Posts tagged hunting and gathering

The brilliant Evernew DX stove - a titanium multifuel system. Packs small (into my mug), and weighs 56g. Sometimes, I’ll use my home-made penny-stove with it to save even more weight. Or I just use sticks as fuel…

This is from those lovely folk at backpackinglight.co.uk, who’re brilliant.

Esbit alcohol stove & Evernew titanium trivet

One of my favourite cookers, the Esbit version of the Trangia, paired with the Evernew titanium trivet. This, plus a wind-shield, is a cook-system setup. 208g, all-in with the stove full of meths.

I prefer the Esbit over the Trangia because the simmer-ring/snuffing-lid has a handle. It’s a decent, reliable stove, and because it’s got a screw-cap, it stores meths as well. 

If Evernew’s titanium burner had a lid, I’d buy it. Until then, I’m sticking with this, or home-made penny-stoves.

Here’s that 11g titanium hexi stove folded. Not as small/light as the trail Designs Gram-Cracker at 3g, which needs a caldera cone to give it a chance of working - so the difference is that the Nordisk one works!

Testing my 11g Nordisk folding, titanium Esbit stove. The windshield/heat reflector’s made from a cut-up aluminium foil roasting-dish. 700ml of cold water in my SnowPeak titanium mug. Rolling boil in around 8-9 minutes. Probably 2 minutes longer outdoors. Not quick, but tiny and very, very light.

Jew’s Ears fungus (Taken with instagram)

Auricularia auricula-judae

Jews Ear is a rubbery ear-like fungus that is also known as Judas’s ear fungus, or as the jelly ear fungus. This fungus is conspicuously ear shaped, ranging from purple to dark brown or black in colour with a rubbery texture, and most often found on dead elder trees but also on elm and beech trees. It was said that Judas, the apostle who betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver, hanged himself on an elder tree, which is the origin of the name.

This intriguing name stuck, as the taxonomic name Auricularia means ear and the epithet “auricula-judae” means “the ear of Judas.”

It is pale brown in colour, and really does resemble a human ear in size, shape and texture. Generally it is about 6 cm across. When young it is gelatinous and pliant, but as it gets older it goes black and hard. The spores are white and it grows singly or in groups on old wood. There are no poisonous species that it would be confused with.

 It is one of the few fungi that has the ability to withstand freezing temperatures. This is a useful attribute, since it develops new growths in January, which is normally the coldest month of the year in Britain. It can actually freeze solid, and when thawed out shows no ill effects. It can be found all year long. It is found throughout Europe, Asia, the United States and Australia.

 This species is used often in Asian cooking because although it lacks a strong taste, it absorbs the flavours of other foods and provides delicate texture in Chinese and Japanese dishes.

 Besides its culinary value, Auricularia also has significant medicinal properties and has been used for used for thousands of years for the treatment of various things in traditional herbal remedies, especially in China. Chinese believe them good for infections of the lungs because they remove irritations an smooth it surface. They also recommend them

for haemorrhoids and as cleansing agents for both stomach and intestines. It was used to treat such widely varying conditions as hemoptysis (spitting up blood), angina (cardiac pain), diarrhea, and warding against gastrointestinal upset. According to the Doctrine of

Signatures, a theory popular in Europe in the 1800’s, plants and fungi resembling certain parts of the body could be used to treat ailment of that part of the body. Since the fungus resembles the folds of the throat, Auricularia boiled in beer, milk, or vinegar was used to treat throat ailments. Because its gelatinous consistency could bind eye medicine, it was also often used as a salve to treat eye ailments.

“Modern” medicine has yielded other secrets from Auricularia. It has been shown to block blood clotting by obstructing the platelets. There have actually been cases of internal bleeding from particularly sensitive people who accidentally ate too much sweet and sour soup combined with stir-fry containing this fungus. There is some evidence

that ingesting Auricularia regularly in small doses can be therapeutic in preventing strokes and heart attacks.

