Backcountry Green Grocer
February-March 2002
This is an article from WaveLength Magazine, available in print in North America and globally on the web.
To download a pdf copy of the magazine click here: > DOWNLOAD
by Michael Gray
Imagine yourself three days into a summer kayak tour. You've just put in a 15-mile day into a stiff headwind and carried your gear across a mid-tide mudflat. As the sun starts to droop towards the horizon, you begin to fantasize about a nice glass of wine, a crisp Caesar salad, angel hair pasta with shrimp in a lime garlic sauce, followed by a warm chewy brownie and a hot steaming cup of coffee laced with Irish cream. But wait, those are real food smells coming from the cookzone-this meal is really going to happen, right here, right now! This group really knows how to spend their time off!
So just how do you travel with all this fresh produce without it looking and smelling like something the tide left on the beach?
AVOID DEATH BY SUFFOCATION
Our little nutrient laden friends need air to survive! Various sizes of mesh bags work very well to preserve a variety of fruits and vegetables as lively contributing members to your meals. You will be amazed at how well things keep-even at very warm temperatures. Certain things need a little tenderness though... bananas, apples, grapes, avocados, tomatoes. Not only do they need air, but they also need a rigid container to protect their fragile hides. One way to create safe havens for these items is to collect a variety of rigid, resealable containers, then slip into a testosterone frenzy and drill 'em full of small holes... all in the quest of tenderness, of course. Plastic ice cream tubs work well for this. When empty they can be nested. Some items like melons can be chilled by sinking them in deep water in a dunk bag weighted down with rocks or a bottle of wine and maybe some heavy cream to be whipped later as an addition to strawberry shortcake.
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Photo: Michael Gray |
KEEP THEM IN THE SHADE
In camp try to break contact with the ground and any small critter competition you may have by hanging your produce up in the shade under a tree. If you are traveling by canoe or kayak, nestle your most perishable items down below the waterline against the hull and cover with insulating layers like raingear, or sleeping pads (not recommended for bear country, however). This is a very cool dark place to keep your produce, not unlike the vegetable drawer in your fridge-maybe it's even cleaner!
CHEAT!
For some of the most perishable items, I cheat. On sea kayak trips I often carry a "cheater pack"-a soft-sided, durable 15-20 quart cooler containing several frozen items and the most sensitive produce on the top. Romaine lettuce, snow peas, berries and fresh herbs all live a significantly extended life due to such blatant exploitation of the rules. Hard frozen block ice lasts the longest. I like to freeze potable water in plastic two qt. milk jugs for an ice supply. supply. The melt-water doesn't spoil your food and you can use it later. Freezing canned beer (really) or using frozen meats, juices and berries that make nice treats later, can create more cold thermal mass. I have even used dry ice to keep ice cream for a surprise 40th birthday strawberry sundae on day 3 of a subtropical trip in the Florida Keys!
PRODUCE THAT LIKE TO GO KAYAKING
Living in the 21st century, used to having every convenience at our fingertips here in the "first world", we tend to forget that people thrived quite well before frost-free refrigerators and microwave ovens. In fact, many of the items we refrigerate today survive quite well without the big chill. This is especially true for many fruits and vegetables, some of which may even taste better if kept at "room" temperature. The following is a list of those fruits and vegetables that can travel with you and their life expectancies as additions to your moveable feasts. Extreme cold or extreme heat will greatly effect these estimates, but there are always ways to cheat...
VEGETABLES:Tomatoes: 2-4 days FRESH FRUITS:Peaches: you wish! |
CABBAGE IS IMMORTAL
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Beach logs make good buffet tables.
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One year a group of us were busily packing our boats for a week on Georgian Bay. I dropped a crisp red cabbage through my round bow hatch and bowled it up into the nose, followed by my sleeping pad and about 35 lbs. of other gear. After unloading my boat daily I'd completely forgotten about the cabbage that was now thoroughly wedged up there by my sleeping pad being slammed into place every morning. This was June. At the season's second Georgian Bay trip, I was finding myself frustrated at how unbalanced my 'empty' boat was during carries and how my boat just wasn't handling the way I am accustomed to during lessons. My front hatch was also getting a little bulge in it on warm days and, frankly, it was beginning to get a little ripe smelling. My guests were giving my boat a wide berth. It was now August. I still couldn't hear anything loose in there, no matter how much we banged and rattled it around. Finally, we stood my 19 ft kayak hard on its tail and we heard this deadened thud as that cabbage went 'splat' into my forward bulkhead. With more than a little trepidation, I peeled off my hatch and there was that slimy mass of cabbage that had been touring with me for the last 8 weeks. After scraping away the outer inch and a half of compost, there was still a firm, softball sized cabbage-it made pretty good slaw that evening!
Here is a sample menu for a paddler's feast that highlights fresh foods that travel well:
STARTER: Pseudo-Caesar Salad
Total preparation time: 10 min., one pot.
Most of these items will keep unrefrigerated for nearly a week, so you can even enjoy crisp salad near the end of a trip.
At home: Package fresh veggies together in a breathable bag. Pack dressing in an appropriately sized leak proof plastic bottle.
In camp: Combine everything about 15 minutes before you want to eat.
Herbs and Spices: Dress with Newman's Own Caesar dressing-tough to beat for an easy way out. Dressing can be repackaged in a Nalgene container.
MAIN COURSE: Angel Hair in Smoked Salmon Cream Sauce
Total preparation time: 25 min., two pots.
Refreshingly light, yet hearty and quick cooking, this is a crowd pleaser with many good variations.
At home: reduce all packaging, plastic wrap chicken or veggie base.
In camp: First pot: bring appropriate water to a boil. Second pot: sauté garlic in olive oil in bottom of pot on medium heat for two minutes, stir in chopped veggies for another 10 minutes, add water/ wine, smoked salmon, lime juice, herbs, broth mix and cream cheese. Simmer until you obtain smooth creamy texture. During last couple of minutes add pasta to water and boil while stirring for two minutes. Stop just short of what you think is done. Drain; stir in cream sauce and serve.
Variations: Add broccoli to sauce with the water/wine. Add fresh cilantro to sauce in place of Basil (very good with the lime), and a squirt of red pepper sauce. Use fresh shrimp, clams or scallops in place of salmon if you can obtain it on-site.
DESSERT: Black Forest Brownies
There are currently several commercially available backcountry baking devices that are versatile and easy to use. The recipe works well in just about any of them. I use a small cast aluminum Dutch oven, and a zipseal bag to carry the mix and directions. In camp I simply crack the egg directly into the bag, add rum soaked dried cherries (1/2 cup) and rum (1/2 cup), a little olive oil, seal, mix and squeeze into heating baking pan.
Variations: Add cream cheese dollops or peanut butter to the batter once it is in place. Hold back some of the now cherry flavored rum to stir into hot chocolate for a terrific treat on a cool evening.
© Michael Gray is with Uncommon Adventures, Beulah, MI
Ph: (231) 882-5525. E-mail: kayakmichael@voyager.net Web: www.uncommonadv.com
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