Eat (Salad) like a Pirate

Photo © Rob Jones

Waiting for my train to Plymouth outside Cardiff Central Station, there were two men in pirate costumes.

Not amateur, fancy dress, left overs from a stag pub crawl the night before. These were very professional looking pirates. That were sat, mulling over things. One pulled out a draw-string purse and dangled it pensively, looking slightly despondent. Maybe bemoaning the loss of a treasure map or wondering where they had parked the Saucy Nancy pirate ship.

Now - at times like this, I tend to go with the flow. And thought… oh look, two pirates. Walk on. In fact most people did. It was like it was normal.

Then, another pirate appeared, stood in the middle of the square and looked around helplessly. He pulled out his mobile - who knew pirates had mobiles - and in a piratical drawl say, ‘Where are you? I’m here.’

You could feel the whole square wish to rise up in astonishment. They are there! Look! Not ten feet away from you. Can’t you see? Two men in pirate costumes. How can you not see them? How on earth was he the only man in the entire concourse not to see the pirates. They were swiftly reunited with much back slapping.

Sudden panic that maybe they would be boarding the same train as me, and I would have to sit in a table seat with the three of them, trying to read my book, while they were drinking grog, being garrilous and terrorising the other passengers. Perhaps they even had cutlasses and a plank they would make people walk.

But no. They sauntered off in the direction of the supermarket.

This set me to wondering what pirates ate. What was a good pirate meal? Luckily the internet is heaving with helpful articles.

I was shocked to find that their favourite dish is …. wait for it …. SALAD. Or rather a dish called Salmagundi. Described as a random scrambled hodge-podge of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruits. This is a recipe from a 1734 recipe book.

“To make a Cold Hash, or Salad-Magundy. Take a cold Turkey, two cold Chickens, or if you have neither, a piece of fine white Veal will do; cut the Breasts of these Fowls into fair dices, and Mince all the rest; to the Quantity of two Chickens you mull take eight or ten large Anchovies, wash and bone them, eight large Pickl’d Oysters, ten or twelve fine green Pickl’d Cucumbers, shred the Oysters, the Anchovies, the Cucumbers, and one whole Lemon small, mix them with the shred Meat, lay it in the middle of the Dish, lay the Dices of the white part round the Dish, with halv’d Anchovies, whole Pickl’d Oysters, quarter’d Cucumbers, sliced Lemon, whole Pickl’d Mushrooms, Capers or any Pickle you like; cut also some fine Lettice, and lay round among the Garnish, but put not Oil and Vinegar to the Minced Meat, ’till it comes to Table."

I can see that being served up in a fancy restaurant these days.

But mainly the lives of pirates were brutal and short, with most not living beyond their thirties. Poor living conditions and a bad diet being the principal cause.

On long voyages they relied on ships biscuit infested by weevils; salt or dried beef which was so inedible that many pirates carved it into belt buckles and buttons for their britches; Beer, ale and rum obvs, although Black Bart, who captured more than 400 ships in his day, only drank tea.

Captain Charlotte de Berry, it is said, ate her husband after bing shipwrecked.

So all in all, they had quite a varied diet, although clearly not balanced.

RJ