Kastrulya; The Makings of an Improvised Lunch

I am a photo hoarder.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term, I’m one of those people to take endless iPhone photos to have them sit untouched in my photos app. Personally, I don’t see a problem with it…my storage settings on the other hand may disagree. But, as the saying goes, a picture holds a thousand words…a thousand pictures holds the equivalent to the compilation of Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple stories.

While going through my bi-monthly photo-purge, I stumbled across a section of photos from the two-week canoe camp I lead this past August. Among the multiple frames of orangey-pink streaked sunsets and mirror-like lake shots, I came across this…

 

What on earth is that?! – You’re probably thinking as you stare into the depths of the pot. Well my dear friends, that was lunch.

If you’ve ever planed a camping trip or weekend away, you’ve most likely given the trip’s menu some thought. Planning a four-day canoe trek with eight teenagers through the backwoods of Algonquin Park is no different.

Looking at that photo you may begin to question the logistics behind this trip…but let me remind you that not everything goes to plan, improvisation is often necessary.

As intended, meals would be protein packed, easy to transport and to prepare. While those requirements were maintained, the menu itself…not so much. The plan was to have toasted tuna sandwiches and bean salad, however our lack of bread became an obstacle.

Yes, those at basecamp forgot to put bread into our bear barrel.

It’s a wonder how we convinced our campers to eat. Then again, when you’re in nature, you’re in a different state of mind and you’ve got no choice but to go with the flow.

Hence the creation of this dish…

KASTRULYA

A protein packed, low carb, dish for the adventurous explorer – that I would not recommend to anyone under any circumstance – apart from an apocalypse.

In order to recreate this dish you will need:

• 6 cans of tuna
• 1 can of chickpeas
• 1 can of mixed beans
• 6 cheese sticks of cheese strings

Preparation method:

• First, you will need to safely set up your MSR whisper-lite and flame cover
• Place a large charcoal-coated pot over of the flame – it’s important to ensure that the element is on level ground so it doesn’t tip over.
• Carefully open your multiple cans with a can opener, or you can carefully carve the top of the can off with a camping knife.
• Dump the contents of each opened can into the warmed pot. Add a splash of water so the mixture doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot and stir.
• Once a slight steam begins to rise, tear up the sticks of string cheese and drop them into the pot.
• As the pieces melt, stir the mixture to evenly incorporate the cheese.
• Just as the contents begin to bubble, remove from heat and serve.

 

After our mushy meal was picked over came the clean up – my least favourite part of the experience. However, as we had our canoes on hand we decided to take our improvisation to the next level. Loading the dirty pot, spoons, bowls and eco-soap into our boats, we paddles out into the lake to plunge and scrub the utensils clean under the setting sun.

If you decide to try this one out, let me know what you think, or if you have any last-minute improvised recipes you think are worth sharing, send them in – I’d love to hear about their creation!