Foodies, Unite!

[MrMullen]

You hit the Playa with your gear and campmates. For one week, you accept that you are going to live it rough. You'll put up with the wind, loud and constant noise, dust, heat and people cutting through your camp, but you are at Burningman, so you do not care.
However, there is one thing you refuse to capitulate on; good food. Yep, you are a Foodie and for never one second on the Playa, you are embarrassed to be so.
You will not tolerate cheap or bad food. You refuse to eat top Ramen or anything else that is dehydrated. You know you will have to prepare more for the Playa, you know it will cost more and you know you have to haul more gear to prepare your feasts, but you do not care. To you, food is life.
Now, your not hauling live lobster out to the Playa or have choice cuts of veal, but your carefully packed coolers are stocked with all the foods you love. They will not just sustain you, but give pleasure in itself. You will amaze and annoy some of your campmates with your foodieness and others will be glad you camped with them.

The question is, as a foodie, what do you bring to the Playa? What are you eating for Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and for snacks? What extra gear do you haul out so you can make your food more enjoyable? Have you ever hauled anything out the Playa that just amazed people that you brought it, just so you can make your food more enjoyable.

This Burningman Virgin and MAJOR foodie wants to know.

[Alpha]

For the love of god will you all please just stick to the TWO food threads that already exist??

[Icepack]

Hmm. I'm not sure if he is on Eplaya, but I met a man named Chef last year who seemed to have a pretty good set-up. It was my first Burn though, so I'm not much of an expert. To me a good setup would be a couple of good Extreme coolers that will keep stuff cold all week actually more like 5 good coolers, a 2 burner stove, and some good way to wash dishes. Ample water for boiling things and for washing out the saucepan and the frying pan afterwards would also be a nice luxury too. I like foods like oatmeal that tend to use a lot of water and be a pain to clean up afterwards. I saw people with steaks and stuff too. Those with RVs can really do it up as can those with diesel generators and full size refrigerators and freezers. It just depends on the level that you want to be at.
Yes, there are other threads, as someone pointed out. But they do tend to be aimed at the "bare minimum, pack light" ideas rather than the "what tastes yummy and is luxurious" ideas... at least from what I caught from them.
We brought MREs last year. Pack light, and very efficient, but I don't eat them at home.

[Das Bus]

I love to cook on the playa, and we eat better there than at home ('cause I'm too lazy to cook at home)

Staples for our camp are: Steaks, ground sirloin burgers, Kosher hotdogs w/all the trimmings, chicken breasts, polish sausage, bratwurst. I buy the best of everything I can. There's something so decadent about eating good food on the playa.

Last year I came up with an easier way to wash dishes. I used 'wet ones' and/or paper towels to wipe all the gunk off my non-stick pans. Then used a misting bottle with soapy water when necessary, and rinsed with a misting bottle. I had much less moopy water.

For my grill, I've been using a coleman grill w/side burner. It's small, but does the job. However, this year I'm hoping to buy some ridiculously large grill to haul out there so I can cook lots more food. (I really want to do babyback ribs this year)

As for coolers, the xtreme coolers are the way to go!

[Das Bus]

Oh yeah, and for breakfast my favorite is omelets, bacon and fried potatoes. <damn! now I'm hungry!)

[dingo]

Ditto on the meat supplies in the previous post. I also bring a balanced menu for vegans/vegetarians. Dinner is usually the largest meal, followed breakfast and lunch. For lunch we usually do meals like sandwiches or a light pasta. Maybe some fruit sides. Breakfast is usually the same: Scrambles, omlettes, bacon, ham or sausage, potatoes, oatmeal, cereal. For cereal we use soymilk or another non refrigerated brand like parmalat (are they still around). Though you typically have to finish it once opened.
Dinner is fun thing. Easy stuff like pastas, steaks, sausages, burgers, boca's, vegelinks, seitan, chicken, corn on the cob, stir fry, and yes a fresh crunchy salad is sooo good. Those are just some basic ideas. I did the power bar and noodles thing my first year. Three days into it our neighbors gave us a hot dinner of spaghetti and meatballs. Don't believe the hype about not being hungry for good food.

