FOOD

Neither the food itself nor the cooking of those days was of an order to satisfy either the appetite of the gourmand or the discerning taste of the gourmet. Yet it produced, a people strong in body and clear in mind. Quantity was more important than the quality.

All the food was cooked on the open fire. The familiar utensils were the metal kettle for boiling water, the cast-iron pot for boiling potatoes and making porridge, the griddle for baking the large soda cake, the grid-iron for cooking the oaten cake, the bastible for baking and roasting meat and the old black-pan for making tea. The elegant teapot was still a vessel of the future. The delph bowl for tea and other liquids was in general use in place of the cup and saucer which came into vogue a decade or so later.

In a large bin with separate compartments flour, oaten meal and Indian meal were stored for human consumption. The oaten meal was produced from the corn grown on the farm and ground in the mill. It was the custom for each family to get a quantity of oaten meal ground each year about November to provide bread and porridge during the winter.

Breakfast, eaten about eight o'clock in the morning, consisted of tea, bread and sometimes an egg and/or butter. Very often, however, the eggs and butter were sold to secure such items as tea and sugar. The bread was home made and was either soda or oaten. Occasionally the housewife baked from potatoes a type of bread called "fadge". The soda bread may have been made from flour or a mixture of flour and Indian meal.

"Ten o'clock tea, was a custom in most areas. Tea and bread constituted this collation, which was eaten in the field in the case of those working on the farm.

Dinner, at one o'clock, was eaten in the house together, by all the family. Potatoes, milk and butter were the normal fare. Occasionally fish was available, but meat very rarely. The potato was the most important part of the diet. At times the potatoes were boiled in their jackets and at times they were made into "poundies" by peeling and mashing. If the potatoes were plentiful the family was assured of enough food throughout the year. Often, however, there was a lean period during mid-summer and many families suffered hunger, as money was not available to secure any alternative food.

At around five o'clock tea and bread were again taken. This collation was known as the "evening tea". In summer this meal was brought to the men at work in the fields.

Supper was taken around ten o'clock, Brachan, made of either oaten meal or Indian meal, was eaten. Milk was added, and salt or sugar according to choice.

Meat was eaten two or three times each year. Fish was used more frequently and at times other edible foods from the sea, such as bairnigh and winkles. Crabs were also eaten. Apart from the potato, there was very little use made of vegetables.

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