Dried food, such as beans, pulses and sea biscuits were the main staple on long voyages as well as salted meat and pickled vegetables and fruit. Because the supply of fruit and vegetables lasted such a short amount of time, pirates would frequently suffer from malnutrition caused by lack of vitamin C.
For pirate ships on extended voyages, pirate crew often ended up getting by on minimal diet of dry biscuits, dried beans and salted beef.
Dried meats, like jerky, were extremely popular. But dried plants could offer up a surprising amount of protein as well. Beans were a major item on pirate ships. Beans and other pulses also ensured that the average pirate had some fiber in their diet. Fruits and vegetables tended to go bad fairly early on in a voyage.
Beef was salted or dried, in which form it resembled black oak. Sailors often carved it into buttons and belt buckles. Beer, ale, and rum were preferred for drinking since all kept better than fresh water, which spoiled and turned slimy in its storage casks.
Pirates are well known for their drinking habits. Most pirates drank Lime, Beer, Grog, Rum, Bumbo, Fog Cutter, Barbary Coast, and Ale. This was because these drinks were less likely to spoil during long voyages. Water was often too dirty to drink, so pirates would often drink these drinks.
During the Age of Piracy, bananas were used as a food by many people, including pirates.
As for the particular word “Arrr," or “Arrgghh" or many other variations, historians believe its popularity started with the 1950 film version of Treasure Island. In that movie, English actor Robert Newton played a pirate from the West Country in the southwestern part of England.
Also, many pirate ships had cows and goats on the ship, so the pirates would have milk when the foods were starting to run out. The pirates would butcher the cows and chickens for meat if needed. The longer the pirates were out at sea, some of their food items would start to spoil and go bad.
“Pirates had bleeding gums, their teeth fell out, bones atrophied ... it was a slow death,” curator HMNS David Temple explained. “Eating citrus fruit and sauerkraut was the cure.” The lack of basic cleanliness made pirates ill as well.
Scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of dietary ascorbic acid (vitamin C), debilitated sailors after just a few months at sea without fresh provisions. Citrus juice was discovered to cure the disease long before vitamin C was identified as the essential nutrient in the fruit.
Rum, which was distilled from sugar, became a primary export. As a result, many of the ships on the waters that pirates attacked were filled with it. Crews tended to drink much of the liquid loot they found. However, rum was also used as a currency and often traded for goods.
It's a disease caused by a lack of vitamin C and it can cause severely weakened and receding gums. Pirates were often the victims of scurvy because they spent months at a time on the open seas with no access to fresh fruits and vegetables. It wasn't uncommon for pirates to have missing teeth due to poor gums.
Pirates often suffered from scurvy, a medical condition resulting from a lack of vitamin C in their diets. Vitamin C is necessary for collagen production and iron absorption.
Forbidden Pirate Word
At the start of the party, give each guest 10 gold coins. Choose a pirate word to be the forbidden word of the day. Since kids will be talking like pirates, some ideas for forbidden words include pirate, ship, matey, and arrrrrrrr.
In the second half of the 17th century, pirates started following rules. These rules had many different names, including Chasse-Partie, Charter Party, Custom of the Coast, or Jamaica Discipline. Eventually, they became known as Articles of Agreement, or the pirate's code.
Ahoy – A pirate greeting or a way to get someone's attention, similar to “Hello” or “hey!”. Arrr, Arrgh, Yarr, Gar – Pirates slang used to emphasize a point.
Carbohydrates: At ports, pirates would enjoy hunks of bread with their meals. On board the ship, they would eat hardtack sea biscuits. These dense biscuits would last for around 12 months if kept dry.
Despite being at sea, pirates were not known to eat fish because fishing was too time consuming and they weren't able to catch enough fish to make it worth it. Instead, dried plants, beans, and legumes were popular foods that provide fiber for pirates at sea.
The staples of a long naval voyage included a simple diet, mostly of sat meat, usually pork dried peas, old cheese, and fish if it were available. Often, it was not. Oatmeal was made into a thick stew, called loblolly, in vast amounts, and hundreds and hundreds of pounds of ship's biscuit.
Not being able to get enough good food, pirates got sick. Scurvy was cause by not eating enough vitamin C which is found in citrus foods like lemons, limes and oranges. When a pirate's teeth started falling out, he had pale skin and fat legs and had to keep running to the bathroom, he knew he had scurvy.
Macaws were kept by pirates for a variety of reasons, but they were able to keep them for a few reasons. Firstly they're not big eaters which means that when supplies run low they, like cats, are not an unnecessary drain on scarce resources. Secondly, they're fairly able to take care of themselves.
Without doubt, pirates had a propensity for drunkenness. They were frequently described as drunk and disorderly, but it wasn't all about villainy and debauchery.