( 2 reviews )
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Posted: Aug 26 2008
This book is really practical, I enjoyed the intro and the recipes are awesome. I met John at Boy Scout camp this summer and he has a vast wealth of practical knowledge. Applying it to backpacking trips and making it work for a group of people with the least amount of waste and weight is what's it's all about.
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Posted: Jul 1 2008
We've made excellent use of our copy of The Wilderness Chef. The book is focused on one-pot backpacking meals, usually made with non-perishable meat or meat substitutes and just-add-water dairy, fruit, and vegetables. The huge advantage of this is that you can prep several meals weeks before your trip, and then store them for when you want to go camping at the last minute. The description emphasizes the baking meals, but the book has a huge section on dinners / cooked lunches, and we mostly make those recipes. One criticism is that sometimes the author tries to explain the mix or product to use, but without using the commercial name brand, it can be hard to find the right product. But it's worth the effort; we have yet to try a recipe we didn't love. The recipes were obviously tested before being put in the book. I've found it's best to know the location of the natural foods sections of a few different stores to find everything used in the recipes, like dried peas, dried tomatoes; we don't own a food dehydrator. We've also tried using less than the recommended amount of bullion. There's room on most recipe pages to take notes about changes to modify the recipes to your taste. We've recommended the book to other backpackers.
