[PW] ? "soft hardbread

[John P. Dyson]

Quoting "Cramer, Jeff" <Jeff.Cramer at walden.org>:

> My question is two-fold: I?m open to any other interpretations of the
> phrase ?soft hardbread? and is it possible that anyone in mid-19th
> century Massachusetts would have been aware of any kind of flatbread?

Jeff,

A sailor in Massachusetts (or anywhere else) at the time would have 
been aware of such a staple for travel. Hardtack or hardbread, known 
during the Civil War as tooth dullers and weevil castles, was durable, 
portable and could be crumbled up and softened as a thickener in about 
any liquid.

This is a guess, but "soft" hardbread was probably intentionally 
underbaked in order to take a little longer for it to reach the 
consistency if not the flavor of cedar shakes. Perhaps the baker 
skipped the part where little holes were pressed into the dough to make 
it bake faster.

You did say "any" suggestion...

John Dyson