Can you think of any food today which is kept in the same way? ………………………………………………………………

Some ships carried dried food, like rice, which doesn't take much room to store, but which provides a filling meal. Many ships even carried live animals, which were used to provide eggs and milk, or killed during the voyage to provide fresh meat.

What kind of animals might these have been? ………………………………………………………………

On a Tudor ship all of the food was cooked over an open fire in the ships cook box. The cook box had three sides and a bar across the top to hang pots called cauldrons. The fire was on a tray at the bottom of the cook box, which was on legs to life off the deck of the ship.

Why do you think it was so important to keep the fire carefully contained in the cook box?

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On paper the Elizabethan sailor lived well - certainly few labourers ashore enjoyed such a high standard of living - but was at the mercy of corrupt merchants, dishonest Admiralty officers, and in far too many cases, the cupidity of his own captain and purser. Often as it came aboard the stores were already rancid and rotten. Bad food was one of the commonest causes of complaint by ships crews and a sailor was more likely to die after eating his dinner than from gunshot wounds.

Typical daily ration taken from a 'Pipe' account of the time: