What foods are best for the playa????

[djaded]

Hard salami sliced paper thin....my camp reffered to it as "lazy man's bacon" salty/fatty/meaty. We went through 5 pounds by wednesday.

Nuttela and tortillas wrapped up and grilled until crispy.

Fire and ice pickles. Just take a regular 32 oz jar of dill pickle chips, add 2 cups sugar, 4 garlic cloves, as much red pepper flakes as you can handle. Pour into bowl and let it sit in the fridge for a week....pure southern decadence. They are addictive.

Vacuum sealed pre-cooked and then frozen meat....bacon, sausage, carnitas, barbacoa, smoked ribs, spicy chicken wings, fish for tacos...all ready to be reheated on the grill or in the microwave.

Good cheese vacuum sealed in the ice coolers.

Going the "real meal" route isnt for everyone but I will eat a free range hippy if I do not get my animal protein.

[klondike_bar]

I bring a few things in cans, in case.

Martini Steve

silly steve, beer isnt food.

[Absolut Jeenyus]

Everything I eat at home I would bring to the playa. So long as you have resources to store and cook the food. In fact I think I eat better on the playa than I do back in the city. But fresh fruit is good, things to make stir frys are pretty easy, BBQ shit in general is fairly easy, skewers, steak, soups, bacon for sure, I mean if you can store it and cook it out there, I like to bring it. And if you have extra shit by the end of the week, there is no shortage of hungry people out there.

Its not good that you don't remember eating out there. The playa is no joke. You gotta take care of your body out there. Plenty of people have passed out from lack of water and nutrition in the desert heat.

[DoriumLux]

Yeah, and don't worry about bringing water out there. You can always run behind the water trucks with a pitcher or jug to get a big cup of *CLEAN* water.

[StevenGoodman]

I bring a few things in cans, in case.

Martini Steve

silly steve, beer isnt food.

Are you sure? Beer from Ireland seems like food???

Martini Steve

[Ugly Dougly]

We'll be rolling through Costco and buying everything that isn't nailed down.

Apple cider and shortbread makes a great morning snack!

[Sail Man]

Trader Joe's and my local exotic game butcher are high on my shopping destinations. UD, you want me to see if they got a goat or 2 you can slaughter at Barbarian Camp

[Ugly Dougly]

Live, fresh or frozen?
I may have to get a bigger Weber.

[Absolut Jeenyus]

Yeah, and don't worry about bringing water out there. You can always run behind the water trucks with a pitcher or jug to get a big cup of *CLEAN* water.

Wow really? It just doesn't stop does it?

[gidget]

I post too much about how well my camp eats.... mmmm, eggs benny.... yum.

Here's some easy shit.
Make some pulled pork in the crock pot and vacuum seal it and freeze it. 3 days in a pulled pork sandwich for lunch is heaven.

White trash hors d'oeuvre... jerky topped with easy cheese (cheddar bacon is best) and pair it with a fine '09 PBR.

[phil]

Did anybody mention baking cookies on your dash?

http://bakingbites.com/2007/09/car-baked-chocolate-chip-cookies-step-by-step/

[PeterBMN]

camping food... freeze dried or dehydrated (sp?)... AlpineAir... mountain House... all you have to do is be able to boil water... they really are not that bad... some were really good.... they have breakfast stuff... dinner and deserts.... and there is little packaging so less crap/garbage to haul home!!!

[Playa Tom]

Don't bother bringing any meat, there will be fresh meat along the road between Nixon and Gerlach. Coyotes find anything that has been there for any time so you know it is fresh.
Skin and gut a rabbit, season with salt and pepper, if you wish add some garlic and sage, add a couple potatos, wrap in foil and place on top of your engine. It will be cooked to perfection by the time you get through Greeters. A jackrabbit will feed two people, a cottontail, one.

[Minxy]

I'm a big fan of eating well on the playa. It IS hard to remember to eat, sometimes, due to the heat so I try to bring yummy things that will be sure to tempt me even when I'm feeling apathetic about food! There is something so deliciously decadent about eating a good meal out there in such a crazy environment, IMO.

One of my best playa meals was falafel with the cucumber sauce, wrapped in pitas with some greens and onions. For some reason, that was just the best thing I'd ever tasted out there.

I also love hummus with pitas. Throw in anything else that sounds good and that you have around. I will have fresh veggies (cukes, carrots, tomatoes, onions) for at least half my time there, so I eat those up in order of decay factor. :D

I always bring some Gatorade and Emergen-C to mix it up as I get bored with straight water. V8 also, for the times I just can't stand to think of food but I want some good nutrients.

Protein bars that don't suck are good for carrying around with you on your adventures for an impromptu snack, also bags of trail mix and/or dried fruit.

I LOVE thinking about my menu for Burning Man. Prepping the food and planning it all out is as much fun as planning and making costumes, IMO. :)

[Absolut Jeenyus]

camping food... freeze dried or dehydrated (sp?)... AlpineAir... mountain House... all you have to do is be able to boil water... they really are not that bad... some were really good.... they have breakfast stuff... dinner and deserts.... and there is little packaging so less crap/garbage to haul home!!!

Yea when I first started going to BM about 7 years ago, I was solo and these were what I brought, along with a few other canned things, soups, etc... But throughout the years I crave better and better food. As good as those dehydrated/freeze dried meals are, they don't quite give me that good feeling I get out of a well prepared fresh cooked meal. I don't think they quite hold the same nutritional value either. Those meals are good for kind of in between eating I think. Now days I bring ridiculous amounts of food out there. Its fun to cook obscure shit you don't find everyday on the playa.

Damn now I'm hungry.

