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| Roasted Venison, recipes below |
This is another in our ongoing series Feeding the Revolution which looks at the role of food in radical movements in world history. Today is the Boston Marathon which is run on Patriot’s Day here in Massachusetts which recalls the start of the American Revolution. This my family’ 2nd marathon since we moved to the Boston area in 2010. The wheelchair leg of the race just sped by as I watched it from a window in our house. Patriot’s Day is a big here in the Boston area and its great as an historian to be able to live 15 minutes from Lexington and Concord etc. But not everyone took up arms when the fighting first broke out there. For example, in 1776 a group of Mennonites declared themselves passivist refusing to take up arms on either side of the American Revolution. Instead they among activities sold food to the army. Members of the Continental Army did (irregularly) receive government provided rations. When they arrived on the battle field they included besides 1 pound (lb.) bread and or flour, lb “of beef, or 3/4 lb. of pork, or 1 lb. of salt fish; 1 pint (pt.) of milk, or payment of 1/72 dollars, and 1 quart of cider or spruce beer; 3 pts. of peas or beans per man per week” says one source. Patriot officials, along with the British, confiscated salt for preserving most of these food stores, thus price of salt and food in general skyrocketed as shortages set in. Most specialist argue that rank and file troops spent more time starving on the battle field and depending on the donations of women, freedmen, enslaved Africans, and friendly Native Americans for food than on the Continental Congress. It figures that during the revolutionary war the population of wild game like deer became greatly dimensioned which is the opposite of what we are experiencing here in England after such a mild winter. Below is a recipe that calls for far more lavish ingredients than soldiers would have had.
Roasted venison Recipe:
http://www.venisonrecipes.net/roast-venison.html ">
http://www.venisonrecipes.net/roast-venison.html
Series Feeding the Revolution with Related Recipes: http://www.foodasalens.com/search?q=Feeding+the+Revolution