state of the Confederate soldier in 1862. I often think that Lee's primary intention(and the one most overlooked) of marching North after 2nd Bull Run was to supply his army.
I was almost certainly one of his reasons. The other one was to approach Washington D.C. from the north, so as to bypass the more fortified positions on the Potomac's southern bank across from the city. So, resupply, and attacking from the rear, which is a risky gamble and even without the lucky bit of intelligence that General McClelland got to get his army moving quickly to intercept Lee at Sharpsburg, he still had more than a day's march, meaning that McClelland or some other Union general would have time to get into a defensive position to block his force if they reacted quickly enough the moment they found out.
It is extremely difficult to move an army with the other side not being any the wiser when they have forces in the region for more than a day. It is much easier, though, to get into a position where they would have to react to your presence when they were not in a favorable position, which was, as I said, was likely one of Lee's reasons to attempt this. It also helped that he knew how McClelland handled his army and how cautious he normally was. McClelland actually surprised Lee with how quickly and aggressively he pushed his forces to intercept the Army of Northern Virginia. McClelland was still cautious, he didn't commit more than half his forces to the battle, and he didn't pursue Lee and thus allowed him to get to Harper's Ferry and cross back into Virginia. President Lincoln was, obviously, less than amused by McClelland not doing so as doing so could have gained the Union a massive strategic victory at a time where it needed one badly. Fortunately, Grant would achieve that later at Vicksburg.
Another reaction to Tasting History! This was awesome! Keep 'em coming
We love Max!
Serve it forth!
Was looking through family documents yesterday, and learned my ancestor was in the 58th Indiana Vet Volunteers. Thanks for explaining what a vet volunteer regiment was!
I assume you'll jump onto this one since it's civil war related, but highly recommend the coffee one Max mentioned. It was very interesting what alternatives to coffee the confederates were using when they couldn't get any due to the naval blockade...
Max mentioned Townsend, strongly suggest reacting to one of his videos as well.
There’s a place that the soldiers all love, the mess tent’s the place that I mean, and the meal that we want to see there, is the old fashion white army bean.
Generals that can master startegy and tactics are rare. Many Germans in the second world war could only master the later. Some like Grant or Caesar could do both.
Tasting history has some of the best historical content out there in an experience the audience can try at home. Glad to see more reactions to his content!
the ingenuity persists to this day, I've seen guys take the dessicated bread in rations and add jam, sugar, and coffee whitener to it to make a "jelly donut" out of it. Hell, done it myself. lol.
I lost a pack of homemade hardtack until I moved “6 years” it was still as good as it was the day it was made.
You should react to mustard, or paper skies, they often make military aircraft history videos, very entertaining and the graphics are fantastic
I’ve heard it said that while R.E. Lee was tactically skilled he had a poor handle on, or even disdain for logistics. This would be a major factor in his downfall.
Love his inclusion of personal accounts, it de-mystifies so much of the topic and really grounds everything in reality. Just a phenomenal channel, there have been SO many times where I’m so engrossed in the actual history I forget all about the actual dish that is being eaten!
His most recent video has some hot gossip from the families of the pyramid builders in Egypt including one basically nagging his kid to be better to mom.
Not sure who quote is attributed to, but "Amateur soldiers discuss tactics, experts discuss logistics"
Because you must remember. In the service you must choose the lesser of two weevils.
Here in Germany hardtack is called "Panzerplatten", meaning "tank-plates". :)
“THE WORMS” Dracula Flow
I'm from the Gettysburg area, and growing up my mom, who was a nurse, said she felt civil war soldiers should have gotten medals for eating the rations.........
If I'm not mistaken I believe that quote, "An army marches on it's stomach." is first attributed to Carl von Clausewitz.
Cooking with VTH??? Haha I really enjoy these videos. Such an interesting take on history not a lot people think about
Yes more of Max, I love his channel!
Max just dropped a couple of videos about WWI, one about the Lusitania, and one about German U-Boats. Very interesting stuff!
Max does his research and has some very good videos.
You should react to Townsends!!!!
