[pct-l] corn pasta

[charliethorpe@att.net (Charlie Thorpe)]

Hello All -

Tony said:

> John - I used corn pasta 2 nights on the whole trip.
> The reason being it taste like nothing and it got
> really paste like.  Would not recommend using it if my
> life depended on it.  When I did get some that was
> made right it didn't make a difference in my
> performance like Jardine says it does.  I ate pastas
> and rice and did just fine.

Agree 98%  We have had similar experiences with corn pasta on thru-hikes of
the AT and PCT (and now on section hikes of the CDT).

We used a self-dehydrated food "system" that involved carrying cooked meats
(4), cooked veggies (8-14), and bulk "carbo's" (potatoes, wheat noodles,
rice, and corn).  The potatoes were standard restaurant supply dehydrated
hashbrowns (lotsa chew!) and the the rice was cooked and then dehydrated by
us.  

A normal supper was one meat, one veggie, and one bulk carbo (with LOTSA
garlic and dehydrated salsa!) thrown into a pot of creek water.  We would
bring the water to a boil and would let it simmer for a few minutes if we
had plenty of fuel.  If fuel was short, we would shut the stove off and drop
a sleeping bag on top of the pot while we changed into sleep clothing.  By
the time we were in our sleeping bags, the food was ready.  Typical time
from "let's camp here" to ZZZ was under a half hour.

We tried corn pasta for the corn carbo and never learned to cook it right.
It always seemed to turn into either rubber or a soggy mush.  We quit trying
and experimented with Polenta.  The Polenta wasn't bad, but we quickly found
a corn alternative that suited us MUCH better.

We live in Alabama and found our corn carbo on the b'fast table - grits.  We
started using off-the-shelf 5 min grits and never looked back.  We liked
grits so much that we eventually got to doing grits every other evening.

As the hikes went on and the weather started to get cold in the fall, we
found that we just didn't get the satisfaction (or energy) from potatoes and
noodles that we were getting from rice and grits, so we dropped the potatoes
and noodles.

BTW, I tried going without the meat and noticed a difference, so I went back
to eatine meat once a day.  The "veggies" that seemed to offer the best
satisfaction (and energy) were dehydrated cooked dried beans (black, kidney,
and baby lima were primo!).  As we hiked we would sometimes fantasize about
the perfect late-hike freezing-weather supper:

Dehydrated cage-grown catfish (cooked with lemon and butter)
Dehydrated black, kidney, or baby lima beans (cooked with peppers and pork)
5-min grits
Garlic powder, salt, and salsa or Tony's
String cheese crumbled in
More garlic powder 
A final dusting of garlic powder

It would be even "perfecter" if there was any town Italian or Russian bread
left to wipe the pot with, but we would use our spoons if we were down to
crumbs.

I will probably carry some olive oil to add in during my next hike of more
than a month long.  I really start craving the fat once I burn off the spare
tire.

Dang, talking about trail food has gotten me hungry...time to look in the
freezer to see what is left!

Come to think of it, shouldn't be a problem - we did up way too much for our
PCT hike (took us a little over 4 1/2 months instead of the 6 that we
prepared for) and the food was still good when I used it on the CDT last
fall...

- Charlie II    AT ME-GA'93
               PCT Mex@Can'95
           Chipping away at the CDT