About

This is about my cooking experience in New Zealand, but the information, tips, recipes I share could be used almost everywhere. If you enjoy my content, please consider offering me a coffee on Ko-fi.com.

Disclaimer

There are no representations or warranties, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this page for any purpose.

Feedback Welcome

Do not hesitate to contact me for any question or remark. Note that any feedback would improve the document, could convince me to write more or focus myself on photography. To sum up, I will be cheerful if you share your reaction or just say hello.

Source

The worst in New Zealand is actually your stupidity… and infected streams. So avoid animal grazing areas. Microbes are stored in sediment, so avoid disturbance of lake beds when filling water bottles. Avoid drinking untreated water from any surface source when the water is visibly cloudy due to fine sediment or when it is rainy (capturing rainwater on a tent fly – details below – would be a safer option under wet conditions.) Water from lakes, remote from river inflow, will usually be safe owing to sunlight disinfection and sedimentation. Vegetation cannot grow where they are constantly submerged, so when the water level encroaches on this terrestrial vegetation, that indicates the state-of-flow is high, and is best avoided for drinking.

How I get rain water from my tent fly:

Treatments

Treat or double treat water if in doubt. For example, chemically treat first, then stand the transparent plastic bottle on sun during lunch for an extra UV treatment, and use the more doubtful water for cooking only (because it had been boiled in addition.) Usually, I treat water with DCCNa tabs (f.i. Aquatabs and Micropur Forte MF 1T). Notice that I would not use the Micropur Tabletten MC 1T since it just keeps water drinkable, but doesn’t kill existing bacteria/virus.

I prefer chemical rather than filter treatment because DCCNa is more efficient and lightweight compared to a filtering straw. The swimming pool taste of chemicals is not that bad and reminds me that finding a clean water source – that doesn’t need treatment – is important.

Diseases

• Giardia: symptoms are diarrhea, gas, stomach or abdominal cramps, nausea, dehydration. It appears after 1-3 weeks after drinking bad water and can last 2-6 weeks; medication can decrease that time. Sources are parasites from cattle, sheep, cats, dogs, rats, possums. Notice that the highest rate is in central North Island and crystal clear streams in the Tongariro may be infected.
• E. coli: symptoms are the same as Giardia plus vomiting. Sources are bugs that could be lurking in backcountry water source, especially sewage, stormwater runoff, animal waste.

Waste

Avoid spreading bad stuff and reduce flies, bury toilet waste more than 50 m away from water sources and busy areas. Do not wash hands directly in water sources.

Porridge

I had my first porridge based on a powder mix thanks to free food left in a hut, it was a labeled plastic bag with coconut milk powder, cacao, dates and chia seeds. It was pretty good and the friendly tramper inspired me to make my own tasty breakfast.

Ingredients for one tramper (140 g per serve, including bag):

• 100 mL / 50 g rolled oats
• 6 heaped tsp / 30 g almond (or coconut) milk powder
• 4 tsp / 15 g chia seeds
• 1 heaped tsp / 5 g linseed, sunflower, squash (or almond) ground
• 3 g whole freeze dried raspberries
• 5 g whole freeze dried blackberries
• 8 g whole freeze dried blueberries
• 2 tsp / 7 g dried goji berries
• 7 g shredded coconut
• (150mL boiled water)

Topping:

• 5 g white chocolate pieces
• 5 g dark chocolate pieces

Freeze dried fruits have the taste and nutrition of fresh fruits but they are expensive (NZ$11/40g) and hard to find. You can replace with 4 heaped tsp dried fruits to the mix (cranberries, white mulberries, black mulberries, goji berries) but it would be less nutritive and sweeter.

Oats are filling. Enough to forget food for a while and focus on the real adventure. But a full stomach moves slowly, so too much oats is wrong.

Before tramping: Pack the dry mix into a labeled, re-usable and resealable bag. Indeed, food rationalization is critical to avoid shortage. I try not to waste plastic but a paper bag is too fragile for the tramper’s standard.