It's amazing what you can do with MREs. The MRE heaters were made because a lot of unsafe things were being done to heat them, like putting the packet on a hot manifold of a vehicle.
We had a concoction called "First Sergeant Fudge" Take a packet of hot chocolate, add the sugar packet, and the powdered creamer. Mix with enough water to make it doughy. If you want to sacrifice your freeze-dried coffee, it makes it mocha flavored. Eat with a spoon.
Love Max's channel. Bought his book which was really interesting. Not sure I want to eat some of the stuff in there but food is a subject EVERYBODY can relate to and it's actually a clever way to introduce people to history. For an ancient history special project, two of my classmates made a light Roman dinner for the class. That was 50 years ago and I still remember it.
This reminds me of when I was growing up we were so poor that we would make 100 different types of Ramen noodles and government cheese.😂
What's funny is when you discussed how soldiers (and people in general) will use their creativity to break up monotony and redundancy, I instantly thought of this part from HBO's "Generation Kill": ua-cam.com/video/QpZ3UbgyQP0/v-deo.html
Context: If you haven't seen it already, Generation Kill is based primarily on two books written by a Marine Lieutenant (Nathaniel Fick) and Marine Sergeant (Brad Colbert) about being part of the first wave into Iraq in 2003. Think of it like "Band of Brothers meets Generation X"; it covers not just the general events of the invasion, but all the shenanigans modern servicemen get up to and find themselves in. Lots of humor, lots of military bureaucracy, and occasional moments of terror. Definitely worth a watch if you get a chance.
Woooooo, civil war channel!!!!! Super excited!!
Yes! More Tasting History, and one of my favorite videos! I’m pretty sure I’ve watched this one more than any other on Max’s channel. Definitely give Civil War Coffee a watch as he mentions William McKinley in that video. If you’re interested in potatoes, he has a video called “When Potatoes Were Illegal” where he makes a potato recipe from the French Revolution. He’s also made lobscouse more recently too. Can you tell I’m a nerd for his videos? 😅
Loved this, Chris! Take care and we’ll see you next time, on Tasting History
Two things to say here. The first is that eating raw pork is linked to a kind of brain worm that has been raised in the public's consciousness lately.
The second is that while the Civil War did see many new soldiers who were unfamiliar with hardtack, it was a common method of food preservation for troops, and extremely common for sailors. This is where the historical misunderstandings come from.
There is this tendency for historians, both professional and amateur, to make too much out of the hardness factor. With the exception of those occasional circumstances where marching soldiers gnawed on hardtack in its dry state, the practice of soaking or cooking it was as expected as if it were modern dry pasta.
You could imagine a soldier writing home to describe packaged spaghetti for the first time, and say how they weren't able to eat it without first boiling it.
When you think about it, pasta really is almost the same thing. Wheat flour with the moisture baked out of it for long term storage.
The idea that sailors and soldiers were breaking teeth and struggling to manage this ration is silly.
For the vast majority of the people it was as normal as boiling spaghetti. It is only unusual to us.
The true challenge was finding ways to distract from the monotony.
Yesss thank you Chris!!
Hooray more tasting history
I'm a chef and I love history and I love your reactions/analysis, this is the perfect video
The mention that the soaked hardtack looks like cereal reminds me of Sanitarium Granola. It is an old, discontinued product, and no, it is not the museli clumps, but really, was basically hardtack, and the method of preparing it was to soak it in hot water. A similar product is textured vegetable protein, a savoury product also soaked in liquid. I really liked the Granola, and still miss it. I can't help think that both products were holdovers of hardtack from history.
Idea for your tours. A tour here in the states tracking a Civil War campaign like the Overland or Antietam. I’d come!
I just did one for the Vicksburg Campaign with around 30 people. Will definitely do more.
Max’s Research is great! He is never afraid to correct common myths and misconceptions about history and he tries to get quotes from various sources.
The poor soldiers at Valley Forge had to eat firecakes, which was essentially flour, water, and salt. I’ve always wanted to try one though.
How about we continue the Tasting History videos with another about Civil War Coffee, it's sort of the companion piece to this vid.
