Backpacking cuisine makes camping out a special occasion

Backpacking cuisine ? once notable for sacrificing flavor in favor of portability and ease of preparation ? has evolved.
Forget the nuts and berries and cans of beans. Devotees of backcountry camping today can chose from a menu of prepared, dehydrated or freeze-dried meals that includes black bean tamale pie, vegetable lasagna and Katmandu curry with lentils.
Hankering for Mexican at 10,000 feet? Then it’s Mexican-style chicken and rice tonight. Just add water.
Today’s backpacker ? the camper most likely to come in search of already prepared meals ? probably hails from one of two camps, said Adam Paulson, camping and climbing specialist at REI in Fort Collins.
A growing crowd seeks a minimalist, ultra-light experience, with gear honed to the minimum and necessities hewn from the lightest possible materials. The other camp wants to get close to nature with nothing more than can be carried in a pack and still enjoy a tasty meal at the end of the day.

Flavorful and easy
The camping foods on area outdoor gear purveyors’ shelves suit the needs of both. Light and ultra-portable, these meals are typically prepared by consumers in the containers they’re packaged in. Those who opt for flavor are as likely to be satisfied as those looking to trim back to the bare necessities.
“They taste great,´ said Janet Knocke, camping department manager at Jax Outdoor Gear in Fort Collins of the prepared camping meals the store carries. ?The trend now is to go light. The heaviest thing that usually goes in your back is food, most of the time. The goodness and the simplicity and the flavor of the food are a reward.?
Once the butt of jokes, today’s freeze-dried and dehydrated camp foods are likely to actually taste like whatever the label describes, say Knocke and Paulson.
“I think there has been such improvements in flavor that now they’re delicious,? Knocke said. ?The beef tastes like beef and the turkey tastes like turkey.”
The improved flavor of today’s camping foods comes in part from improved preparation methods. The meals tend to be prepared and then dehydrated or freeze-dried.
“Mountain House cooks their (camping meals) all in a big pot and then dehydrates it,? Krocke said. ?It’s not like they’re throwing in dehydrated chicken with dehydrated corn with dehydrated peas.”
Campers and backpackers will find the food shelves in their favorite outdoor shops laden with selections for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert.
“We sell a ton of breakfasts,” Knocke said. The dehydrated eggs “are huge now, again because of the flavor.” Breakfast selections include scrambled eggs with ham and Denver omelets.

More selection in recent years
While these easy-to-prepare and highly portable pre-packaged offerings have been around awhile, flavorful diverse choices haven?t always been available.
?Definitely, the selection and the variety have increased in the last five to 10 years. You?ve started to see a lot more options,? Paulson said. ?Just about anything you could think of to make? camping food manufacturers have packaged and ready to go.
Preparation requires either dunking in an icy stream ? that’s for the Neapolitan ice cream and ice cream sandwich selections ? or the addition of boiling water and a few minutes time for the magic to work.
Dinner entrees are available to serve one, two or four hungry campers. Prices for these prepared camp foods range from about $5 to $8 for two servings.
The camping gear shelves hold other enticements for the camp kitchen. ?We have this new personal stove that?s really cool,? said Daniel Shaw of The Mountain Shop in Fort Collins. Called the Jetboil, it packs stove, container and fuel all into the size of a large cup and fits well with the ultra light trend.
Shaw said the Jetboil retails for $79.95.
For campers who don?t want to get far from their cars, camp kitchen gear features a range of just-like-home-only-plastic offerings.
?We?ve got Lexan plastic wine glasses and margarita glasses,? Paulson said. Pair those with stainless steel flasks for carrying liquor.
There?s even a backpacking drink mixer for stirring up mixed drinks. A hand-cranked 48-ounce drink mixer runs $69.95.
For that all-important first cup of the day, French-press coffee makers are available in Lexan plastic and stainless steel. There are even hand-cranked coffee grinders suitable for campsite use.
A popular style ? featuring a French press inside a travel mug ? runs about $16.95.
What does it all mean? Do trailside margaritas and Denver omelets ala the wonders of dehydration spell the end of getting back to nature? Probably not, is Paulson?s pragmatic assessment.
?I think people try to carry too much,? he said. ?But everyone has that one thing that they think is absolutely necessary and they?ve got to have it. Manufacturers have tapped into that.?

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