[Allan Edwin]

Hello all!

One of the most interesting tidbits that came out of the Trips Catalog Survey was the trip with the most votes (“Yes! I want to do this trip!”) was the Kayak Cooking Weekend. This was an annual tradition in years past.

I would very much like to see that trip happen, and maybe even more than one, given the level of interest.

Let’s start with listing your favourite camp cooking menus and meals. What’s your strategy for curry? Any vegetarian meal plans? Are there any bakers in the crowd? Maybe someone has a scone recipe they could pass on.

I’m looking forward to hearing what you would bring to a Kayak Cooking weekend.

Topic

[Sue Johnson]

I well remember the cooking weekend I attended ‘way back when – what a way to introduce new members to kayak cooking!

My recipe contribution is as follows:

QUINOA, CORN AND BLACK BEANS

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

salt and black pepper to taste

1 can corn kernels

1/2 red pepper, diced

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
Stir in the onion and garlic, saute until lightly browned.
Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper.
Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.
Stir corn, red pepper and black beans into the saucepan. Simmer until heated through.
Top with cilantro and serve.

[Tony Clayton]

I add the comments below as both a bit of SKABC history and in support of Heather’s wish to continue the trip in the original format.

A key aspect to the Kayak Cuisine weekend was and remains the hands on experience. Participants are divided into groups of three so that with a full complement of 12 participants ( plus on recent editions of the trip Heather, Earl Elliott our redoutbable assistant who has attended all of the 14 KC weekends, and me ) we have four teams. At random each team is given a bag containing ingredients and recipes for a three course meal. Each meal has a theme ; e.g. Thai cuisine, so as a result there are four different appetizers, entrees and desserts. The meals are designed to be examples of durable menus that can be taken on multi day trips. The food as Heather alluded to previously, is served as it becomes available from each of the four ‘ kitchens’. In essence there is a very large and varied smorgasbord.

The recipes used for the weekend are subsequently distributed to all the participants. A small fee is charged to cover the cost of the food. We also have a discussion ( not a lecture) about approaches to provisioning for extended kayak trips, foraging and fishing for food.

At times the KC weekend is over subscribed and a waiting list is necessary. People who have previously attended KC weekends go to the bottom of the list.

Apart from the Saturday evening food fest the trip is an excellent paddling experience and typically introduces many people to the attractions of Central Howe Sound. Lastly I would like to say that the KC weekends have always been classified as a TRIP, not your typical trip for sure, and it was never intended as a training course.

Cheers,

Tony.

[Allan Edwin]

Hi Karen – yes post them here for now. Heather and Tony are going to organize a Kayak Cuisine weekend and it would be cool to have recipes and ideas lined up for that.

[Karen Jensen]

What a great idea!

Allen – what’s the best way to get recipes to you?  Post to this forum?   I just picked up a new book on dehydrating so will see if I can start experimenting more in March.

Rick – I couldn’t find the book you mention on the High Level website – any idea where I could get a copy?

Cheers,

Karen

[Allan Edwin]

Super to hear from Heather and Tony! Yes please. I would be very happy if you are able to resume this club tradition.

Lets get more recipes up!

Also, any dehydrator tips anyone?

[Tony Clayton]

The Kayak Cuisine weekends began 20 odd years ago and were an outcome of demos that I did at SKABC symposia. I retired from leading club trips three years ago when I turned 80. The more recent Kayak Cuisine trips were co led by myself and Heather Kirk. For many years recipes were published regularly in the Newsletter under the title of Kayak Cuisine. I still have those recipes in printed form and perhaps they and others that I have accumulated can be organized and scanned for archiving and online access at the SKABC website. This is a bit of a technical challenge for me so if anyone is interested in getting that set up I would be pleased to cooperate.

Kayak Cookery by Linda Daniel first published by Pacific Search Press in 1986 was extremely useful to us as novice kayakers at that time and I still refer to it from time to time. Probably no longer in print but worth looking out for as a used book.

[Kevin Amos]

My go to recipe is Chicken Taco’s. The key is using Costco canned chicken. You can also do vegetarian.

Learn to Make Camp Tacos

[Heather Kirk]

We can run the Kayak Cuisine weekend again as soon as the COVID crisis is over but in the meantime, it’s a great idea to share some recipes.

Just yesterday I tried a new dried Laksa noodle soup from Singapore that I think will be a good base for a quick and filling dinner. I got the soup from Sungiven Asian supermarket in the mall at 12th and Cambie. The manufacturer is Prima Food. I didn’t add anything to it yesterday because I wanted to make sure it tasted good first, but when I make it again I’ll add a can of chicken, a can of baby corn and a can of straw mushrooms (and maybe some more chili paste). On a short trip, shrimp would be more fun than chicken, and some fresh veggies such as bean sprouts or green beans would round it out. The chili paste and coconut broth is brought to a boil, the noodles are boiled for 7 minutes and it’s ready.

Heather.

[R.W. Rick Redmond]

High Level Kayak & Canoes from Lethbridge have published a wonderful book called “The Art of Culinary Kayaking”; it is the best Recipes from their many Guided Kayaking Trips, up the Westcoast, and Baja, Mexico areas.

Great recipes for Kayaking Adventures, and/or at Home, and/or at the Campground.

Rick

[Kapila Jayaweera]

Great idea Allan.

I am going to work on writing down few recipes that I can share.

Kapila

[Author]

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