I like the idea of using the mist bottle for dishes. Definitely had some moop issues. Thanks for the cool tip. Keeping food scraps out of your grey water really helps too.

We use a propane grill w/side burner and a coleman dual burner stove. Definitely position your cooking stoves shielded from the wind, just for efficiency.

We don't have RV's, but we use a system of coolers. I think we brought 15 or so last year. A couple of gigantor ones in the mix. ......yeah we had a lot of food. Anyway, there are other posts on cooler systems and ways to integrate wet and dry ice. Also use mylar (emergency blanket) insulation inside your dry ice coolers, really helps. Not to mention in the shade and off the ground.

I think part of being a foodie is also about good drink too. My camp runs a full bar, but sometimes having things other than nalgene water can be good too. Cold soda and beer are very nice. I can't tell you how many people enjoyed our cold beers during the hot day. Some people really enjoyed powdered juices too like Tang. Trippy stuff.

You can also precook some stuff and then freeze it (i.e. spaghetti and meatballs). I like to make roasted peppers or marinated sun dried tomotoes to accompany almost anything. Roasting garlic beforehand is a nice thing too.

I'm thinking about bringing a smoker this year. I live in SF, but I'm originally from the south. I want to show my fellow west coasters what real bbq is about.

All this is making me hungry, I'm off to the kitchen.

[diane o'thirst]

I could regale you for hours upon hours of my culinary adventures on the Playa. There's one thing I never slacked off on: food.

My first year I brought a whole suckling pig in a dedicated cooler and prepared it on Burn Sunday (this was back in '98). From there, it's been downhill steadily. The past two years I've brought a woodfired bread oven art trailer in the shape of a hippocampus; his name is PALIO. And I did bread on the Playa.

Last year I made hazelnut-orange stickybuns for Burn Saturday breakfast to astounding, even lavish applause from my fellow campmates. I considered that my crowning achievement because they overrode my campmates' normally-fussy eating habits (detailed elsewhere — let's just say that every dietary stricture, ethical, medical or otherwise, was represented — and don't EVER try to make pizza crust with no-gluten flours).

I've brought saffron, Scharffen Berger bittersweet, lavender, Calphalon pots and pans, bread peels, proofing chambres, bench knifes, cleavers, lotus wine, and would bring more if all of my campmates were omnivorous. I even had a special, custom chef's coat made saying "Chef Wolfie • Kitchen Island • Opera Arkipelago."

Fortunately this year, we aren't having a community kitchen or meal plan, it's every stomach for itself and meals will be potluck-style in a central dining area. So I'm bringing a strawberry sock, a potted fresh herb garden, duck, ostrich, lamb, a chimenea stove, mozarella di bufala, oranges, champagne grapes, chantrelles and enoki mushrooms, salmon, walnuts, couscous, ginger root, shallots, potato-leek soup, yoghurt and more. I might even make a camp kitchen sign that says: "OMNIVORE PRIDE!"

Of course this year, I'm going to try to do as much meal planning and pre-prep as possible so I'm not chained to camp playing yeastherder. That killed me last year.

[MrMullen]

So let me ask my fellow Foodies, can I bring a Propane Grill to the Playa and not have to worry about it being stolen? I have a medium sized one that I want to bring and use, but have consern that it will be stolen or abused.

Am I just being a paranoid Foodie?

[robotland]

I think you're more likely to WORRY about it being stolen than it is actually likely that it WILL get stolen. Most theft around BRC seems to be crimes of opportunity, and a bike or small, portable valuables are lots easier to make off with. To salve your worry, I suggest that you stash it in the vehicle when you'll be away for long or bring a cable to anchor it to something less stealable; The ABUSE issue could be addressed by removing some crucial component while away. If it's a big enough grill to be a pain to move into the car constantly, perhaps just setting it up where it's the least visible or in the middle of camp where traffic is more controlled is your best bet.
There's a widget known to industrial workers as a LOCKOUT, which is basically a doorknob cover made of two hinged steel pieces that can be padlocked together, thus rendering the knob unturnable. A quick stop at an industrial safety company or contractor's counter at the local Big Box might scare one up that would fit onto the gas valve, or you could tinker one up yourself if you're handy that way.....