In camp: Add boiled water, stir well and enjoy! If possible, simmer for a couple of minutes to allow the oats and the freeze dried ingredients to suck more water.

The Anton’s Porridge: peanut butter, rolled oats, ground cinnamon, milk powder. Anton took peanut butter very seriously, other would prefer Nutella, other would take both, with some maple or golden sirup, cacao powder, NZ apricot… It's healthy if you are active!

Super Sweet Scones

You want to impress trampers in hut? Just bake scones. I actually feel like a real man when I can bake scones in the middle of nowhere. You want to be considered as a serious tramper? Baking scones, walking off-track, carrying a PLB and letting know your intentions is an impressive combo.

Ingredients for three sweet scones:

• 150 mL plain flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 heaped tsp milk powder
• 2 tsp cacao powder
• 2 heaped tsp brown sugar
• 2 heaped tsp raisins

Before tramping: Pack the dry mix into a labeled, re-usable and resealable bag.

In camp with the JetBoil cooker equipped with its frying pan extension and a frying pan:

1. Gradually add cold water to the dry mix to have a soft texture and stir well.
2. Drop the soft texture into a cold pan (the more the thicker).
3. Fry pan 1 min on one side.
4. Flip and fry the other side for 30 sec.
5. Turn your cooker off.
6. Wait a few minutes on pan (it will continue to cook off the heat).
7. Add topping like dark and white choc pieces.
8. Enjoy!
9. Repeat process from step 2 to cook the other 2 scones.

Notes:

• Avoid chocolate in warm weather condition.
• Heat intensity with the JetBoil Zip is not really possible, you may want to upgrade to the simmer version if you plan cooking more gourmet meals requiring precision cooking.
• It is easier to handle the texture with less water.
• You can bake pancake if you add more water to the dry mix.
• Topping could be anything, like maple syrup and bananas or peanut butter.

Savoury Scones

Ingredients for three savoury scones:

• 150 mL plain flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 heaped tsp milk powder
• 4 heaped tsp Olive Dukkah

Before tramping: Pack the dry mix into a labeled, re-usable and resealable bag.

In camp: Follow the Super Sweet Scones process. For extra taste and fat, add 3 tsp olive oil to the soft texture and oil the fry pan for a crispy taste. Oil also helps cooking deeper in the scone. Topping could be cheese (40 g / 3 scones) and Vegemite¹ (1 tsp / scone). Vegemite has a unique taste, people say that you love it, or you hate it. I love it, especially in the tube format, easy to manipulate. Yogurt powder tastes like cheese, so it’s a lightweight and durable alternative.

Olive Dukkah is great with savoury scones and pasta, it’s light, tasty, dried, with 100kJ/5g, composed of:

• 40% dry roasted nuts (cashew, almond, hazel)
• Sunflower, sesame, pumpkin seeds
• Spices
• Olive powder
• Salt

Notice that cooking three fancy scones consumes less gas than basic pasta and offer countless possibilities. Indeed, you can bake scone, pancake or flat bread depending on the amount of water you add to the dry mix.

Just Flat Bread, aka Parathas

The recipe requires no more than 3 ingredients:

• 60g plain flour
• Some olive oil
• (Pinch of kosher salt)

It is enough for a 15cm-wide, ½cm-thick flat bread.

Instructions:

1. Mix together the flour, (the salt) and a teaspoon of olive oil.
2. Gradually add some water, and keep stirring with your hands. Result is better by stirring longer than adding more water. You should have a homogeneous paste.
3. Flatten the paste.
4. (add some Halloumi-style cheese and fried garlic if you want a cheese & garlic naan. I would usually prefer adding some Za’atar, which is a mix of herbs, seeds, spices, and often salt. It depends if you prefer the Indian or the Arabic style)
5. Blend in four to form a triangle.
6. Flatten again as thin as possible.
7. Drop onto the frying pan.
8. Cook for 1 minute on medium-heat.
9. Return and cook for an other minute. Spread some oil on top at the same time.
10. Return and cook for 3 minutes. Spread some oil on top at the same time.
11. Return and cook for 3 minutes.

