Bush Cooking while on Holidays.Bush cooking has changed so much from the early settler’s days to now. It has also changed so much over the last few years. Not only has the equipment used to cook with changed, but also the utensils and even the food. Having said that though, the recipes from the “good old days” are still very much current now and still taste just as good. It depends on how long you are going away for, what transport you are taking, how many you are cooking for etc. what you will be cooking and how you will be cooking your food. A lot of the caravan parks now have a camp kitchen that has BBQ’s, microwaves, ovens, toasters and kettles. If you want to be self sufficient or are not staying in caravan parks some of the ways to cook your meals include the camp oven. This is a very versatile way of cooking food, but is by no means the be all and end all. There is of course the good old fashioned BBQ. This can be as simple or as elaborate as you want it to be. You may have a specially made hot plate that just sits over your wood fire, one that is used in conjunction with a gas burner stove, one that is used with gas, or you may just have something like your oven rack from home to cook on. There is a fantastic Weber available now that folds up and sits in the back of your car or boot that operates on gas, so you don’t even have to light a fire for your bush cooking. You can even purchase portable smokers, portable spits, folding ovens and there is nothing wrong with the ever faithful frying pan and saucepans from your own kitchen. You should always carry a portable liquid fuel stove to use on total fire ban days or if you just pull up at the side of the road and want a quick snack or cuppa. The first thought that springs to mind when you mention bush cooking is the good old fashioned BBQ where you light a fire, wait for the fire to burn down and have a good lot of hot coals to cook by and chuck on the sausages, chops and onions and when cooked put it in some bread with some sauce and enjoy. (Okay, hands up those of you who can not wait long enough for the fire to burn down and put their meat on when the words is burning with lots of smoke and you end up with smoky meat? Hands up who can not wait for the meat to cook and start eating it like a caveman with blood and juice dribbling out of it. Hands up who always dribble some of the sauce or juice down the front of your shirt as well. I think that just about takes care of most of the male population of Australia). However, if you are going away for an extended time, even the most Aussie of the Aussie blokes will get sick of a BBQ every night. With a little bit of planning for your bush cooking, there is no reason why you can not have your normal food that you have at home – although it is good to try different food sometimes. Try to remember that if you are away on a bush camping holiday, the “normal cook” is also on holidays, so try to keep your bush cooking simple. Some of the camping recipes that I will end up putting on this page or our readers contributions will be a fair variety of simple easy to prepare meals when you are travelling every day, to a little bit of preparation for when you have set up camp in the one spot for several days. RECIPES
If you are in the bush, remember there is no supermarket just down the road for you to get something that you have forgotten. Plan your menu (copy of our 11 day tour menu) in advance to make sure you at least have all the necessary ingredients. Sometimes, you will change your mind about what you will have from one day to the next, but if you have planned your menus, you will at least have the ingredients for what you want. Remember, your daily meals is not just your dinner at night, but most of us eat breakfast and lunch as well – don’t forget the little snacks in between too. For those of you watching your weight thinking you can not have in-between snacks, mostly when we are away camping we are more active bushwalking etc, than just sitting in the office at work and a healthy snack is not going to do you too much harm, especially those of us who always have a couple of biscuits or sausage roll or cake for morning tea at work. In Australia, there are several fruit control points where you are not allowed to take fruit or vegetables into certain states or areas. If you are travelling around make sure you allow for these and limit the fruit and vegies you will still be carrying at the checkpoint so you don’t have to throw them away. If you are travelling in the bush, remember to observe all safety requirements. When you first arrive at your bush camp for the night, it is a good idea to start your bush cooking fire first and then set up camp for the night. This will allow your fire to be ready to cook on when you want it. We have a number of other related subjects about bush cooking:
Have a look at where Our Tours go in Western Australia where we use bush cooking
|
