THE RATION LIST
Supposedly the greatest privation which will confront the amateur
woodsman who breaks away from home ties for a few weeks’ jaunt into the
wilderness is a gastronomic one. Yet with a properly balanced ration
list composed of goods procurable of any grocer with perhaps the
addition of some of the newer evaporated foods available on special
order or made at home, the hiker may hit the trail confident that he
will be well fed.
The hackneyed slogan of outfitting, viz.:--to secure the maximum in
efficiency from supplies which represent a minimum in carrying weight
and bulk--must be reiterated in choosing the tramper’s food supply. For
those demanding the extreme in portable equipage the evaporated
foods--vegetables (as dried potatoes, Julienne, etc.,) soups
(Erbswurst), eggs, milk, etc., are invaluable. In their preparation by
dessication the fresh vegetables are deprived of their water content so
that all one needs to do in preparing them for table use is to add water
and cook in the usual way. They are thus restored to their former value
as palatable foods although of course their form and shape may be
altered.
Their chief value for our purpose is that they represent a tremendous
reduction (of approximately 15 per cent) in their natural weight and a
corresponding lessening of bulk. For example a pound of evaporated
potatoes will represent seven pounds of the fresh product. Or again one
pound of granulated dried egg represents four dozen of the fresh eggs.
Dehydrated goods are equal to fresh goods and are far superior to the
canned kind. They are palatable and nutritious as foods, they never
spoil and permit a welcome variety in the bill of fare. Concentration of
bulk alone is not the criterion in choosing camp foods--digestibility is
really paramount. Thus cheese, nuts, beans, rice and the various
evaporated foods are highly concentrated but differ greatly in their
ease of digestion.
Food for the hiker, as we have said, must with the least weight and bulk
furnish appetizing and digestible nourishment to an active man. It
should be composed of the proper proportions of fat, protein (which
comprises the elements of lean meat) and cereal. It should pack easily
under all conditions of heat, moisture and rough handling and must cook
simply.
The following items are looked upon as the essentials in diet lists for
campers:--flour, bacon, beans, tea, sugar. They represent the three
classes of foods necessary to health. For increasing the palatability
and variety of the bill of fare other items creep in and they are
admissible if they represent in food value and concentration of bulk the
same as a given amount of the essential food for which they were
substituted.
Bush life develops a great appetite, therefore figure well on the
necessary amounts to be packed. Too much means discomfort and fatigue in
packing and too little means hunger and perhaps privation. Little
dependence should be placed upon securing game or fish en route unless
one is certain that he is in a country where such are present in
reasonable abundance and that there is nothing to interfere with
procuring them.
In general it may be said that for each week about twenty pounds of food
stuff are needed per man. The following proportions of the various items
will be found about right:--
FOOD FOR ONE MAN ONE WEEK
Wheat flour 5 pounds
Corn meal 4 pounds
Bacon 5 pounds
Beans 1¾ pounds
Sugar 1¾ pounds
Dried fruit 1 pound
Rice 1 pound
Baking powder ¼ pound
Tea ¼ pound
Salt ¼ pound
Pepper small amount.
Dried Egg substituting a portion of the meat ration.
Dried soup and vegetables substituting a portion of the bean
or flour ration.
On the trail count on cooking but two meals a day, morning and night
with a noon-day stop with lunch and hot drink. This allows time for a
day’s work.
Foods will keep well if care is taken to exclude moisture by packing in
provision bags of closely woven muslin, size 6 by 10 inches with tie
strings for closing the open end. They are made waterproof by painting
with paraffin, which has been liquefied in gasoline. Mark each bag well.
They stow away nicely in odd corners of the pack sack.
Bacon is the great standby in the meat line. Only the leanest should be
chosen: trim off the rind before starting on the hike and wrap it in a
piece of waterproof muslin to protect it from other items of the outfit.
Do not seal it too tight as it will mold. As bacon grease will be used
instead of lard the latter can be omitted entirely.
The flour ration should be made up of whole wheat or graham flour and
yellow corn meal. For a stimulating beverage coffee is generally
preferred in the United States and tea in Canada. The latter is much
easier to transport and more sustaining to the body. If properly chosen
you can eliminate the tea or coffee pot from the camp outfit. George
Washington coffee and Instant Postum are powdered preparations and all
that is needed is to put a teaspoonful in a cup of hot water, stir up,
sweeten and drink. If you use tea get the tea tabloids which are a great
convenience because of their extreme compactness. Sufficient for 100
cups of good tea occupies only about as much space as one or two ounces
of loose tea leaves. For use throw one tabloid into a cup of hot water,
wait a minute and a satisfying infusion is the result. Tea in general is
to be preferred, for an ounce of it will go as far as many ounces of
coffee.