Wrap

Easy and tasty:

• Flat wholemeal bread from the supermarket or Parathas (see recipe above)
• Blue cheese (20g / wrap)
• Vegemite

Wrap bread from the supermarket is the easiest solution and can be packed for up to 3 days, but baking your own bread is so much fun!

Scroggin Mix

For 165g of snack (the amount of serves depend on your hungriness, but I would say 2 serves):

• 30g cranberries
• 30g black mulberries
• 30g white mulberries
• 30g almond
• 30g cashew nuts
• 6 brazil nuts

Energy Balls

Ingredients for about 16 (543 g) energy balls (34 g each):

• 200 mL / 96 g rolled oats (filling, inexpensive)
• 4 tsp / 15 g goji berries
• 4 heaped tsp / 30 g linseed, sunflower, squash (or almond) ground
• 5 heaped tsp / 25 g (hazel)nut chunks (or butter)
• 5 tsp / 48 g tahini
• 7 heaped tsp / 135 g honey
• ¼ tsp kosher salt
• 13 / 100 g dates mixed into paste
• 4 tsp / 18 g almond powder
• 2 tsp orange blossom water
• 3 tsp / 10 g desiccated coconut
• 4 tsp / 30 g cranberries
• 29 g white choco chunk (as ball heart)
• 20 g desiccated coconut (all around the ball)

Instructions:

1. Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl (except the last 2 ingredients). Stir to combine. If the mixture seems too wet, add a bit more oats. If it’s too dry, add a bit more butter. It should resemble a somewhat sticky dough that holds together when lightly squeezed. Place the bowl in the fridge (or river stream) for 30 minutes to set (this will make the balls easier to roll later on).
2. Remove the bowl from the fridge and portion the dough into 1-inch balls.
3. Enjoy!
4. Store leftover energy balls in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or freeze for up to 3 months.

Shortbread

Ingredients for 13 shortbread (319g):

• 100g fresh butter
• 150g plain flour
• ½ tsp kosher salt
• 50g golden syrup
• 30g LSA ground
• 20g chia seeds
• 2 tsp orange blossom water
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions:

1. Preheat the oven at 150°C.
2. Roughly chop the butter in a bowl.
3. Add the flour to the butter and mix with your hands.
4. Add the golden syrup to the mixture and stir by hand to have a homogeneous paste.
5. Line a baking dish with baking paper.
6. spread small 1-cm thick biscuits on the lined baking dish.
7. Bake for 20 minutes in the oven.

Idea:

• Add tahini

Pasteli Bars

The pasteli bars are yummy and resist a wide temperature range (+25°C as well as -10°C).

Ingredients for 15 (170 g) Pasteli Bars (11 g each):

• 100 g honey
• 100 g grilled white sesame seeds
• 20 g linseed, sunflower, squash (or almond) ground
• 60 g tahini

Instructions:

1. Line a baking tray with greased baking paper.
2. In a dry skillet over medium heat, toast the sesame seeds lightly if they aren’t already grilled. Transfer them to a plate to stop the cooking process and set aside.
3. In the same skillet, pour the honey and over medium heat bring it to boil. As soon as the honey starts boiling add the sesame seeds, the LSS/A ground, the tahini, all at once to the skillet and stir continuously, - for 3 to 6 minutes.
4. Immediately transfer the pasteli batter to the lined baking tray, cover with one more greased baking paper sheet and with the bottom of a small skillet press to flatten the batter.
5. While still warm, cut the flattened pasteli into bars. When cold, it can then be stored for many weeks in a biscuit container between several layers of wax paper.

Panforte

The panforte is a long-lasting and virtually indestructible snack. It is baked at home and packed already cooked. The recipe is based on the great New Zealand Backcountry Cooking book.

