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Bushcraft
Cooking Methods
Here are some cooking tips
for Bushcraft Cooking.
Meat
Meat is best cut into small cubes and boiled. Pork is particularly suspect in
hot climates: wild pig is usually infested with worms and liver fluke. Venison
is also prone to worms.
Put excessively tough meat in a solution of juice from citric fruits for 24
hours. This marinading helps to make it more tender. Bring to the boil and
simmer until tender.
Offal
Check liver especially carefully. If firm, odourless and free from spots and
hard lumps it can be eaten. Boil first and then fry if you wish. Hearts are best
par-boiled then baked. Brain makes an excellent stew. Skin the head then boil,
simmering for 90 minutes. Strip all the flesh from the skull, including the
eyes, tongue and ears.
Blood
Leave it in the container in which it is collected but keep it covered. A clear
liquid comes to the top. When separation seems complete drain it off. Dry the
residue by the fire to form a firm cake. Use it to enrich soups and stews.
Sausages
Thoroughly clean the intestines, turning them inside out to wash. Fill with a
mix of half meat / half fat bound with enough blood to hold the ingredients
together. Tie the ends and boil. Once cooked they can be preserved by cold
smoking in a smoke tepee or over a chimney.
Fish
Usually germ free if caught in fresh water. Fish take little cooking and are
best steamed or wrapped in leaves and placed on hot embers. Chickweed and
Butterbur are good for this. Avoid toxic leaves.
Birds
Boil all carrion. Old crows, blackbirds and parrots are tough and best boiled.
Young specimens can be roasted - stuff the bird with herbs and fruit.
Reptiles
Best gutted and then cooked in their skins which are rough and leathery. Place
in hot embers and turn continually. When the skin splits the meat can be removed
and boiled. A few snakes have poisonous secretions on the skin and others may
have venom glands on the head, so cut it off before cooking.
If you are not sure if they are safe, take care when handling them.
Skin frogs before cooking (many frogs have poisonous skin) Roast them on a stick
Shellfish
Crabs, lobster and shrimps, crayfish, prawns and so forth are safer boiled since
they may contain harmful organisms.
All seafood spoils quickly and must be cooked as soon as possible. Drop into
boiling salted water and boil for ten minutes.
Insects
and Worms
Best boiled. Cook and mince them by crushing them in a can. They can be made
more acceptable dried on hot rocks and ground into a powder to enrich soups and
stews.
Eggs
Boiling is the best way of cooking, but if no container is available, roast in
hot embers after first making a small hole in one end with a sharp stick or
knife point.
Green
Vegetables
Wash in clean water and boil for just long enough to make them tender, - they
are often and easily overcooked. Tender plants can be gently steamed if you are
sure they are safe to eat. Add to stew after the meat is cooked and already
tender. Eat fresh greens raw as a salad.
Roots
Some are toxic but the toxins are destroyed by heat. Always cook roots; boiling
will always make the toughest ones more tender. Roast roots are tasty - but boil
them first.
Lichens
and Mosses
Soak overnight in clean water, add to stews.
Note:
Contributions from others are as always very welcome. Some
e-mail would be nice!
This site is owned by Bushcraft Educational Society © 2005
Email:
info@bushcraft-educational-society.co.uk
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