Ask Triloboats.com: Food, Glorious Food

One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.”

Virginia Woolf

Tell me what you eat, I’ll tell you who you are.”

Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Pizza for five and a dog!


Food is one of the great pleasures of life. We break bread with friends, lovers, family. Food fuels our bodies, raises our spirits, inspires creativity.

Taste, of course, and smell whelm our senses. Texture? Very important. The sound of foods sizzling, simmering, crunching, being chopped. And oh, don’t our eyes delight in its colors and shapes!

Important, obviously.

So how do we get along, in such a small boat? No refrigerator? Miles and miles from the nearest store?

Anke and I try to keep a year’s supply of food on board. This lets us get away from towns on an indefinite basis, without having to hurry anywhere for resupply. Should things go south for whatever reason, it’s a margin of safety… a cushion between us and hard knocks. Should health or the economy fail, we aren’t worried about the next meal.

A year’s supply is one of those loose figures that doesn’t stand up to too close scrutiny. Halfway between resupply, we’ve eaten through some portion of that. A lot of our food comes from sea and shore, so while it counts, it’s only metaphorically on board.

Basics:

Rice and lentils @ 2:1 – By complementarity theory, this is a complete protein. Tastes good, true or not. Both cook at the same rate, same pot.
Beans – Beans, beans, the magical froot!
Wheat – Whole kernal, grind as we go.
Sprouting Seeds – We sprout these mainly in winter for fresh greens.

Forage:

Seaweeds – Abundant year round. Dry or pickle preserve.
Wild Greens – We try to pick twice what we eat, to dry for winter stews.
Wild Fruits – Berries, mostly. Available about a third of the year. Haven’t dried many, but would like to get set up for it.
Fish – Mostly cod, dolly varden and pink salmon… small stuff. Perfect for dinner with some left over for breakfast. Mmm-mmm.

Luxuries:

Eggs – Keep for 4+ months with no cooler. Turn weekly and test for floating (bad) toward the end.
Corn and Oats – Add variety for baking.
Olive Oil – One oil fits all.
Vinegar – Balsamic, apple and white. Like to make berry vinegar, eventually.
Cheese – A friend, who saw us carting 100lbs down the dock, said, “I know what you’re not going to be doing!”
Dried Fruits – These come out far cheaper than fresh (in AK), since you’re not paying for water.
Tomato Paste – Those li’l 6oz cans are way versatile.
Peanut Butter and Almonds – Nuts, to you.
Sugar and Honey – For baking, wine (could make vinegar, in a pinch).
Spices – Smallish, versatile set. Includes liquid vanilla, smoke and hot sauce. Brewer’s yeast. Cocoa.
Leaveners – Yeast and baking powder (non-aluminum).

Addictions:

Coffee – Whole bean, grind as we go.
Chocolate – Cheapest in chip form. Okay as a snack, better baked. That’s a good thing!
Green Olives – Expensive, too.

Only the eggs are perishable (cheese just gets better with time). Only a few are (heavy)liquid. We may have ‘guest stars’ – special luxuries like fresh produce, or a chicken – but they have to be eaten promptly.

Our compact galley holds a little of everything; enough for a week+. An easy access grab-box holds replacements. It’s replenished in turn from deep storage in the holds. If the weather’s wet, this system gives us a chance to wait for a break before digging deep.

Containers are air-tight. Glass jars in galley shelves; ziplocs in plastic totes organize the holds.

Cookware consists of pressure cooker, quart pot, teapot, coffepot, nested steel bowls, pie pans and combo cooker (deep frypan with a shallow one that fits as a lid for dutch oven). A few of the usual utensils, mugs, plates, flatware.

No sink… fresh water is poured from jerrycan on deck into the coffepot (used only for water… coffee in french press) or saltwater dipped via side-flaps. A stack of four washbasins can handle a number of jobs. Wash up at the galley, standing in the companionway or on deck in clement weather.

Half the fun of cooking, for us, is to leverage these few ingredients into a wide range of combinations. Ersatz (substitution) cooking is a challenge, and surprisingly effective. Dishes can be concocted without a single ingredient from the original, yet which manage to embody its spirit. I should mention that Anke has a gift for improvisational cuisine!

Oops… gotta run. Dinner’s ready!

For the next few weeks to months Dave Zeiger of Triloboats.com will answer one of your shantyboat living questions each week or so. Dave will draw upon his years of experience in boating… in living aboard.. How do you handle discharge of sewage? What are your food storage secrets? Send your questions to shanty@shantyboatliving.com.

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Author: Dave

Editor Note: Read more stories on Triloboats.com.