Enough to Feed An Army


Guess what? I went back for more in September 1998, an entire week's worth. I just returned from a 2-week assignment earlier this month. As before, we did our cooking at the basement kitchen of the Sharpsburg Volunteer Fire Department and then transported the food to the battlefield, about 1-1/2 miles away.

When I first began cooking for the gang, I asked Brad, the executive producer, what everyone ate. He solomnly replied, "There's 3 things you need to know about these fellows: they smoke cigarettes, they drink beer and they eat meat." Vegetarian meals are not popular, although we do have several vegetarians among the crew and reenactors.

I don't cook Civil War period food--if we followed the procedure for feeding the army during the 1860s, I'd just hand out packets of cornmeal, bacon and coffee and go back to bed. The meals I cook are the kind I'd offer if any of the guys came to my house for dinner--ham and cheese strata, fresh fruit, muffins or donuts and coffee for breakfast; turkey or roast beef sandwiches, chips, fresh veggies and fruit, and cookies for lunch; and barbequed chicken with all the fixings for dinner. How much food does it take to feed this small army? Beef stew and biscuits for 150 hungry men require approximately 40 pounds of beef, 20 pounds of potatoes, 10 pounds of frozen mixed vegetables, 10 pounds of onions, 2 number-10 cans of mushrooms, and 20 cannisters of refrigerated biscuits. We'll grill 200 pieces of chicken for a barbeque (and 8 veggie burgers for our vegetarians), bake the same amount of potatoes and boil the same amount of ears of corn. A scrambled egg-and-sausage breakfast uses at least 20 dozen eggs, 30 pounds of hash browns and 250 sausage links. One evening I cleaned out a local grocery store's egg supply; the cashier whose lane I went through thought I was crazy until I told her why I needed so many eggs. This year I took the same store's Cool Whip supply!

Despite the hard work and long hours, I love being a part of a film shoot. All the participants are dedicated to this project. The reenactors are delightful, the crew members ready to lend a hand whenever I need it. I meet a lot of other interesting people--as I'm sure many of you know, there's nothing like a film shoot to attract crowds. Many tourists

The copyright of the article Enough to Feed An Army in Culinary History is owned by Carey Draeger. Permission to republish Enough to Feed An Army in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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