Trudeau Aimee - Dirty Gourmet

DIRTY

GOURMET

DIRTY

GOURMET

FOOD FOR YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES

AIMEE TRUDEAU

EMILY NIELSON

MAI-YAN KWAN

Copyright 2018 by Dirty Gourmet, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form, or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published by Skipstone, an imprint of Mountaineers Books

Printed in China

21 20 19 181 2 3 4 5

Copyeditor: Nancy W. Cortelyou, Saffron Writes

Cover and book design: Jen Grable

Cover photographs: Clockwise from top left: Pineapple Sake Cooler; A well-built campfire (photo by Ryan Robert Miller); Noodles with Spicy Peanut Sauce Bottom: Campfire Bibimbap

All photographs by Dirty Gourmet, unless otherwise credited. Photos on pages (middle) by Linda Trudeau

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Trudeau, Aimee, author. | Nielson, Emily, author. | Kwan, Mai-Yan, author.

Title: Dirty gourmet : food for your outdoor adventures / Aimee Trudeau, Emily Nielson, and Mai-Yan Kwan.

Description: Seattle, Washington : Skipstone, [2018] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2017045775 (print) | LCCN 2017047755 (ebook) | ISBN 9781680511307 (ebook) | ISBN 9781680511291 (pbk)

Subjects: LCSH: Outdoor cooking. | LCGFT: Cookbooks.

Classification: LCC TX823 (ebook) | LCC TX823 .T78 2018 (print) | DDC 641.5/78dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017045775

Printed on FSC-certified materials

ISBN (paperback): 978-1-68051-129-1

ISBN (ebook): 978-1-68051-130-7

Skipstone books may be purchased for corporate, educational, or other promotional sales, and our authors are available for a wide range of events. For information on special discounts or booking an author, contact our customer service at 800-553-4453 or .

Skipstone

1001 SW Klickitat Way, Suite 201

Seattle, Washington 98134

206.223.6303

www.skipstonebooks.org

www.mountaineersbooks.org

CONTENTS

RECIPE INDEX

We want to see more people enjoying the wild outdoor spaces of the world. All three of us have had an adventure (or a thousand) that helped us realize how essential it is to get outside. Weve heard all of the excuses, and made most of them ourselves, but we also know that getting started is the hardest part. Youll never regret a trip that leaves you dirty because it will also leave you empowered and full of stories to tell friends when you get home. Youll find yourself out there.

And then theres food. Many people spend time and energy planning every detail of their outdoor adventure but then treat food as an afterthought. For some, food is a roadblock to going on a trip at all. But it doesnt have to be this way. We firmly believe that food is an essential part of your outdoor experience. By taking it beyond just what you need to survive and using it for comfort and happiness, you can transform food into a significant part of a journeys memory, putting the cherry on top of that life-changing experience you went out there to have in the first place. And we want to help!

This book is not for one particular type of outdoorsperson. We want all of youfrom the firsttime family camper to the seasoned trekkerto feel confident planning for your specific trips needs. Our recipes are based on simple formulas (in most cases), and are often vegetarian, because these are the most reliable type of recipes to work with when you have to think about things like perishability.

There will be challenges. You may forget a key ingredient or get rained out one day. Rather than despair, feel pride in the adaptations that your flexibility and creativity bring to these unplanned moments, and gain the confidence that self-reliance brings. If you make food part of the experience of being outdoors, the wilderness can be your comfort zone.

FOOD PHILOSOPHY

Food is an essential part of survival, comfort, warmth, and happiness. When we spend time outside, we get to experience an awareness of basic survival needs that is easily overlooked at home. In the backcountry, it is a big deal if you forget to bring your lunch. Most of us have a personal story of falling apart and struggling to function and being confused as to why, only to eat a little snack and be cured. This power of food is great. Its no wonder that the word hangry is in our vernacular.

In this book, we focus on healthy food, but that doesnt mean you wont see Sausage and Beer Mac and Cheese or Chocolate Pudding Cake in here. Healthy to us means real, whole foods that you cook yourself, rather than low calorie and low fat. Calories and fat can be your best friends on a cold day in the mountains.

Between the three of us, our families roots are Southern, Chinese, French-Canadian, and Indian, and we all currently live in Southern California. This means you will see a lot of diversity in the foods and flavors in our recipes. We keep things simple when we can, and note sources for specialty items where needed.

LEAVE NO TRACE: STEWARDSHIP FOR OUTDOOR SPACES

Leave No Trace (LNT) ethics are extremely important to preserving the beauty of our worlds outdoor spaces, and should be followed for all types of camping. Cooking brings up a lot of potential LNT concerns, so we discuss the most notable considerations in each chapter. Many campgrounds have amenities such as dumpsters, running water, and established fire rings that make it easier to follow LNT guidelines.

Everything you do in a camping situation affects the future visitors of that area. For instance, setting up a tent on delicate wildflowers means those flowers will not be there for the next person. Feeding a squirrel by leaving an orange peel on the ground may seem harmlessorange peels are biodegradable, right?but that squirrel will go tell all of her friends to come back looking for more food near your camp tomorrow, and eventually create a pest problem. If this happens too often, the wildlife that shows up can be of a bigger and more dangerous variety. Unfortunately, there are already places where wild animals have little fear of humans and great knowledge of the delicious things we bring camping. This is bad for us and them.