Sportsman's Library - Outdoor Articles

A Professional Chef’s Perspective on Camp Cooking

By Chef John McGannon

To me, camping usually means I am in search of nature’s bounty. That can range from my annual pilgrimage to the Rockies in search of deer and elk, up to the Alaskan outback chasing caribou over tundra, or taking a short drive up the coast of California in search of juicy King Salmon.

And the heart of camping is the campfire. It creates warmth, a sense of security and, of course, well-prepared food.

There are two approaches to camp cooking. One, you make the whole process the event. In other words, prepare all the items right in camp and even rely on harvesting your food. However, this can be a big gamble, with very mixed results.

The second approach is when you are camping while trying to accomplish other goals, such as a hunting trip. Here you want to efficiently utilize your time, so preparing main dishes in advance and freezing them is a good option.

Menu and other Camp-Cooking Tips

• Variety – you can only eat so much pasta with meat sauce.
• Personal tastes are a little tricky at first, but it doesn’t take long to figure out the highs and lows. Having different herbs and spices along allows for plenty of customization.
• You burn a lot of additional calories on a hunting or fishing trip. So, nutritional value is a big concern. Eating right may be the difference between just getting up the side of the mountain or venturing into uncharted territory where the big boys hang out. Proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals are the fuel we need to replace in such conditions. We get proteins from meat, nuts and dried legumes; carbohydrates come from pasta, rice, potatoes and breads; and vitamins and minerals come from fruits and vegetables.
• Packability means, to me, how well dishes freeze. Time in the field is limited enough. When I plan menus, I place more emphasis on the main dish, adding fresh herbs and vegetables to the sauce. When these items are bound in a sauce and frozen they remain full of flavor and nutritional value.
• Cooking equipment. If you’ve done most of the cooking at home, all you need is a large pot with a cover to reheat your main dish, a medium pot to cook side dishes like pasta/potatoes/rice, and a maybe a small frying pan to heat up tortilla/pita bread (they take up less space than bread and are great for soaking up sauces). The coffee pot doubles to heat the cleaning water.
• Start a fire an hour or two before cooking. This will allow the wood (or coals) to become glowing embers. Trying to cook too fast usually means the fire is too hot. That leads to food burned on the outside and uncooked inside. Give yourself enough time. Enjoy!

Chef John McGannon will conduct special game-cooking seminars, presented by the California Waterfowl Association, at the San Mateo ISE. John owns Wildeats Enterprises, which sells several fine spices specially created for fish and wild game. Visit www.wildeats.com for recipes and more information.