Category: Food & Wine

Blackbeard’s Grog, a legendary recipe

By William W. Lawrence Sr.

You know him as Blackbeard the Pirate.

He was born Edward Teach in Bristol England and was known by several names — Thatch, Thach and Drummond. Except for the fact that he went to sea as a youth, his early life remains a mystery. He was a demon, a brutal giant who loved to spill blood.

His ship, a captured French vessel which he renamed the Queen Anne’s Revenge, was swift and carried 40 cannons.

His long beard was braided into pigtails and tied with ribbons. He wore six pistols on one shoulder and a cutlass on the other.

Before going into battle, he shoved lengths of cannon fuse under his headgear and lit them to smolder. His evil countenance, framed by smoke caused many victims to surrender before a shot was fired.

Blackbeard had captured and looted many ships. He became famous, however, only when he defeated a British man-o-war, The Scarborough. The story of his victory spread, and Blackbeard became the most feared pirate in the world.

His biggest triumph came in 1717 when he easily captured five richly laden ships practically in the Charlestown, S.C. harbor. His ships (he now had three under his command) were loaded with goodies taken from other vessels, but he needed medical supplies.

He sent word to the South Carolina governor that unless he coughed up the medicine, Blackbeard would burn the captured ships and kill the crews.

The governor delivered the medical supplies.

The King of England had recently offered amnesty to all the cutthroats who vowed to give up piracy and go straight.

Blackbeard was a thug without honor. He decided to accept the offer, but had no intentions of giving up his joys of pillaging and killing. In 1718, Blackbeard the pirate ruled the seas and called North Carolina home.

He made deals with Charles Eden, the corrupt royal governor of North Carolina who gave him and his crews certificates of pardon and allowed them to use Ocracoke Island as their headquarters and to continue looting and robbing. 

At first the North Carolina traders were in favor of the deal because they could buy Blackbeard’s booty cheap. Then Blackbeard started to bully and rob the traders. Eden did not give ear to their complaints, so the traders sent a delegation to Virginia Governor Alexander Spotswood. The honest Spotswood decided to end the reign of terror even though he had no jurisdiction in the area. 

“No one must know what I do tonight,” Spottswood told himself. “North Carolina’s governor cannot be trusted. Many on my own council are in league with the devil.” He was going to act on the theory that the best weapon was surprise — and some well-manned sloops.

“Yes, we must deal with him now, here,” Spottswood told his advisers, “lest his presence haunt us to our graves.”

He sent two British warships to the pirate’s headquarters on Ocracoke Island with instructions to capture Blackbeard and his crew of 20 pirates.

Lt. Robert Maynard was in command of the ships. After many exchanges of cannon fire, Blackbeard figured he had the advantage and boarded Maynard’s sloop. Maynard and Blackbeard exchanged pistol shots. Blackbeard, whose brain was a bit foggy from a belly full of grog, missed.

Maynard did not miss. He planted a bullet directly in Blackbeard’s chest.

It did not even slow him down. He went after Maynard with his cutlass, Maynard parried and struck telling blows with his sword. Finally, bleeding from a score of wounds Blackbeard sunk to the deck. He drew another pistol and aimed at Maynard, but was too weak to pull the trigger. He died in a pool of blood. Maynard’s men hung Blackbeards’ severed head on a mast and returned to Okracoke in triumphant victory.

Blackbeard’s Grog

1 Tsp. of sugar

Juice of 1/4 lemon

2 ounces dark rum

Mix them together, add hot water and stir.

Alexander Selkirk Cheese Flambe

Alexander Selkirk, the son of a Largo, Scotland shoemaker, left home in 1695, when he was 19, to become a buccaneer. By the time he was 27, he was the sailing master of a galley in a fleet captained by the famed pirate, William Dampier.

Selkirk was a stubborn, thin-skinned man who always wanted to do things his way. In September 1704 he had an argument with the captain.

“Let me off this ship,” he demanded.

A few days later, he was put ashore on the desolate and uninhabited island of Juan Fernandez, 400 miles west of Chile. Selkirk was allowed to take weapons, tools, tackle, brandy and other supplies.

The first night on shore, Selkirk wondered if he had made a big mistake. He heard strange noises coming out of the jungle. Afraid of being attacked by wild animals, he slept in a tree.

The next day, he used a tarpaulin to make a tent, which he surrounded with a high picket fence made from saplings. He then felt safe.

During the next weeks, he explored the island and found an abundance of game — large birds, goats, rabbits and wild cats. He shot game for food, and soon captured and tamed a few goats. He even found a lemon tree.

From the goats, he was able to get milk. He soon learned how to make butter and cheese. The cheese was similar in texture to mozzarella. He built a small boat that he used to go fishing in a small safe cove.

