Lipsmackin’ Backpackin’: Lightweight Trail-tested Recipes for Backcountry Trips
October 25, 2008
Customer Review: Superb collection of serious backpacking recipes.
`Lipsmackin’ Backpackin, Lightweight Trail-Tested Recipes for Backcountry Trips’ by Tim and Christine Conners is but the second book I’ve seen on the subject since I started reviewing cookbooks. The first is almost 35 years old, being `Backpacker’s Cookbook’ by Margaret Cross and Jean Fiske.
On first blush, the newer book seems better in almost every way, in that it includes the total weight of every recipe, all recipes specify the number of servings, and almost all are for one or two servings, just right for the average camping experience. The Conners’ book also includes a nutritional analysis by serving for each recipe. Best of all, for those true disciples of Colin Fletcher’s `The Complete Walker’, the book includes miniature summaries of each recipe on their own little slip of paper, each weighing no more than the borders of the maps you cut off, per Master Fletcher, to reduce your packing weight.
The book is also very advanced, and allied to some extent with the `raw’ food movement, in that it makes extensive use of a food dehydrator as a means of reducing the packable weight of each recipe. My favorite aspect of this book is that it also includes several recipes for bread, including two based on the truly amazing technique of wrapping the dough around a stick and suspending the dough over the campfire by jamming the stick into the ground at the side of the fire. This technique is at least as old as the Boy Scout Handbook of 50 years ago, and I was never brave enough to try it then, but I’m happy to see it’s still around.
But, the venerable old `Backpacker’s Cookbook’ is not ready to be put out to pasture yet. The two books really represent two different models of camping. The older book seems to be written primarily for the weekend hiker or someone who at most may go for a four to five day hike. There is less emphasis on weight and advance preparation and packing. Virtually everything is straight off the supermarket shelves, with a little repackaging of premeasured ingredients. And, there is no systematic division of advance preparation steps with `on the trail’ work. The Conners’ book is clearly written for those who are intent on multi-week treks on the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest National Scenic Trail, or any other major hiking venue.
Another big difference is that while I believe Cross and Fiske have food writing or food business vocations, the Conners are amateurs in the world of food writing. And, virtually all their recipes are collected from contributions by friends, colleagues, and correspondents.
The last difference of note is that the Conners’ book gives no attention whatsoever to backpacking cooking equipment, while Cross and Fiske treat the subject in detail, and give extensive references to other books on the subject, although except for Fletcher’s classic, I would not guarantee that many are still in print, but you may be surprised.
So, while the Conners have done an excellent job, they left some things undone, for which I offer Cross and Fiske as an excellent supplement.
Customer Review: Inspiring!
I can’t wait to go backpacking so I can try out some of the tasty sounding recipes! Very easy to read and packed with great backpacking tips! buy from here…
