Item: Camp Cooking, 1997
Rating: 5
Author: Kaukapakapa Scout Group

Camp Cooking, 1997

Kaukapakapa Scout Group
17 Feb 2021

The Kaukapakapa Scout Group published a much loved Camp Cooking book for Scouts and Leaders. It was last compiled and printed in 1997 by Graeme Hounsell. Luckily he has lent us the last, well thumbed over copy, for ingestion into “Campfire”

This is the Table of Contents, and the tag #kahu-camp-cooking covers the contents as replicated into “Campfire”

The Kaukapakapa Scout Group has awesome camps, and always with great or interesting food thanks to this cook book … depending on who cooked

The foreword of the book was as follows:

Welcome to the world of camp cooking

This recipe book has been compiled with recipes that have been tried and tested under camp conditions

All recipes are suitable for gas or open fire cooking. The quantities given are all based on Patrols of six

Good Camping

Kahu

Compiled by. Graeme Hounsell, 1997

Food and Catering

In preparing menus for camps, the emphasis should be on a variety of good food with a variety of ways in cooking it, allowing for extremes of weather and availability of supplies. Always allow extra food for each person because of the extra energy being used in a camp situation

An especially important part of camp is snack food. Mid-morning and mid-afternoon, and supper snacks with a cold or hot drink should be planned and provided. Biscuits, fruit, bread, toast, camp bread, as a snack serve to top up energy reservoirs

Beware of high food prices. It is important to provide a well balanced meal without a high price tag [to keep Scouting inclusive to all]

A balanced diet is a diet that gives the body all the food materials it needs in the right amounts. About 2/3rds of the diet should be carbohydrates, 1/6th fats and 1/6th proteins. The diet should also contain the proper minerals and vitamins that the body needs. Food experts have divided all the foods we need to keep healthy into four basic food groups; they are the MILK, MEAT, BREAD-CEREAL, and the VEGETABLE group

MILK - milk, butter, cheese, icecream, yoghurt
MEAT - red meats, chicken, fish, eggs, beans, peas, nuts
BREAD-CEREAL - breads, cereals, pasta, rice, potatoes, taro
VEGETABLES - greens, carrots, fruit, beets, pumpkin

In preparing a daily diet we should ensure that 2/3rds come from the bread-cereal or fruit-vegetable groups, 1/6th from the meat group and 1/6th from the milk group

Remember when your meals are cooked at home thought has gone into the variety of vegetables. Care has gone into the preparation and cooking of the whole meal. Care has gone into how the meal is served to you. The same sort of care should go into any meals you plan and prepare for camp. Make sure your menu suits the weather conditions for that time of the year and the type of camp you are running

Practice cooking at home on the stove to get to know the cooking times for different meats and vegetables. Timing is about the same with and electric stove as with an open fire or gas burner

Cooking Terms

Au gratin - bread crumb covered and browned
Bard - Bacon fat used to cover lean meat before cooking [Lard is to use any fat, life is too short to use anything but bacon]
Baste - to moisten with fat or juices while cooking
Bind - to mix ingredients together with an egg or thick sauce
Blend - mix well together
Boil - to cause the liquid to bubble furiously
Simmer - the state just before boiling
Braise - to cook gently in a covered pot with a minimum amount of liquid
Dice - cut into small cubes
Garnish - to decorate or accompany a particular dish
Reduce - to evaporate by rapid boiling
Roux - made by blending equal amounts of flour and butter over a low heat ( base for white sauces)
Sauté - cook in fat over moderate heat
Sear - to quickly fry the outside, usually of meat
Season - to add salt and pepper etc.
Steam - to cook so that food does not touch the water
Skim - to take of fat or scum from the top of liquid with a spoon
Stock - the liquor from simmered meat bones or meat. (or that made up from prepared stock mixes)