If you have a large family to cook for at Christmas, take solace that you don’t have to literally feed an army. For U.S. Army cooks in World War One the task of cooking for 60 men each was made simpler with a recipe book provided to them by the War Department. The Manual for Army Cooks was issued in 1916 just before the United States entered the First World War and was used as the basis for many meals provided to the 4 million soldiers who fought. This manual along with earlier manuals from the 19th and 18th centuries are being reissued by Casemate as The U.S. Army Cooks’ Manual.
The below recipes for roast turkey, cranberry sauce, and mince pies are for 60 people, so if you want to copy the recipes, you can be sure that you will last the twelve days of Christmas (and beyond) with plenty of leftovers.
Turkey, roast (for 60 men).
45 pounds turkey.
2 pounds minced onions, browned.
8 pounds bread crumbs.
8 pounds potatoes, mashed.
1 pound flour.
1 pound fat, butter preferred.
Pick and clean turkey well, saving the heart and liver which should be chopped fine and used in the gravy or stuffing. Fill space vacated by entrails and craw with stuffing. Sew up turkey with strong thread and bend the wings under the back and tie down to the body. Make a batter with the flour and fat, seasoning it with salt and pepper, and rub the turkey with it before placing in oven. After the turkey has been in the oven about 30 minutes, add a little hot water and baste frequently until done. When the flour is brown check the heat. When done the legs can be easily separated from the body.
To make the stuffing.—Moisten the bread crumbs with water; mix with potatoes, onions, and giblets; season with pepper and salt, sage, thyme, or other flavors; stuff well into the turkey. The bread may be soaked in oyster liquor and oysters added to the stuffing; or celery, currants, or raisins may be used instead of onions. Lemon juice or nuts may be added. This stuffing may be used with any fowl or fish.
Cranberry sauce (for 60 men).
10 quarts cranberries,
2½ pounds sugar.
Wash and boil the berries well; put in a clean boiler with about 1 inch of water; cover tightly and boil until the berries break to pieces and cover themselves with their juice; remove the lid and let simmer in order to dry them out. Sweeten with sugar, boil about five minutes, and pour into an earthen or wooden vessel and cool. Serve cold with chicken or turkey, or nearly any kind of meat or cake.
For added authenticity, you may wish to eat out of a mess tin.
Pie, mince.
For each pie use one-third pound of mince-meat and two thirds liquid. The liquid may be either sugar, sirup, molasses, cider, or a mixture of one-tenth brandy and nine-tenths water. Mix the mince-meat and liquid thoroughly and use a double pie crust; bake about 20 minutes in a 15-count oven.
To make mince-meat.
5 pounds beef (cooked).
6 pounds suet.
20 pounds dried apples.
10 pounds dried peaches.
1 pound cinnamon.
¼ pound cloves.
1 ounce black pepper.
10 pounds sugar.
1 pound salt.
10 pounds seeded prunes.
And, if desired—
5 pounds currants.
15 pounds raisins.
2 pounds candied citron.
1 pound lemon peel.
1 pound orange peel.
Run the beef, suet, apples, peaches, and prunes through the meat chopper, each separately; mix with the spices, adding only sufficient water to moisten; pack in a suitable keg that has been thoroughly cleaned. This preparation is suitable for use in garrison or in the field and will keep as long as water is kept from it. Five pounds are sufficient for 15 pies, the above recipe being sufficient for 150 pies.
To find out more about different recipes used by the U.S. Army from the Revolutionary Wars onwards, check out The U.S. Army Cooks’ Manual published by Casemate.
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