MINNESOTA OUT-OF-DOORS / MAY 1990

By Mark Sakry

The Duluth pack swings off your shoulders like a sack of wet laundry.  You are damp and tired.  The drizzle has let up but it has turned to fog. you must make camp.  You can no longer see well enough to travel.
    But you don't mind.  Soon you are met with the sweet vapor of blazing birch bark as the flames rise to sundry black pots on the firegrate.  Soon the soft hiss of steam.  A gulp of hot chocolate washes through you with renewing warmth.  Soon the aroma of brewing chili—subtle essences of cumin, oregano, tomato sauce and red pepper.
    The fog melts slowly from around the fire.  It hangs just over your shoulder.  You lean close and whiff the sublime fragrances rising from the fire.   You really don't mind the wait.  Neither do the others.
    The item on tonight's menu reads "chili con carne," just like the packet of freeze-dried food at the camping outlet.  But they are not the same.   You decided this time to forego the special convenience of freeze-dried food for a true culinary labor of love:  home cooking on the trail.  You planned your menu so you could shop for the items you needed just like you would at home, from your own grocery store.

HAUTE TRAIL CUISINE

    In an hour the beans are tender.  You add them to the sauce.  It's chili.  You eat.  You are gratified.  Your labor of love has paid off.  Yes, the others agree, it was worth the wait.
    Preparing grocery-bought "homecooked" meals in canoe country requires careful planning from the start—especially if you want to enjoy the benefits of convenience and light weight.  These, in fact, present a challenge to the grocery buyer since packaging must also conform to the can-and-bottle bans in the BWCAW and Quetico.  When cooking from scratch, you must also select ingredients which will not spoil on the trail.  Simple dehydrated foods work very well because they are less bulky and are lightweight to boot.
    For entrees, especially where a number of ingredients must be combined to make a main dish, this often presents a problem.  Chili itself requires two ingredients, for instance, which are traditionally harder to find at the supermarket in dried form than any others:  meat and tomato sauce.
    Beef jerky is the most readily available dried meat (if you don't dry your own) and makes a respectable substitute for beef or hamburger when used in entree recipes.  Surprisingly small portions will suffice and are easily reconstituted with a little boiling.  Chop-up and cook right in the casserole, adding a little water to compensate.
    Otherwise, frozen meats and smoked meats—such as bacon, sausage, and ham—will usually keep well for a few days when buried deep inside your food pack.  Because they are best placed early in the menu, you can usually eliminate their excessive bulk and weight rather quickly.
    Beyond these, soy-based meat substitutes and meatless eating are noble considerations—that is, if you don't happen to catch fish!
    Tomato sauce presents a perennial problem in dealing with both water weight and pack space.  It is available at most grocery stores in (BWCAW-approved) paper cartons, but these are noticeably heavy and cumbersome. Food co-ops, which are excellent places to buy dried foods and spices in bulk, often have dehydrated tomatoes or tomato flakes which work well in many casseroles.
    Aside from fresh fish, the casserole fairly epitomizes main-meal eating in canoe country.  It also represents perhaps the greatest number of options available to the grocery-food buyer.  Casseroles of endless variety already come in boxed form; these include such popular and versatile brands as Hamburger Helper and Rice-a-Roni.  A casual walk down the grocery aisles will reveal many others.
    Casseroles from scratch are pleasantly challenging:  One of the greatest benefits of the casserole is its variety of ingredients, for nourishment as well as flavor.  Here again, a walk down the aisle will unfold the possibilities:   noodles, rices, beans, peas, grains, pilafs, ad infinitum.  Most come in dried form.  Some ingredients, such as kidney beans, will require presoaking and take longer to cook.  But you can plan such meals for days you spend in camp, or substitute ingredients with shorter cooking times.  With chili, for example, substitute kidney with aduki beans (also available at food co-ops); they cook in one hour without presoaking.
    A stop at the spice rack will produce any number of sauce or seasoning possibilities.  Sauce and gravy mixes make excellent casserole binders.   Seasonings add life to many rice and noodle dishes that may otherwise turn out bland.
    Also at the spice rack are numerous items you may use for vegetable ingredients.  Dried onions, parsley, and mushrooms offer many possibilities.   Stock up with these to enliven other meals, such as scrambled eggs, as well.   Dried soup greens add a wholesome, flavorful blend to casseroles of any kind; when boiled plain in water, they make a surprisingly wonderful vegetable side-dish.
    Many food co-ops stock bulk dried vegetables in great variety, including peas, carrots, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, and potatoes.

