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Post by Black Hand on Jun 2, 2019 19:53:55 GMT -7
Or drink it at home.
It is such a nuisance on the trail and needs a sharp knife or axe to get pieces off the brick to make tea. Unfortunately, this ends up including pieces of the log you used as a chopping block.
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 2, 2019 21:14:44 GMT -7
Hm...hadn't thought of that.
Thanks!
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 2, 2019 21:16:41 GMT -7
Or drink it at home. It is such a nuisance on the trail and needs a sharp knife or axe to get pieces off the brick to make tea. Unfortunately, this ends up including pieces of the log you used as a chopping block. Good points. I smash it in a cloth bag with the hammer pole of my tomahawk but bulk tea is easy |
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Post by spence on Jun 3, 2019 10:24:54 GMT -7
The main thrust of my reenacting has always been to experience what the old boys did, so I’ve always thought of my trail foods as just another part of that. I’ve kept an eye open in the primary literature for descriptions of foods the old boys actually ate, and generally limited myself to those items. I’ve tried a lot of them, and have enjoyed the experiments. My persona has always been that of an old man hunting for his son’s family with their cabin on the frontier as base. I walk from the cabin, no horse, so I must carry everything. That has always worked well for me, and is more practical every day as my treks have grown shorter. I don’t do many overnights, and I trek/hunt strictly solo, so preparing food for any outing is pretty simple. Some of the things I’ve eaten: cornmeal journey/johnny cakes, fixed before the trip cornmeal johnny cakes baked in the ashes cornmeal johnny cake cooked on a hot rock rockahominy with maple sugar, as a snack rockahominy to thicken other dishes cornmeal mush aka hasty pudding, made in camp fried cornmeal mush made at home venison jerky venison portable soup, as a simple broth or as base for boiling other meats, as squirrel or jerky simple biscuits made at home venison roasted on a stick rabbit roasted on a spit boiled squirrel collected on the trek, broth thickened with rockahominy chicken roasted on a stick largemouth bass roasted on a stick wheat bread baked on a stick homemade wheat bread baked before the trek dehydrated pumpkin, stewed with dark sugar dried apples stewed with dark sugar roasted pumpkin seeds black walnuts, from home or gathered on the trek hickory nuts do apples, raw sweet potatoes baked in the ashes persimmons collected on the trek puffball mushrooms mulberries from the tree coffee sassafras tea made in camp gunpowder and lapsang souchong tea made in camp maple sugar nutmeg salt black pepper cayenne pepper I’m sure I’ve skipped some, there have been a lot of treks. ![]() Spence ![]() ![]() |
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Post by spence on Jun 3, 2019 16:26:06 GMT -7
I tried 3 times to include a photo with my post, struck out for some reason. One more try, some of my lightweight trail foods, rockahominy, pocket soup and venison jerky. Spence  |
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 4, 2019 5:32:26 GMT -7
Spence,
I'm assuming the stuff that looks like a sow's ear is the portable soup.
How is the rockahominy made?
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Post by spence on Jun 4, 2019 6:41:52 GMT -7
To make real rockahominy you cook dried corn in a dry container until well browned but not burnt, then grind it into meal. I cheat, reverse the process. I have some cornmeal ground in a water-powered mill which is pretty coarse. I simply brown that in a dry pan. Think parched corn, ground up. Native Americans sometimes added maple sugar to it for a handy trail food.
Yes, the sow's ear is the pocket soup. I thought it looked like a tomahawk head.
Spence
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Post by Sicilianhunter on Jun 5, 2019 4:18:03 GMT -7
Does this mill have a website and maybe take internet orders?
I remember Mark Baker mentioning the mix with maple sugar and people in his band carried it in a "food belt" under their shirt.
I'm going have to make some of this portable soup that everyone seems to have a stash of in their kit...
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Post by spence on Jun 5, 2019 7:50:40 GMT -7
I've bought cornmeal from two water-powered grist mills, McHargue's mill in Levi Jackson state park, London, KY, and White's mill, Abingdon VA. I bought the meal while on site, many years ago, and don't know if either has an internet presence. Doubt it. Links to pictures, I found no merchandising from either. McHargue's mill: millpictures.com/mills.php?millid=2523White's mill: whitesmill.org/If many people actually use pocket soup in their reenacting it's would surprise me. Making it is a long, complicated process most people don't want to get involved in. I made a couple of batches a long time ago using bones from deer I had harvested, and that was enough for me. It's neat stuff, though, and I enjoyed the taste. It's just venison broth, what's not to like? Spence NB: With CWD in the mix these days, I wouldn't use deer bones, beef instead. You can use most any meat, including poultry. From chicken:  |
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Post by Black Hand on Jun 5, 2019 8:03:54 GMT -7
I agree with Spence - making portable soup is a great experience, but not something I'd do regularly. This is why I use the Knorr Soup cubes I find at the grocery store.
