[Sca-cooks] Food for camping
Judith Epstein
judith at ipstenu.org
Fri Jul 31 13:26:39 PDT 2009
There are some wonderful recipes for foods that don't need to be
refrigerated, that can be made ahead of time and kept in jars. Check
these links:
http://www.geocities.com/yourstruly/nocooler.html
http://www.currentmiddleages.org/tents/cooking.htm
All you'll need the cooler for is eggs, vegetables, fruits, and
condiments like mayonnaise (and there's a reason not a lot of that was
stored in Period -- it was made fresh for each meal). Don't bring milk
unless you have a whole 'nother cooler to fill with ice. Instead, get
your calcium from soymilk, which you can find in single-serving sealed
boxes just like juice boxes. It doesn't need to be kept cold. If you
bring cheeses, they should go in the dairy cooler, too. If you do
happen to bring both meat and dairy that need to go in coolers, you
need separate coolers for that, no mixing. The bacteria that grow in
each should be kept different from each other. However, you should
freeze the meat SOLID for at least a few days in the freezer, so that
it keeps itself and other items cold in the cooler, and use it
whenever it's thawed out.
You need not make everything ahead, either. Our ancestors sure didn't!
You can take raw ingredients with you and prepare food on-site. Bring
or make bread, then serve it with a dip of olive oil, balsamic vinegar
or lemon juice, and herbs (it doesn't go bad, like butter might do).
Pack some rolled oats and dried fruits, and have a lovely fruited
oatmeal for breakfast. Make pita or naan over your own or someone
else's campfire, on the butt-end of a wok or in a skillet. Nuts and
nut butters provide excellent protein and a bit of needed fat, and
they keep much longer than a week. Dried meats such as jerky can go
right into a cooking pot with dried beans and vegetables, and if you
cook it at very low temperatures all day, makes a beautiful stew (just
use twice as much water than you'd use with fresh vegetables and
meats). Foods that are dried, or that are made with a lot of sugar/
honey/molasses, salt, or alcohol don't tend to go bad as quickly as
other foods. Don't skimp on the greens, but make sure they're the
hearty kind that can sit with ice or dry ice in a cooler for a week
without wilting. And remember, honey is the only food yet discovered
which does not spoil, ever!
-- Judith / no SCA name yet
On Jul 31, 2009, at 2:15 PM, brooke white wrote:
> I am so glad that this list didn't freeze up wioth everybody being
> off to
> pennsic. I was wondering If you could help me out with some
> suggestions for
> (acceptable) food for camping. We have only very limited cooling
> space, so I
> tend to bring fruit which doesn't perish too quickly, some nuts and
> salami,
> but this year we will be at an event for almost a week, probably sunny
> weather and our own tent. Lunch and Breakfast is provided, so what
> shhoudl I
> plan for the evenings without feast... I just wonder, if anybody has
> any
> suggestions. We don't own a (non electric) grill as such, but we
> will have
> access to a tripods and a big pot, or even a charcoal fired grill.
> Or I
> oculd simply to bread and butter (the butter being the problem as I
> am not
> certain I can keep it cool enough long enough.Thanx for any help
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