BREAKFASTS

    Breakfasts are fairly easy to plan:  Pancake mixes requiring only water are available in pouch or box.   However, mixing from scratch—with flour, baking powder, powdered milk, and eggs—can be a wholesome and rewarding enterprise.  To eliminate water weight, syrup can be simply made by stirring two cups of brown sugar into one cup of boiling water, then adding a teaspoon of maple extract.
    Eggs are sometimes available in dried bulk form, but fresh eggs will keep for two or three days if kept relatively cool in a crush-proof container inside your pack.  Frozen cartons of egg substitute will keep just as long.  All of these mentioned, when mixed with a little cinnamon and milk, can be used for making French toast.
    Cereals generally occupy an entire aisle at the supermarket.   Dried cereals are ideal for trail mornings because they require little cleanup.   For more hearty eating, good old-fashioned creamed wheat cereal or oatmeal does the trick, especially when laced with dried fruit and cinnamon.

LUNCHES

    Lunches can be made just like at home:  If you indeed have room for bread, sandwiches made with peanut butter, jelly, preserves, lunch meat, or cheese are all good possibilities.  Salami and cheese keep well for several days if kept cool inside your food pack.  If you need to save space, pita bread or crackers make good bread substitutes.
    An endless assortment of soups in dried form are available to the grocery-food buyer; soup is "good food" for rounding-out just about any meal, especially lunches.
    To depart a bit from the ordinary, plan a pasta salad for lunch.   You can concoct one from scratch, or buy the new "cool" salads available at the grocery store (these require oil).  There are some close relatives that may be cooked hot, too, such as stuffed tortellini.  Boil in chicken bouillon and drink the broth for soup.  A little parmesan will add delightful zip.
    For trail lunches you may opt for "pocket" meals.  Your grocery store is a veritable warehouse of dry snack-type foods.  On the more wholesome side:  granola bars, meat sticks, nuts, and dried fruit.

INSTANT SOLUTIONS

TRAIL ECONOMY

    To deal with the extraneous packaging of grocery-bought foods, items are best unboxed and bagged with other items per meal.  Most boxed foods already contain bag packaging inside; those that don't may be transferred to zip-lock bags for more efficient compacting.  It is also a good idea to tear instructions from any packaging you mean to discard and place them with their respective meal bags.  Condiments and staple foods, such as powdered milk, coffee, and sugar, may be bagged separately.  (Don't forget to put bags on your grocery list!)
    One advantage of grocery buying, not yet mentioned, is cost.  You can significantly reduce your canoe trip expenditures by using grocery foods in lieu of freeze-dried.
    Indeed, the economy of grocery buying alone justifies the endeavor.   But more than that, it is the return to simple home basics which holds virtue—the simplicity of using common, everyday materials for planning, cooking, and eating on the trail.  It is a wholesome enterprise which pleases, gratifies … and invigorates.  

Mark Sakry is the son of the late Cliff Sakry, who originated Minnesota Out-of-Doors in 1954.  He lives in Brimson.

SIX-DAY, FOUR-PERSON MENU PLANNER

SHOPPING LIST FOR SIX-DAY, FOUR-PERSON MENU PLANNER

MINNESOTA OUT-OF-DOORS / MAY 1990
Copyright C. Mark Sakry 1988

RELATED TOPICS:
Mushroom Recipes for the Trail
The Supermarket Trail
A Special Wilderness Feast