[unjonharley]

Abuse a grill??? Hmmmmmm.

[diane o'thirst]

The problem with having stoves (and other things in the kitchen) stolen is easily addressed:

You shouldn't have your kitchen easily found from the street. It serves the camp, not the public. We always hid our kitchen structure well out of sight of the road, both by placing it towards the back of camp and by concealing it with lots of tarps, hangings and not having anything food-related showing. It was just another structure, no signage. During the week, we had *one* person come in to mooch and he seemed determined to just generally sponge whatever and wherever he could. (There's one in every crowd )

That illustrates another point. You're more likely to get sponged off than ripped off. These passive-aggressive types use the harsh environment to shame you into giving them everything they want. Avoid both: hide your kitchen!

[precipitate]

> So let me ask my fellow Foodies, can I bring a Propane Grill to the
> Playa and not have to worry about it being stolen?

In my experience, yes.

The only things I've had stolen were my bike (by a drug-addled fucktard
at the potties, easily recovered) and booze (out of my car before the
event began).

Most of your stuff is fine.

Then again, don't bring anything to the playa you can't afford to lose.

[MrMullen]

The problem with having stoves (and other things in the kitchen) stolen is easily addressed:

You shouldn't have your kitchen easily found from the street. It serves the camp, not the public. We always hid our kitchen structure well out of sight of the road, both by placing it towards the back of camp and by concealing it with lots of tarps, hangings and not having anything food-related showing. It was just another structure, no signage. During the week, we had *one* person come in to mooch and he seemed determined to just generally sponge whatever and wherever he could. (There's one in every crowd )

That illustrates another point. You're more likely to get sponged off than ripped off. These passive-aggressive types use the harsh environment to shame you into giving them everything they want. Avoid both: hide your kitchen!

Very Good advice.
It's funny. I don't care for people who won't carry their own load in life. Spongers and people who just mooch in general are on my purge list when the revolution comes. However, I have come to terms with the moochers and Burningman. Someone in the local Burningman group told me there is nothing you can do about it and expect to give out 10-15% of your food to moochers (I think that is a bit high). Just try not to kill them while they mooch off of you.
However, I won't tolerate thieves (How this is different than moochers, I don't know). I just get a bit worried that I will come back to my camp and find my important stuff missing.

I think I am going to take a grill and just use that and a little cooker and see how that goes. I just have to eat well while at Burningman. So that means steaks, fresh veggies, eggs, bacon, and other things I can whip up.

[midgetsonparade]

My signature Burning Man/Camping breakfast food is egg and potatoe breakfast burritos. Just buy the pre-packaged Potatoes O' Brian in a bag, cook those, throw whatever else you want in there, add eggs, then give everyone Tapitio, cheese and tortillas. Viola! Instant breakfast for a large group. Man do I love tapitio. I might even marry it.

[Alpha]

My signature Burning Man/Camping breakfast food is egg and potatoe breakfast burritos. Just buy the pre-packaged Potatoes O' Brian in a bag, cook those, throw whatever else you want in there, add eggs, then give everyone Tapitio, :wink: cheese and tortillas. Viola! Instant breakfast for a large group. Man do I love tapitio. I might even marry it.

Last year someone gifted us with breakfast burritos on Sunday morning while we were breaking camp. That guy rocked.

[meee_bot]

My most favorite thing to pre-make for the playa is Gazpacho.
Make lots, put it in several big tupperware containers, and freeze it solid. Use it for ice in the cooler!! Then as it melts to liquid, eat it for lunch with lots of croutons.
Holy heaven, it tastes so good...

[samdu]

you bring the gazpacho, i'll bring a big bag of my homemade garlic-basil croutons! the BEST with gazpacho!!