Other therapeutic uses of Auricularia from modern medicine include lowering blood cholesterol and triglycerides. There is even some evidence it can play a role in treating diabetes They have also been found to have antitumour, cardiovascular, antiviral, antibacterial and antiparasitic effects.

 Hot and Sour Soup recipe using Jews Ears (serves 4 to 6)

•  About 1 ounce Jews Ears
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 tablespoon red chilli paste
• 1/2 cup sliced bamboo shoots
• 1/4 pound barbecued pork, shredded
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground white pepper
• Pinch sugar
• 2 quarts Chicken Stock
• 1 square firm tofu, drained and sliced in 1/4-inch strips
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• Chopped green onions, for garnish

Put the Jews Ears in a small bowl and cover with boiling water. Let stand for 30 minutes to rehydrate. Drain and rinse the Jews Ears; discard any hard clusters in the centres.

 Heat the oil in a wok or large pot over medium-high heat. Add the ginger, chilli paste, Jews Ears, bamboo shoots, and pork; cook and stir for 1 minute to infuse the flavour. Combine the soy sauce, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a small bowl, pour it into the wok and toss everything together - it should smell really fragrant. Pour in the Chicken Stock, bring the soup to a boil, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the tofu and cook for 3 minutes.

Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and stir until smooth. Mix this into the soup and continue to simmer until the soup thickens. Remove the soup from the heat and stir in 1 direction to get a current going, then stop stirring. Slowly pour in the beaten eggs in a steady stream and watch it spin around and feather in the broth (it should be cooked

almost immediately.) Garnish the hot and sour soup with chopped green onions before serving.

MSR Pocket Rocket 87g of efficiency:

There are times when I use a gas-stove - like when there’s no dry fire-making materials to be found, and it’s too cold to prime a meths-burner. This little stove does the job on those occasions. It’s small, light - and it blasts out a jet-flame that’s quite remarkable. It’s got a built-in wind-diffuser, but I still use it in a sheltered-spot to conserve fuel. It comes with a light, plastic case, which is handy, as the stove itself has some pointy-bits which could do some damage to the contents of my pack.

Combined with a small tri-mix (propane/butane/isobutane) 100g cart (which fits inside my SnowPeak titanium mug), I can get 3-4 days of cooking out of it.

More traditional folk might use a multi-fuel rig, but I just can’t justify spending £200-odd quid on something that matches this in terms of weight and bulk. I like this because it’s fast to set up, and gets a brew ready quicker than anything else I own.

Tonight’s dinner (Taken with instagram)

I know I’m cheating, but it’s winter, and it’s damp and nasty out.

Along with my standard brew-kit, I’m taking:

• a few mantecados (dense, almond-flour based cakes)
• a bit of chorizo - instant, spicy calories
• a pack of instant pea & ham soup
• a pouch of Mountain-house, freeze-dried beef stroganoff & noodles (part of a batch which I picked up at an REI in Santa Monica a few months back)

Enough calories there for a day and a night in the woods.

Bannock bread (Taken with instagram)

I use the thin metal disc from a flan-tray as an ultralight frying-pan.

The bannock mix is:

• 1 and a half cups strong white flour
• 1 cup wholemeal bread flour
• half a cup of instant mash potato
• 4 heaped tablespoons of rolled oats
• salt
• 1 teaspoon baking powder (or mix with beer instead of water)

Knead mix into dough, separate into patties, cook on hot-plate or pan.

Jerky: sliced pork shoulder marinaded in sugar, salt, pepper, soy, sesame oil. Five-spice, chillies, garlic. Racked and ready to sit in the oven at 40C all day, until dried. (Taken with instagram)

Jerky marinade: am making a batch of pork jerky today (Taken with instagram)

Hawthorn berries; bland, but edible. (Taken with instagram)

Always time to make tea in the woods. (Taken with Instagram at Holmwoods)

Some peppercorns I picked in California. (Taken with instagram)