Ingredients for quite a lot:

• 250g dried fruits
• 250g mixed raw nuts
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 100mL plain flour
• 100mL chopped dark chocolate
• 80g brown sugar
• 55g honey
• (orange blossom water)

Instructions:

1. Roughly chop the nuts but leave them quite chunky so you can see the pieces when the panforte is cut.
2. Mix together the fruits, nuts, ground cinnamon, chocolate, and flour.
3. Line a cake tin with baking paper.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
5. (Add some orange blossom water to the mix.)
6. Boil the sugar and honey with 1 tbsp water for 1 minute.
7. Pour the honey syrup over the ingredients and stir – be strong and fast!
8. Press (1-inch thick) into the prepared tin and bake for 20 minutes.
9. Cut into slices so that you don’t eat all the first day!

Date & Walnut Loaf

This loaf is less compact than the panforte and may require a plastic box to carry. It is baked at home and packed already cooked. A drizzle of maple syrup or honey is great. The recipe is also based on the New Zealand Backcountry Cooking book.

Makes 1 loaf:

• 1 cup chopped dates
• 1 cup sultanas
• 1 cup walnuts, roughly chopped
• 3 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 cup sugar
• 50g butter
• 1½ cup boiling water
• 2 cups plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder

Instructions:

1. Mix together the ingredients except the flour and baking powder, then set aside to cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
3. Sift the flour and baking powder.
4. Pour the flour in the fruit mixture. Mix together thoroughly.
5. Place in a greased, lined 10x25cm loaf tin, and bake for 50-60 minutes.

ANZAC Slices

The recipe is like the ANZAC biscuit filled with rich ingredients. The ANZAC biscuit is the most famous biscuit in New Zealand and Australia and used by the joint army of the same name – just “ANZAC” without “biscuits.” I haven’t find the best recipe yet, hope you will share it to me! Also, think about different shapes: biscuits, slices, squares, etc.

Mashed Potatoes

Ingredients for one tramper (144 g per serve, including bag):

• 34g mashed potatoes
• 4 heaped tsp / 20 g almond milk powder
• 3 tsp / 20 g green lentils
• 6 tsp / 30 g red lentils
• 1 tsp dehydrated chopped chives
• 3 slices / 12 g dehydrated chopped tomatoes
• 1 tsp curry
• 7 g dehydrated mushrooms
• 2 heaped tsp / 5 g freeze dried caramelised red onion
• ½ tsp freeze dried garlic

Before tramping: Pack the dry mix into a labeled, re-usable and resealable bag.

In camp: Put the dry mix into 250-300 mL boiled water, stir well (and simmer for 3-4 minutes if possible) and wait 10 minutes.

Couscous

Couscous is fast to cook, tasty and compact.

Ingredients for one tramper (132 g per serve, including bag):

• 80 mL / 60 g wholemeal couscous
• 1 tsp spice (paprika, curry, etc.)
• 3 tsp / 10 g sliced grilled almonds
• 2 / 18 g chopped dates
• 2 / 16 g chopped NZ apricots
• 4 heaped tsp / 25 g sultanas
• 2 heaped tsp / 5 g freeze dried grilled mixed peppers

Before tramping: Pack the dry mix into a labeled, re-usable and resealable bag.

In camp: Add 200 mL of boiled water to the mix, stir well and enjoy!

Pasta

A small and lightweight frying pan is super useful.

I eat my pasta with pine nuts grilled on a frying pan, walnut, basil and a pesto sauce – only for the first three tramping days due the fresh pesto mix. Fresh solid cheese also strengthens taste (f.i. blue cheese, parmigiano). For longer trip and optimal meal, prefer freeze dried cheese.

My favourite pasta are the Pam’s Finest Dry Tortelleni (in New Zealand), 125g / serve, but any fast cooking pasta is okay (90g per serve).

I do not carry fresh fruits or vegies – too heavy. Capsicum, ginger and garlic are the exceptions. Those lightweight ingredients last long and boost taste.

Butter or olive oil add extra taste to pasta but it makes cleaning tricky. In order to absorb grease, use half tsp baking soda, 2 drops of water, and 3 fingers. Also, avoid any leak of your bottle of oil.

