Why not just make it yourself? It's just flour, water, and salt. It's far easier than yeast-based breads and easier than most quick breads, too. Two ingredient (self-rising flour and heavy cream) biscuits are about the only thing that's easier.
Today as well. You need special equipment and a lot of time to remove all the moisture without burning it.
Sure, you can probably find a way to achieve a "good enough" result with normal household appliances, especially when it doesn't actually need to be stored for years and you're just going to soak it again for some tranditional recipe.
But it's a lot more effort than most people want to invest when they just want to replicate that recipe.
I live in the same city as the factory mentioned in the article. It's hard enough to even make croutons this time of year due to the humidity. My wife is a fairly experienced/talented home cook and over cooked two batches last week trying to get them right.
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Why not just make it yourself? It's just flour, water, and salt. It's far easier than yeast-based breads and easier than most quick breads, too. Two ingredient (self-rising flour and heavy cream) biscuits are about the only thing that's easier.
In the US, hard bread is often called hardtack. The National Park Service publishes a simple recipe: https://www.nps.gov/mana/learn/kidsyouth/hardtack-during-the... . Here's another one from Australia: https://herreshoff.org/2020/04/a-recipe-for-hardtack/ .
The only real question is which kind of flour to use. I'm sure it ought to be whole wheat or a blend of whole wheat and white.
In the 1700s.
Today as well. You need special equipment and a lot of time to remove all the moisture without burning it.
Sure, you can probably find a way to achieve a "good enough" result with normal household appliances, especially when it doesn't actually need to be stored for years and you're just going to soak it again for some tranditional recipe.
But it's a lot more effort than most people want to invest when they just want to replicate that recipe.
I live in the same city as the factory mentioned in the article. It's hard enough to even make croutons this time of year due to the humidity. My wife is a fairly experienced/talented home cook and over cooked two batches last week trying to get them right.
Maybe the flour is difficult to buy or most people don't have a way to dry the bread? Being on the ocean, St. John's is a pretty humid place.