Dried fruits such as raisins, figs, etc., should always be included in
the ration list. They make fine emergency rations to be carried in the
knapsack (with a cake of sweet chocolate added.) Chocolate beats whisky
for putting new energy into a fellow who is all in. When raisins are
cooked up alone or with rice one gets an agreeable change in the bill of
fare. Rice is one of the most concentrated foods we have, it is easy to
pack and cook and has great sustaining powers as an article of diet. It
has food elements of such a kind that it can be taken in place of
potatoes or bulky breakfast foods. To cook rice, add gradually the
washed kernels to furiously boiling salted water and keep this over the
fire for 20 minutes. Powdered milk is on the market and is more
satisfactorily purchased than made at home. It is the milk of choice
when you have to cut down weight as on a hike.
Baking powder should be pure, and it should be kept in air and water
tight containers and sunk in the middle of the flour sack. I keep it in
an aluminum flask with a cork lined metal screw top. When moisture
reaches baking powder a chemical change takes place destroying its
leavening powers and it is useless for cooking purposes. Keep this in
mind in considering self rising flours which have the baking powder
mixed with the flour in proper proportions for use and simply requiring
the addition of water before cooking.
One has a remarkable craving for sweets when on the trail which only
sugar will satisfy. Sugar is the most concentrated food we have for it
supplies so much heat and energy to the body. In cold weather Nature
calls for more heat in the body and one’s appetite for sweets usually
increases in proportion. Much is written in camp outfitting concerning a
preparation called saccharine or crystallose which is a chemical of
remarkable sweetness--a small portion of it equalling in sweetening
power several hundred times its bulk of sugar. Do not depend on it, for
its chemical action delays digestion and it does not furnish the food
value which sugar does.
DEHYDRATED NAVY BEANS
In preparing dried bean meal one uses ordinary navy beans which are
cooked in the usual way and then baked in an oven. By spreading this
product out in a broad flat bottomed pan and continuing the baking or
drying out process in the oven the moisture is all driven out and only a
crumbling crust remains. This is pulverized and packed in tight fitting
tins or in waterproof sacks. It is used as a soup or gruel. Common baked
beans which come in tins from the corner grocer may be put into the
broad bake tins and thoroughly dried and packed away. As beans are hard
to boil in high altitudes you can prepare them at home by parboiling
without salt in the water, drying well and later using by cooking as
usual in salted water.
JERKED MEATS
In the palmy days of the “late lamented wild west” the Indian hunters
preserved meats by a method called “jerking.” The flesh would be cut
into strips and laid on light wooden racks in the sun or in the smoke of
a camp fire until dry and hard. This would be packed away and used in
the winter time much the same as we use the dried beef of the butcher
shops of today. You can preserve meats--steaks, game, or fish--this way
or after the improved method of Dr. Hornaday of the New York Zoological
Garden. He takes meat cut into strips and works well into the flesh a
mixture of salt 1 pound, allspice 1⅓ tablespoonsful and black pepper 1½
tablespoonsful. Then he hangs it up by a string in the sun if the air is
dry as in the mountains or, if not, in a camp fire smoke protected from
the wet. It can be eaten uncooked and tastes fine after a month or so
has passed.
ERBSWURST
One of the best concentrated foods for campers and one admirably suited
for use as an emergency ration is Erbswurst--a meal preparation used by
various European armies. As it is hard to get except from grocers of the
larger cities or sporting goods dealers one can well make it at home as
follows:--Procure common dried peas and navy beans and dessicate them
after cooking as suggested above (see paragraph on Dehydrated Navy
Beans). Of the pea meal use one pound; of the bean meal 1¼ pounds; bacon
chopped fine and dried, and onions pulverized, of each ⅛ pound. Mix all
together and run through the grinder again, dry and pack away. It is
used to make a thick soup and is very nutritious.
EVAPORATED EGG POWDER
Probably the most remarkable dried food of all is the evaporated egg.
Take ½ dozen eggs and beat them up hard with an egg beater. Take two
flat bottomed baking pans from the kitchen and spread a very thin layer
of egg thereon. Now in drying should you put this in the oven it will
cook whereas if simply set in the sun during the day the moisture is
evaporated and a crust of the essential elements retaining all the
nourishment and flavor of the egg remains. True the product is shapeless
as far as the ordinary conception of an egg is concerned but it is very
effective for cooking where weight and fragility in packing are
concerned. After the eggs have been in the sun all day remove indoors
and if dry run through a cleaned coffee mill. This pulverizes the mass.
It should next be completely dried out in the sun and packed away in
empty molasses tins with pry up lids.
A pound of evaporated egg equals four dozen fresh eggs and one
tablespoonful of egg powder with two tablespoonsful of water represents
an egg. It is useful in omelets, scrambled or in combination cooking.
Besides being a great saving in weight since one does not have to carry
around the water, the evaporated preparation enables us to utilize eggs
on the hardest kind of a hike where if we were forced to use fresh eggs
their place in the knapsack would be positively prohibited because of
their fragility.
PEMMICAN
When much fat is required for the body as in colder regions no food has
been found to surpass Pemmican. Peary says:--“Pemmican is the most
concentrated and satisfactory of all meat foods and is absolutely
indispensable on long Arctic sledge journeys.” For a ten pound lot take
of lean meat, 5 pounds; fat (suet) 4 pounds; dried fruit (raisins) ½
pound and of sugar ½ pound. Cut the meat in thin slices, dry several
days as directed under “Jerked Meats.” Pulverize between two stones or
otherwise grind and mix well with the suet, melted, to a paste, add the
ground currants or raisins and sugar, allow to cool and pack away. Eat
raw, boiled with flour or fry.