For the most part, Selkirk enjoyed his isolation. He became a very good cook, and spent much of his time at the stove and oven he had made.

He hesitated to leave the island when the “Duke,” captained by Woods Rogers and piloted by Dampier, showed up five years later.

“Let’s not have any hard feelings,” said Dampier. “C’mon Alex, back to civilization.”

Selkirk finally agreed and was appointed mate to Rogers. The next month he was given command of the “Increase” which had been captured by the privateers.

He returned to England in 1711. His tale of being marooned on an uninhabited island reached Daniel Defoe who used Selkirk’s narrative as the basis of one of the most widely read classics of all times — Robinson Crusoe.

Selkirk returned to Largo where he spent most of his time as a recluse. On the few occasions, he did have visitors, he usually prepared his favorite dish, called “Toad-in-the-Hole” that he served with an ale and, cheese flambé hors d’oeuvre that he concocted on his beloved island. It is still a wonderful appetizer that is very easy to make. You would do well to try it. But be sure to follow with Robinson Crusoe’s “Toad in the Hole.”

Alexander Selkirk’s Cheese Flambé

1 Lb. Mozzarella cheese

3 Tbs. melted butter

1 Lemon

5 Tbs. brandy

Place cheese in ovenproof baking dish. Brush with butter and lemon juice mixture. Place in broiler under high heat about six inches away from heat. Broil about five minutes until cheese browns and bubbles. Meanwhile heat brandy until very warm. Take cheese from broiler, pour brandy over cheese and light immediately. Cut into cubes and serve with small pieces of seeded rye bread or crackers.

Toad-in-the-Hole

2 Cups all purpose flour

3 Eggs

1 ½ Cups milk

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 Lb.(8 links) good quality pork sausage

dash of salt and pepper

Brown the sausages in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and cook through, about 12 minutes.

Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425° F.

Whisk together the flour, eggs and the milk in a medium bowl until you have smooth batter. Season with salt and pepper.

Cover and let stand for half an hour.

Pour the second tablespoon of oil into a baking dish and place sausages into it in a single layer. Pour the batter over the sausages and place in oven. Bake for about 20 minutes or until batter has risen and is the color of golden brown. Serve immediately.

Alexander Selkirk Cheese Flambe

Edmund Halley Rabbit — Edmund Halley was born in London in 1656. His father had more money than Daddy Warbucks. Young Eddie always had a pocket full of shillings to wine and dine the lassies, but he also spent much of it on telescopes for star-gazing.

Halley was famous as an astronomer by the time he was 19. Even at that age he could immediately detect a misplaced star.

He became the Astronomer Royal succeeding John Flamsteed, the first Astronomer Royal who, along with Sir Isaac Newton, were his closest friends.

When a comet appeared in 1682, it was spotted by Halley, who after checking its orbit, identified it as the comet that had been sighted in 1607 and 1531. The streaking body is famous today as “Halley’s Comet.”

Later, the same year, 1682, Halley, Flamsteed, and Newton were at the Greenwich Observatory when Halley shouted for attention.

“I say!” exclaimed Halley. “It appears to be a cigar.”

This came long before any kind of aircraft was cluttering the skies. The trio jotted notes as they tracked the fascinating object through their telescopes. It had appeared out of no-where and moved steadily across the sky.

It was too slow for a meteor and much too fast to be a cloud. Besides the object was jet black and definitely solid.

The three compared notes and agreed they had seen the same thing. Newton described it as being shaped like a shuttle, and Flamsteed saw it as a spindle.

None of the famous astronomers could identify the object.

“Extraordinary,” they agreed.

And indeed it was. It is possible they reported the first UFO.

Many times Halley prepared a Welsh peasant’s ragout for his two friends at the observatory. One theory holds that the inexpensive dish was served to Welsh kitchen workers while English nobility dined on rabbit and wine. It was called Welsh Rabbit. Here is a popular version of the recipe which we call Halley’s Rabbit.

Halley’s Rabbit

1/4 Cup margarine or butter

Dash of cayenne

1/2 Tsp. dry mustard

1/2 Tsp. Worcestershire sauce

3/4 Cup milk

3/4 Cup ale or stout

1 Lb. shredded Cheddar cheese

8 slices toast

Shred cheese and set aside. Mix all ingredients in a saucepan and place over very low heat until liquid is hot. Add cheese, stir until melted. Pour over toast. For some modern wrinkles use ginger ale instead of the alcohol drink, and pour the sauce over bagels instead of toast. It’s delicious over French fries and baked potatoes as well.

 

Edmund Halley Rabbit — A Legendary Recipe