Another crossover of two of my favorite channels! perfect lunchtime viewing. #CLACKCLACK
Soldiers finding food reminds me of a story from the Crimean War when a British Regiment's mascot went missing and a nearby Foreign Legion soldier was potted with a goat skin vest
Two of my favorite channels together! Worlds collide!! But in a good way! I've been following both you and Max since the early days of the pandemic, and find both of your channels highly informative and entertaining. He did a series on food served on the Titanic which I suppose came to my mind because of the discussion about transporting and storing food. Highly recommend!
A double history lesson! One lesson within another! Nice.
After seeing the thumbnail, I'm gutted Chris didn't do the reaction in a union uniform.
So awesome that you did a reaction to a hard tack related video from Max. Us tasting history fans welcome you into the long running inside joke. *clack clack*
Love Tasting History as well as Townsends channel! Great reaction video.
Great Video!
Love tasting history!
You should check Smarter Every Day when he goes into a USS Nuclear sub and found out everything is made fresh. Plus Friday was always 🍕 day
Probably the most famous recipe Max has ever made; hardtack. Tap, tap. Lol
The civil war one Max does about sweet potato coffee is really good as well.
Thank you for doing another reaction to Tasting history. I love Maxxs channel
I’m glad you picked this one 🇺🇸
Townsends also make food history videos. Check them out.
Townsends goes well beyond food to just life in general. I recall one episode talking about the question of vaccinating the Continentals against smallpox, for example.
My brother and I were at Gettysburg a few years ago in June and we decided to simulate some rations and and ate saltines and spam across from Spangler Spring for lunch.
Yay more Tasting History!
I'll put my recommendations in again:
Boston Brown Bread
Byzantine Honey Fritters
WW2 Ice Cream of the US Navy
Lunar New Year Cake
Brewing Mesopotamian Beer
Babylonian Tuh'u (New Year Stew)
You should react to Invicta's video "Could you make a hamburger in ancient Rome?"
Its about what approximation of a burger you could make with what the Romans had available. Its fascinating
Just finished his new episode on egyptian bread, now I'll watch Hardtack (clack clack) and Hell Fire stew here.
Bagel like an Egyptian!
Thanks to your Oregon Trail video, I checked out a bunch of his videos and even made an attempt at Lobscouse (hint), sadly without the hard tack.
About time you reacted to this guy's stuff! He has tons of epic content you should watch every single day man! You might learn a thing or 2 About recipes you didn't know
Very interesting video and commentary.
Hard tack and salt fish. Still one of my favorite meals to this day
The creativity born out of necessity is displayed well in prisons with the different types of food that inmates make.
id love to see you react to more of his videos, if you didnt already plan to.
Hey Chris, love the content. thanks for the entertainment. Have you ever done a video on the CSS Hunley, civil war submarine?
I have one coming soon on my new civil war channel. Got a behind the scenes look at the Hunley and the preservation lab when I was in Charleston in December
I remember making hard tack in 4th grade in my Virginia History class
I'd love to see a video of people tasting the moonshine from the Civil War, like Forty-Rod, Blue Ruin and Oh Be Joyful.
The thumbnail does make it look _exactly_ like the chorizo and eggs I grew up eating. Max lives in Phoenix like I do, so I wonder if that's why his mind made that connection.
2:55 that’s the same level of thought the Army has to this day by feeding us MREs 😂
I bit into something soft in my hardback. What was it? A worm? No, a nail.
Side note but can't wait to read your book!
Scousers, the inhabitants of Liverpool, get their nickname from Lobscouse, as many sailers who lived in the city ate lobscouse...
Chris, you might want to check out the channel OTR Food & History. I think you will be interested in some of his videos such as the history of rice or the Thailand's Jay festival (aka why Buddhism is and isn't vegan). It is a little lighter on history because the creator is an American expat chef (now residing in Bangkok) not a historian, but he does briefly outline history of whatever topic (e.g. certain dish or culinary traditions and how they spread).
Lesson learned: hunger makes for the best kind of spice lol