JF; I wrote the name down, and will look it up. As a kid
growing up in Charleston S.C. the Civil War stories about the
blockade runners caught my fancy. The old Charleston Library even had the official logs ( copies ) from many of them.
But one other war story also tops my list , "Sharks and Little
Fishes" the author was so good you could picture and almost feel
the ordeals that they went through. It was a down to earth and
honest look at the U boat crews and took you right up to when
they were sailing and only 1 crew in 10 was coming back,
and they knew that when they went out. He was good with making
even the small details real and how the most simple things can
become so important to a man.
Like I can remember one long trip were we ran out of meat,
and it had been a very skinny trip catch wise , and on the way
back, about ready to give it up we hit pay dirt and decided to
tough it out, we had rice and flour a few canned goods and such
but not a single scrap of meat, even all the bacon grease had been gone for 3 weeks.
I was cooking fish and shrimp in every fashion and well
it was not so bad, but a pure seafood diet was sure getting
tiresome.
Another boat came by and wanted some fuel to
extend his trip, we needed ice , so we made a swap, he was
also very low on groceries, but spared us a half of a pack of
baloney and six slices of bacon. Now all my life I had avoided
baloney , salami I liked, but baloney had been nothing but
tasteless mush to me and I never bought any. Let me tell you also
this stuff was turning green , and we had to wash it off.
After the fuel ice transfer I decided to make supper and used
one slice of the bacon mostly for the grease and flavor , and with
the baloney being so old knew I better cook it and also
wanted to use it up first, I used 3 slices of it, ( 1 per man ).
Let me tell you even as I remember it now the smell of it cooking
comes back to me, yes the smell of that baloney cooking in that
bacon grease put off the best smell of anything I had every
smelled cooking in all my life, and to this day I don't
believe I have since ever smelled any thing cooking that smelled
so good.
To remember it now ( almost 30 yrs latter )
can still make my mouth water.
As we sat down and ate I still think that piece of baloney
tasted better to me at that time than any kind of steak or
roast or other meat I had ever eaten before or since.
I have tried cooking baloney since but have never recaptured
any thing close to as good as that was. I guess I might try
to go on a pure seafood diet for 3 weeks and then it might
work. Maybe it was just because it had gotten old and
had to have the green washed off of it ? But it sure was
a delight to eat..and is one meal I will never forget.
Jim |