As to CWD, you should be fine if you use venison meat and supplement with chicken bones - the gelatin needed for the stuff to get thick is from the collagen that comes out of the meat & bones when cooked. Leg-bones from deer (avoiding the spine bones) should be fine to use and roasting bones (whatever type you use) will give more flavor.
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Post by spence on Jun 5, 2019 9:43:00 GMT -7
I'm sure you are correct that leg bones from a deer would be safe, but the prion implicated in CWD is not only in the spine, it's in nervous tissue. Lot of big nerves in a leg. I'll err on the side of unnecessary caution on this one.
Another way to cheat on the rockahominy that works very well is to use plain white corn tortilla chips. A type sold by our local Kroger store is what I've tried, and was very pleased. I baked them low and slow on a cookie sheet until well browned, then whizzed them in the food processor to the consistency of coarse meal. When mixed with maple sugar they were very tasty. The taste of browned corn is pretty much the same whether using the whole kernels or the chips.
Of course, both my methods are cheating, and you don't learn to parch and grind corn as Le Loup demonstrated very well in his video. but either product works for me. Your mileage.....
Spence
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Post by spence on Jun 5, 2019 10:05:59 GMT -7
A little historical interlude...
William Byrd, Histories of the Dividing Line betwixt Virginia and North Carolina, 1729
[Speaking of trail foods used by Indians, as in war parties targeting an objective.]
pg. 202:
They can Subsist Several days upon a little Rockahominy, which is parched Indian Corn reduc’d to powder. This they moisten in the hollow of their Hands with a little water, and ‘tis hardly credible how small a Quantity of it will Support them.
pg. 218 Their Arms are a gun and Tomahawk, and all the provisions they carry from Home is a pouch of Rockahominy.
Sometimes indeed, while they are still at some distance, they roast either Venison or Bear, till it is very dry, and then having Strung it on their Belts, wear it round their Middle, eating very Sparingly of it, because they know not when they shall meet with a fresh Supply.
Spence
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Post by Black Hand on Jun 7, 2019 16:13:35 GMT -7
Jerky - a staple.
I avoid commercial jerky for use on treks. Yes, commercial jerky is delicious but also expensive and nothing like anything that might have been available.
The jerky I make at home is very simple and made from deer, elk or beef trimmed of all fat & membrane. I cut pieces of meat WITH the grain, 1/4-3/8" thick, about 1-1.5" wide and 6-10" long (depends on the piece of meat). The strips are seasoned on both sides with sea salt, fresh-ground black pepper and red pepper flakes (all for flavor, but not required), 5-6 pieces are skewered through an end onto a bamboo skewer and the meat hung BETWEEN the wires of my oven rack. I will occasionally soak the meat strips in a bottle of smoke extract prior to seasoning since I don't have a smoker large enough to smoke a batch. I place a cookie sheet below the meat strips on the lower rack to catch any drips, turn the oven as low as it will go (about 170-180F on my oven) and prop the door open with a crushed soda can. The meat is dried in about 8 hours (I usually dry overnight) to where it is still flexible but not brittle. Long-term storage is vacuum-sealed and frozen, while short-term is in a cloth sack or brown paper bag - NEVER in a plastic bag or tightly-sealed container.
This jerky is eaten out of hand or broken into pieces for stew. The previous version of my jerky included sugar, soy sauce and a variety of spices, was marinated for 7-10 days then dried. It tasted great as-is but was awful when used in stew because the sugar leached out and sweetened the stew.
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Post by spence on Jun 7, 2019 16:36:35 GMT -7
My method is similar with two exceptions. I use a dehydrator now, did it in the oven when I first started making it. I never season the meat before drying, because I almost always use it in some cooked dish and plan to season it when used. I don't snack on jerky much, so seasoning isn't necessary. I've never jerked anything but venison. I agree about both long and short term storage.   Spence |
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Post by Black Hand on Jun 7, 2019 17:01:46 GMT -7
I have admired that little gourd bowl for some time. I may have a gourd that is just the right size in the garage...
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