Open Fire Cooking: The Victualler's Dilemma, Revolutionary War Camp Cooking

What did Connecticut's soldiers eat? Join Dennis Picard at an open fire to cook and taste the rations of the Revolution. Connecticut sent more men into the American Revolution than nearly any other colony, and someone had to feed them. Soldiers in the Continental Army were promised daily rations: bread, fresh or salted meat, rum or beer, dried beans or peas. What they actually received was another matter. We have heard plenty about the privations of Valley Forge, but how many of us know anything about the Continental Army's winter encampments right here in Connecticut, at Redding and West Hartford? Drawing on soldier diaries and memoirs, Dennis will share stories of men who lived through supply shortages in the huts at Redding and made do with what they had, cooking Burgoo, Salt Pork Hash, dried peas, and flour using the equipment and techniques of the era. Come ready to watch, ask questions, and taste. Open Fire Cooking is part of our FarmingtonCT250 programming, marking the 250th anniversary of American independence with programs that bring the everyday lives of ordinary people into vivid focus: soldiers, families, and communities whose stories are best told not through documents, but through food.