Overview

During my winter expedition Whitish Dusk, I carried 14 days of food including porridge, snack, and dinner in a 5 kg dry sac. My rations were both tasty and feeling enough. Some ingredients – such as freeze dried blueberries, dehydrated mushrooms and tomatoes – added a real fresh taste to the meal but they are expensive. Fair trade organic coffee was also important to me! I only used recipes complying the following requirements:

• long-lasting,
• good nutritional value,
• tasty,
• compressible,
• stored and used in sub-freezing temperature,
• snack eatable with mittens.

So, it wasn’t just a matter of calories!

As you can see in the above picture (that you can zoom on click hover), the top row is porridge (1973 g), the middle row is snack (1112 g of energy balls, Pasteli bars, and dried fruits) and fair trade organic instant coffee (100 g), and the bottom row is dinner (7 serves / 920 g of couscous mix, and 7 serves / 1006 g of mashed potatoes mix.)

I compartmentalised meals (breakfast / snack / dinner) into coloured cotton bags that I put together into a dry sac.

Definitions

There are three main classes of food and all provide energy:

• Proteins are important for the repair of muscles and tissues. Sources of proteins include meat, cheese, eggs, and milk powder;
• Fats have the highest energy content per gram and are slowly digested. Sources of fat include butter, bacon, cheese, salami, chocolate and full cream milk powder. Reduce saturated fat and trans fatty acid intake. Avoid fried food, heated oils, coconut;
• Carbohydrates are rapidly digested and provide almost instant energy. Foods rich in carbohydrates include sugar, honey, bread, muesli, oatmeal, rice, macaroni, spaghetti, sweets and dried fruits. Sugar, pastries, cakes, biscuits give a sense of fullness with calories but very little nutritional value (empty calories). So if you love shortbread in you coffee, keep it as a snack, not a real meal.

Based on nutritional labels from raw ingredients (not taking into account the boiling / cooking process), the daily intake is as follow. Notice that the analysis has been done after the hike.

Breakfast

Snack

Dinner

Total & Conclusion

According to the Harris–Benedict equations revised by Mifflin and St Jeor in 1990:

The amount of daily kilocalories is the BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) multiplied by the Physical Activity Level which is about 2.2 for a vigorously active person. In my case, I would therefore need about 3,400 kcal in order to keep my weight. It was actually about 1,259 and that explains my weight loss.

Considering the macronutrients, the theory is:

The problem raised by the above table is that a sufficient amount of carbs, proteins, and fats require heavy meals impossible to carry. Therefore, the idea is not to reach 3,400 kcal but to have fair enough with a good balance of macronutrients:

Pretty good but more fats and less carbs would be even better. I lost weight but haven’t felt hungry a single moment though. Symptoms may appear if thru-hiking and the idea would be to optimize the serve weight to nutritious weight ratio (as nutritive as the following industrial meal) or drop food more often to carry less.

Notice that the balance of carbs/proteins/fats is on a daily basis and I would manage to have a meal richer in carbohydrates for lunch, and richer in proteins for dinner.

Now let’s compare for example my mashed potatoes mix with the industrial Beef Teriyaki by Backcountry Cuisine (which used to be my favourite meal before I did my own and before I became vegetarian):

The nutritional information is reduced to 100 g of dried mix².

Notice that the nutritional information of the mashed potatoes mix is based on the nutritional information of its composition, while the Beef Teriyaki had its chemical analysis after reconstitution. I mean, I am probably comparing apple to orange, so take it with a grain of salt.

I have to admit that this industrial freeze dried meal is more nutritive, but doing my own mixes waste less plastic, is more compact, certainly vegetarian, made from many organic ingredients – no added Maltodextrin in my recipes –, cheaper, without additional food colouring, and filling enough!

Other ideas of improvement:

• Prefer ground nuts or nut butters instead of whole nuts. See here for the why.
• Try rich ingredients like ground soy proteins!