LEMONADE POWDER
This makes an agreeable lunch drink and is really necessary to keep the
system in good order. Take the clear juice of three lemons and 15
teaspoonfuls of sugar and put into a broad, flat baking pan. Since so
much water is to be evaporated it is best to dry this out in an oven,
but prolonged exposure to a hot sun will do the trick. The lemon powder
should be perfectly dry and then pulverized and stored in pry up tins.
For use put the powder in water to the desired strength. The addition of
citric acid crystals in small amounts is a help, but when relied upon
alone to make lemonade, as recommended by some writers, will not make a
drink which takes the place of the concentrated lemon except as to
taste.
BREADS
Bread is the staff of life. Just as good bread can be baked in the woods
as in the best hotel of the boulevards. The baking of camp bread can be
taken as a criterion of the amateur cook’s ability. Have a good baker, a
good fire and follow the recipe if you would have success. On back pack
trips it is advisable to retain the frying pan as the baker and by using
a tin cover you can heap coals upon it and get the envelope of hot air.
Lay two green chunks or two square edged stones about 6 to 8 inches
apart near the camp fire. Rake a few coals between and place the pan
over them. Put the dough in the pan after sprinkling with flour and
cover with the tin. Place live coals on this tin--about twice as many as
underneath--and watch the baking closely so that it won’t burn. You can
fry bread on the top of stone: when one side is baked stand the pan on
edge by the side of the stone and allow baking to proceed in that way.
Remember that small cakes and biscuits must be baked quickly before a
hot fire whereas large loaves, such as johnny cake, must have a slow
even heat so as to get done through. The secret of the camp oven is the
envelope of hot air which must not be too hot and must be kept even.
Below are given the recipes which are most successfully used with the
frying pan baker. Whole wheat flour makes easier than white and has more
taste. Use yellow corn meal. In the recipes follow exactly to obtain the
best results.
SELF-RISING FLOUR
To save packing several ingredients separately it is often recommended
to mix the johnny cake and pan cake flour at home and carry it in one
sack on the trail. Then merely mixing with water to a given consistency
will be sufficient to supply a good dough. If dampness is kept from it
while packing it is very good and the following recipe will be found
satisfactory:--take of granulated yellow corn meal 1 quart, of white
wheat flour 1 pint, sugar ½ cup, salt 1 teaspoonful and baking powder 4
teaspoonsful. For flapjacks in camp take a portion of the above flour
mixture and add sufficient water to make a stiff batter and allow it to
stand for a few minutes before dropping it in spoonfuls on the hot
greased fry pan: when bubbles begin to show on top turn. To make a
johnny cake or corn bread use less water than above so as to make a
doughy mass, turn into the fry pan, set up before the fire and leave
until the top sets, then turn over.
A method for corn pone in which the ingredients are mixed at each
baking:--1 pint of water in a pail is brought to a boil, add a
teaspoonful of salt, corn meal is slowly added and stirred to a mush,
cooking it for a few minutes. Grease the fry pan, put in the mush, cover
with tin, bury in the ashes and coals, and bake 30 to 40 minutes. This
makes the finest kind of breadstuff.
ARMY BREAD
This is easy to mix, is made without grease, keeps fresh for a long
period and will not dry up or mold. It is good to eat when cold and is
just the thing when laying in a supply. For routine diet it is much
better than biscuit. Take of flour 1 quart, salt 1 teaspoonful, sugar 1
tablespoonful, and baking powder 2 heaping teaspoonfuls. Mix in 1½ pints
of cold water to make a thick batter and pour out level into a pan. Bake
45 minutes or until a sliver will not stick into the dough.
FISH
One of the delights of camp life is in estranging one’s self from the
fastidious customs of civilization and living off the country where you
camp. A fine pastime and diet change is the catching and eating of fish.
The lakes and streams of the outdoors abound with fish which when caught
in the icy water and cooked over a camp fire in the open makes a welcome
addition to the hiker’s bill of fare. Trout are easily cooked. Black
bass are good if the water where you catch them is cold. Pike is the
best American food fish. They should be left uncleaned never longer than
one-half day after catching, never leave in water and don’t wash until
just before cooking. Roll in cornmeal, have plenty of bacon fat in the
fry pan and cook slowly. Try with the tine of fork to see if done.
For digestible frying use a shallow pan and little grease, heat the pan
and grease just enough to keep the meat from sticking. The meat must be
dry or it will absorb the grease. Cook quick at first to seal in the
juices and turn frequently; do not jab too much with fork for that would
let the juice escape.
The seasoned hiker is little apt to be separated from his outfit, but it
can and sometimes is done and then one must be able to cope with a real
emergency. Every individual outfit should contain emergency food. It is
a safe plan never to become separated from your party without an
emergency ration with you and materials for securing game and fish if
such abound in the region.