[Ugly Dougly]

Sometimes I go to big Hispanic or Asian grocery stores and start grabbing canned foods off the shelves, especially weird things where I really don't know what in it.

[somekind]

Potatoes and carrots. You can add them to anything.

[Boijoy]

We had a "pot luck stew" last year. It was FABU! Contributions were, left over pulled pork, onions, some canned potatos, canned beans, v8, hot sauce & a dark beer.
Served over rice, it was yum.

[Simon of the Playa]

Don't bother bringing any meat, there will be fresh meat along the road between Nixon and Gerlach. Coyotes find anything that has been there for any time so you know it is fresh.
Skin and gut a rabbit, season with salt and pepper, if you wish add some garlic and sage, add a couple potatos, wrap in foil and place on top of your engine. It will be cooked to perfection by the time you get through Greeters. A jackrabbit will feed two people, a cottontail, one.

ok, now i'm freaked out, where did you find our secret menu from '96?

[theCryptofishist]

The playa find that small children do wonders for its complextion.

[Simon of the Playa]

Ach, only if your name is Moloch...


just My Luck, a key to open More Locks.


i should pick it up, huh...

[Samasutra]

I don't drink beer EVER in the default world, but for some reason around day 4-5 on the playa, I am fiending for a nice cold one.

[Lowz]

I don't drink beer EVER in the default world, but for some reason around day 4-5 on the playa, I am fiending for a nice cold one.

http://www.clevelandleader.com/node/3467

[Earthwalker]

Opinions are a dime a dozen. So here's mine (you can pay me my 10/12 via pay pal).

Personally, aside from the fact that I'm consuming less meat these days, even as a former meat lover (makes it sound like i'm converting to heterosexuality, but that's not what i mean), I have little to no desire to eat meat when it's that hot out. Going on desert camping experiences (100+ degrees in Imperial County), the meat is either hot to begin with (salami/jerkey kept outside a cooler), and that's disgusting b/c it gets all sweaty and greasy. Or the meat is kept cool (tri tips, steak, etc.) but when I eat it, my body is so hot, it gets angry at me for inserting (dirty dirty) something that is so difficult to break down. It is not processed as well as it would be under cooler conditions, and it makes me feel heavy and sluggish, which i already feel from the heat.

Personally, I recommend eating light in that sort of heat. You need all the energy you can get, and you don't want to waste it processing meat (god this is getting me turned on). I'll be sticking with freeze dried camping meals (no meat) and cold root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips). Ok, I made the part about parsnips and turnips up, but you know what I mean.

One thing I definitely agree with though is the person who said "bring things you like to eat at home". The same is for hiking in high elevation. Most people lose their appetite. When I did Whitney (no, not a girl, the mountain), I basically didn't eat the entire 22 miles. NOT GOOD. But I wasn't hungry and the though of eating a cliff bar, which I don't like, gave me no incentive to mow down (haha).

This is not an indictment of meat. Just saying you may want lighter foods in that sort of environment. But if you feel like eating (tube) steak, then by all means, go for it!

[Savannah]

I don't feel like eating much in the heat, so I actually use the opposite tactic . . . I bring a lot of protein, in case I can only bring myself to eat 5 bites of dinner. If I only eat a little of something, I want it to be maybe some vacuum-packed salmon or PB&J on whole grain, and I want jerky or a Luna bar or one of those chicken salad & crackers kits in my bag for later. This is not to say that I don't bring lots of dried fruit, canned, fruit juices, etc.

If you've never been, options are good until you know how you like to eat and what you don't mind cooking.

[Earthwalker]

I don't feel like eating much in the heat, so I actually use the opposite tactic . . . I bring a lot of protein, in case I can only bring myself to eat 5 bites of dinner. If I only eat a little of something, I want it to be maybe some vacuum-packed salmon or PB&J on whole grain, and I want jerky or a Luna bar or one of those chicken salad & crackers kits in my bag for later.

Yeah, what she said, only I said it in 14 paragraphs, which is pretty typical for me.

My coworker, who went in '11 (his first and only time) said he and his crew stacked up all sorts of crazy food. Canned food, meat, chips, etc. As if they were going to sit down for 3-4 meals together every day. He said they barely at ANY of it. Had to haul it all back home.

For me, I'm going with what Savannah said: I don't plan on eating very often, so when I do eat, make it count (salmon is a great idea; whole grain bread; almond butter; luna bar...wait, those are for girls, the label says so!)

In my day carry I'll probably just bring some sort of protein bar (though I basically hate all of them...maybe the Cliff Builders Bar) JIC I need some nourishment.

[Savannah]

Having to haul most of your food home is a proud Burner tradition. Between the food I ate on shift, and the Meet & Greet, a box of coconut water thrown at me as a gift, and the largesse of my friends Motz and Lydia, plus my usual overpacking, I ate perhaps 25% of my food this year; a new low. Usually I eat 30-40% of it. Same with the beverages. Why do I bring so many beverages? Oh, well. It's fun to be able to offer a selection.

I have two cans of Underwood devilled chicken in my filing cabinet at work right now, as well as some vacuum-sealed Indian food from Trader Joe's (those are good in tortillas). I spend September through April of every year slowly incorporating my Burn food into real life. This is why I don't buy "camping" food, per se. Just preserved food that I'll actually eat.

[junglesmacks]

.

[Savannah]

Oh yeah, and Junglesmacks' tortellini.

That is not a euphemism.

(Tortellini evaporates, right?)

[junglesmacks]

That is not a euphemism.

Keeeeeeeeeeeep telling yourself that..



..and yes, under some circumstances tortellini has been shown to actually work wonders in an evap pond! Soaks the junk riiiight up..