Food to bring along...

[nicodiemus]

I'm firmly in the Ray Mears camp when it comes to eating while out and about. If the food is bad, or your time is uncomfortable, you're probably doing something wrong for whatever reason.

As a consequence, i've been thinking a lot lately about foods we can take with us while we're bushcrafting, camping, trekking, whatever.

You've got your staples like ziplocked bannock, pulses, and the occasional biltong or bushy tailed rodent... but i want other stuff to take along.

What do you guys like to take with you if you're out for a few days? Specifically things to cook. Not so interested in MRE's or MOD ratpacks. (tho i do enjoy both... wierdo that i am..)

Incidentally, does anyone know where i can get some reasonably (ie portable) dried / smoked sausage that doesn't need to be kept in a fridge?!

Nico

 

[spamel]

I get my salami sent over from Germany by a friend of my wifes. It is called Sommerwurst and is the best salami ever. I have took that many times and fry it or grill it over embers. It makes a fantastic meal by dicing and frying dry in a pan, the fat it gives out is enough to cook it in. Once it is nicely fried, bang some egg in for some nice scrambled egg with salami in it. Of course, it can be added to by popping some nettle leaves in before the egg and lightly frying those too, or adding some ramsons for a bit of garlic zing.

 

[nicodiemus]

Sounds tasty!

 

[spamel]

It is! A good thing to remember is that simple condiments can make or break a simple bit of cooking. Add tabasco or salt and pepper, or maybe some curry or chili powder to a simply cooked stew type meal and you get something totally different. I used to get smoked pork belly in Germany and I'd cut it into cubes on site. I'd add some water and a stock cube and set the whole thing over the fire to boil. After an hour or so, I'd add some dried onion and dried sliced Boletus mushrooms, all self made on my dehydrator, and let it simmer for a while. I'd drain off the liquid, leaving just enough to cover the meat and that stock drained off was lovely with a nice bread roll. With the starter finished, I'd add the rice. After that was cooked through, a pinch of salt and round two was ready!

I've tried it with the pork belly from UK, but it just isn't the same. I think it was smoked in Germany. It was my favourite outdoors meal as it was warming, had a good fat content for warmth and energy, the mushrooms gave a lovely flavour as did the onions and the rice gave it bulk so I never felt hungry afterwards.

 

[nicodiemus]

Yeah, i like to cart spices around with me. I'm a reformed chef, and old habits die hard. I even take spices when i visit friends, becuase you can't trust your mates to have whole spices and maldon salt, can you?

 

[SOAR]

Salami has to be a must food to take along, I went camping a few years ago with some friends in Scotland fishing, we all went to the supermarket to get food the stuff they got was not so good Pot noodles and the like, i put some salami in there and when they tried it cooked on a stick over the fire they all said that it was the best thing they had eaten all weekend, the fishing was not so good.

 

[andy_e]

Morrisons sell a decent, small, whole Salami and Peperoni. I also like to pack a few Ainsley Harriot cous-cous packets, dead easy to make up and really tasty. I'm also a big fan of these ...

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/reviews/cooking---food-and-drink/look-what-we-found---gourmet-meals.html

... a couple of those in your pack is a real treat at dinner time.

Some salami roasted over the fire, added to a packet of Pasta'n'Sauce is filling and tasty too.

 

[SOAR]

Or added to a packet rice, golden veg.

 

[SimonM]

Food must have has got to be salami - Our local deli is selling one made with single malt scotch at the mo! FANTASTIC!

You can add it to pasta, rice or make a kebab, truly versatile!

Like Spamel & Nicodemius, I carry condiments in my cook kit - a small bottle of Tobasco Sauce, Italian herbs, garlic, curry & chilli powder as well as salt and pepper sachets from cafes. They can make a bland meal more interesting.

The Tobasco Sauce makes for an interesting game of dare after a few beers - "Go on I dare you to drink it - DOWN IN ONE ... DOWN IN ONE!"

 

[SOAR]

The Tobasco Sauce makes for n interesting game of dare after a few beers - "Go on I dare you to drink it - DOWN IN ONE ... DOWN IN ONE!"

After a few drinks that would sound quite resonable

 

[John Fenna]

And it would make an unforgettable lesson on the evils of drinking too much "falling over water"!

 

[match]

[QUOTE}
Incidentally, does anyone know where i can get some reasonably (ie portable) dried / smoked sausage that doesn't need to be kept in a fridge?!
Nico[/QUOTE]

LIDL sell a chorizo thats very cheap and tasty - I've taken it camping many times and it keeps easily for up to a week if kept dry. They also sell kabanos (Polish Sausages) which are also pre-cooked. All these come shrink-wrapped so they keep for a long time until opened. They're not stocked in a fridge so they must be fine for keeping at room temperature.

No doubt ALDI/Netto also sell similar things - but the LIDL stuff is certainly more than edible

 

[UKHaiku]

Tabasco sauce with habaneros is pretty tasty

Have to be careful not to use too much though... If in doubt, make sure you have some milk around

On the sausage front (ooo, matron), I'm a big fan of chorizo - but some of them can be a bit strong unless you mix with plenty of rice/pasta...

 

[nicodiemus]

If in doubt, make sure you have some milk around

You cruel cruel man.

 

[maddave]

Tabasco sauce with habaneros is pretty tasty

Have to be careful not to use too much though... If in doubt, make sure you have some milk around

.

http://www.chilefarm.co.uk/who_dares_burns_2nd_assault.html