What Extras to take?

[Michael A]

A friend and I will be hiking on the Kungsleden Trail (Northern Sweden) this summer for 14 days. The trail has huts where we can cook and sleep, so we will be able to travel quite light. The huts also sell provisions, but mainly of the freeze dried packaged meal variety. My question is what extra supplies, if any, should we take to make our meals more interesting. My first choice is ground black pepper. What would others suggest?

[Matthew / BPL]

• Cayenne pepper
• Garlic powder
• Salt
• True Lemon

[Gary Dunckel]

Creole spices

Italian spices

Mexican spices

Indian spices (e.g., curry masala)

Good olive oil

Tabasco packets

[Ken Thompson]

Cholula hot sauce

[Tim Drescher]

“Cholula hot sauce”

All day

[Simon Kenton]

http://m.mexgrocer.com/cholula-samples.html?utm_source=CSEs&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Mexican%20Food%20Groceries&gclid=CjwKEAjwlq24BRDMjdK7g8mD6BASJABBl8n3cUKn2em89ROFJXcEtTvzRWp-__qrl72i2LnuNzHNcRoCDszw_wcB

 

 

Mmmmm

[Matthew / BPL]

Cholula is a good suggestion. Too bad it’s got water in it. Someone should sell dehydrated Cholula powder. Or yes, I suppose I could buy a dehydrator and make my own. That would work, right?

[Lester Moore]

Raw garlic cloves – great addition to many dishes chopped raw, or cut into chunks and boiled with meal.

[Valerie E]

Another Cholula fan here (I get the little packets at minimus.biz).  Other add-ins I used frequently on the CT were:

Olive oil, True Lime (SO many uses!), honey powder or maple sugar (it’s powdered maple syrup, said the Canadian), curry powder, simple salt & pepper, cayenne pepper, and French’s Fried Onions.

And don’t forget other add-ins, like sprinkling crushed corn chips on anything “Mexican-y”, or crushed peanuts on “Thai-like” dishes.  Adding a bit of texture and crunch really brightens things up!

[Michael A]

Thank you all for your excellent suggestions. Just one question, for Matthew King, How do you use the True Lemon?

[Matthew / BPL]

I loooooove true lemon in freeze dried hummus. It’s also good on Packit Gourmet’s Tortilla Soup. And it’s good in water. But mostly I like it in hummus with some cayenne pepper and wild onions.

[Diane “Piper” Soini]

Sriracha

Mustard

Real California Olive oil, so peppery you sneeze

Melt some beef tallow into your dinner and it tastes like real home cookin’

[Nick Smolinske]

Cholula is a great choice.  If your meals are compatible with a bit of smokey flavor I would highly recommend Chipotle Tabasco instead, though.  That stuff is like crack.

[Nick Smolinske]

Also, preserved lemons add an amazing flavor to a lot of recipes, and they’re really easy to make!  You just have to get your hands on some Meyer lemons.  I used this recipe from The Kitchn.

I brought some to put in a couscous meal on my last trip and they were very good.  They’re used in small enough quantities that it wouldn’t be worth dehydrating them – I brought a 2″x2″ ziplock bag half full (pre-chopped) and it was plenty for a meal for one.

[Ryan K]

True Lemon is great for sourness, which I really miss on the trail.  It’s not the same, but you can make your own lemon zest – just grate and dehydrate lemon peel (or lime or orange).  Supposedly the peel has a lot more vitamin C and retains it after dehydration.

Crispy fried onions and fried garlic are really good.  Better than onion or garlic powder, albeit a bit messier.  Crunchiness is key in my mashed potatoes.

I love dehydrated herbs like cilantro and basil.  Drying your own whole leaves is much better than using bottles of “Italian herbs.”  Dried seaweed like Dulse flakes are great too for a Japanese flavor.

 

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