Classic camping meals
The National Wildlife Federation re-posted an article on camping meals originally published in 1965 (!) with receipes for classic camping meals including fish, eggs, bacon, steak, and potatoes. My favorite tips from the article have to be the ones about cooking fish. The author seems to imply that we’ll be catching our own fish while camping - a nostalgic thought for most campers I know. These days it seems more likely campers will pack thick Salmon steaks or vacuum packed tuna rather than worry themselves with bait and fish scales.
I remember my early days as a Boy Scout when we would cook virtually all our meals over a campfire. We’d soap the bottoms of our pots and pans to keep them from getting too blackened by the fire and would try to level out a spot near the hottest coals for maximum cooking power. Of course we’d often get pieces of ash in our food and it was tough to cook anything evenly but for young pyromanics it was heaven.
Toward the end of my Scouting career our troop graduated from fire cooking caveman-style to using gas burner Coleman camp stoves. This meant fewer burned hands, easier clean-up, and of course quicker meals. No need to wait for the fire to burn hot enough for cooking - stoves offered instant heat!
Camp cooking has certainly evolved over the years (don’t even get me started on freeze-dried backpacking meals) but it’s nice to know there are still some classics when it comes to camping cuisine. Bon apetit.
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