Here’s something taken from a catalog of a local jerky maker (http://cattaneobros.com/):
In the early days, Western food was highly seasoned but notoriously monotonous. Ranch grub was made up of dried fruit, potatoes, syrup, coffee and the four B’s – sourdough biscuits, bacon (called by cowboys “overland trout”), beef and beans. Additional ingredients became available as trail stations grew and became more permanent.
Keeping the cowboys well fed was one of the most important jobs on the trail. “Cookie” was the uncrowned king of the camp and was known variously as dough belly, dough wrangler, grub worm, gut-robber or pot rustler.
Cookie had to be versatile, resourceful and dependable. Aware of his awesome power and like all prima donnas, his crankiness was legendary. He was absolutely depended upon to have three “hots” a day – good tasting an in sufficient quantity. The cook also had other less formal duties: stakeholder when bets were made, arbiter to settle quarrels and doctor for man and beast. He often acted as father/confessor and even banker for those who had loose change in danger of slipping out of pockets during rough work.
Almost all cooks liked to talk because they spent the day alone. While everyone ate in the evening, the cook would often squat against the rear wheel of the chuck wagon and discuss everything from weather and women to politics and poker. He rambled on solo because the cowboys were too hungry to waste time in conversation; a chatterbox among the boys was referred to as a “leaky mouth.” However, if Cookie was a good cook, he could talk all he wished and was rarely interrupted.
That cowboys held food in great esteem can be judged by the affectionate terms they used for their meals. They would sit down in the morning to a hearty breakfast cooked by the bean master (cook). On the menu might be spotted pup (rice with raisins), splatter dabs (hotcakes), with skid grease (butter), sourdough bullets (biscuits) with sop or Texas butter (gravy), sow bosom (salted pork), and hen fruit (eggs) all washed down with coffee or java “saucered and blowed” (cooled to sipping temperature.)
In the early days, Western food was highly seasoned but notoriously monotonous. Ranch grub was made up of dried fruit, potatoes, syrup, coffee and the four B’s – sourdough biscuits, bacon (called by cowboys “overland trout”), beef and beans. Additional ingredients became available as trail stations grew and became more permanent.
Keeping the cowboys well fed was one of the most important jobs on the trail. “Cookie” was the uncrowned king of the camp and was known variously as dough belly, dough wrangler, grub worm, gut-robber or pot rustler.
Cookie had to be versatile, resourceful and dependable. Aware of his awesome power and like all prima donnas, his crankiness was legendary. He was absolutely depended upon to have three “hots” a day – good tasting an in sufficient quantity. The cook also had other less formal duties: stakeholder when bets were made, arbiter to settle quarrels and doctor for man and beast. He often acted as father/confessor and even banker for those who had loose change in danger of slipping out of pockets during rough work.
Almost all cooks liked to talk because they spent the day alone. While everyone ate in the evening, the cook would often squat against the rear wheel of the chuck wagon and discuss everything from weather and women to politics and poker. He rambled on solo because the cowboys were too hungry to waste time in conversation; a chatterbox among the boys was referred to as a “leaky mouth.” However, if Cookie was a good cook, he could talk all he wished and was rarely interrupted.
That cowboys held food in great esteem can be judged by the affectionate terms they used for their meals. They would sit down in the morning to a hearty breakfast cooked by the bean master (cook). On the menu might be spotted pup (rice with raisins), splatter dabs (hotcakes), with skid grease (butter), sourdough bullets (biscuits) with sop or Texas butter (gravy), sow bosom (salted pork), and hen fruit (eggs) all washed down with coffee or java “saucered and blowed” (cooled to sipping temperature.)
