Georgian Recipes

Lydia and her family would have had a very long voyage from their home in England to the port of Boston in 1760.  Back then, the trip would have taken many weeks - or even months, if the weather was bad - and often ships might even run out of fresh food before the voyage was over. 

Lydia would have had to make do with small portions of fresh food and eat lots of preserved foods, including Ship's Biscuits . These were very inexpensive to make and could last a very long time - there is even Ship's Biscuits on display in museums !

We still have versions of Ship's Biscuits today - in the form of saltine crackers, water crackers or matzo.You can make some Ship's Biscuits, just like Lydia would have eaten. Here is a typical recipe you can try at home.

You will need :

  • 350 grams unbleached white flour                                       
  • 100 grams whole wheat flour
  • 200 grams water
  • 2 tsp sea salt
Get an adult to help you preheat the oven to 300f / 150c
Now mix all your ingredients in a bowl - it might not seem like there is enough moisture but there should be!
Knead the dough on a floury board for about 5 minutes, then let it rest for about 15 minutes, covered in plastic wrap.
Roll out your dough - you might have to to it in sections - and then cut out biscuits using your favourite shape.
Take a fork and prick little dots all over the top and bake for one hour with the oven on, then turn the oven off and let bake another hour.
Take them out of the oven and cool -
There you have Ship's Biscuits !