[Juju]

Ditto on what everyone's said so far, especially on the gazpacho. Bring fresh cucumbers to slice up and serve with the gazpacho for a crunchy, filling treat.

My fave playa treat is fresh fruit. We had a campmate come late in the week (wednesday night) and he brought fresh mangoes and a pineapple... nothin beats juicy fruit in the heat of afternoon, especially when we ate it with our fresh grilled salmon (camping with a fisherman rocked!).

It means extra preparation and a bit more work, but if food is your joy and passion, don't cheat yourself and your campmates by skimping. You won't be sorry.

I'm following chef wolfie's lead and bringing my rosemary bush this year, maybe a few other herbs if the basil's ready by then.

[diane o'thirst]

Okay, folksh, recipe time.

I made this today. May or may not be Playa translatable, you decide, but it's here for your edification

BROA (Portuguese Corn Bread)
Rising: 1.5 hours
Proofing: 1 hour
Oven Temp: 400ºF
Baking: 45 minutes, steam optional
Yield: 1 large or two personal-sized loaves

Ingredients:
2 t. dry yeast
.5 cup lukewarm milk
1/4 cup + 2T yellow cornmeal
2 cups unbleached flour, sifted
1.5 t salt
1 T olive oil

(my additions)
1T bulgur wheat, soaked in water overnight
1T fresh thyme

Method:
Sprinkle the yeast into the milk in a bowl. Leave for 5 minutes; stir with a wooden spoon. Add the water and oil to the milk. Mix the cornmeal, flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and pour in the dissolved yeast and olive oil.

Mix in the flour to form a firm and moist, but not sticky dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Adjust with more flour or water.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly-floured work surface. Knead the dough until smoothe and elastic, about 10 minutes. (just think of it as massaging )

Put the dough in a clean, pan-sprayed ceramic bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1.5 hours. Punch down, let rest for 10 minutes.

While the dough rises, take the reserved herbs and soak them in olive oil. Set aside in a warmish place.

Shape into a round loaf or divide into two round loaves and share one with friends, neighbours, et alia. Place on the back of a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and sprinkled with cornmeal; PAM spray, cover with a dish towel. Proof until doubled in size, about an hour.

Dust the loaf with cornmeal or brush with the herb-infused oil and bake on field tiles in your oven, until golden brown and makes a hollow sound when tapped on the bottom (it sounds like a drum). Cool on wire rack 30 minutes.

[diane o'thirst]

Errata to the Broa recipe...

I used 1% milk, Celtic grey salt and Bob's Red Mill flour and cornmeal.

You add the extras (called "garnishes") to the dough about midway through the kneading stage. Flatten the dough out, heap them in the middle, fold the dough over the heap and continue to knead. The garnishes will distribute throughout the dough as you knead.

You can add whatever you like for garnishes, I just happened to have some fresh thyme from the garden and some bulgur sitting soaking in the fridge. Flaxseed, sesame seed, rosemary, grated cheese, dried fruit, whatever you like but understand that this is a tender, light-flavoured bread: don't go crazy and bury it. The emphasis is on texture more than taste. Important for bulgur: it must be soaked overnight, or you'll be visiting the dentist.

I didn't use steam and it came out wonderfully crackly-crunchy.

I also reserve some of the herb oil and brush it on immediately after it comes out of the oven, followed by a scattering of fleur de sel. But I'm a gourmet hedonist. YMMV. Still, I can't stay the hell away from that bread, I've eaten half of it in the past hour.

[_tears_]

The Lamp Lighters have a rather planed out extensive wonderful menu last year some highlighs were ; Curry Chicken, Steaks and portabellas , all sorts of pastsa, we did a mexican themed night with all sorts of interesting things. Fresh fruites, deserts ect.

[BAS]

Thanks a lot folks, now I am hungry! And I just ate....

I don't think my friends and I have even thought about cooking arraignments yet..., one of the reasons we are shooting for 2005 instead of 2004....

[Mama 2 Be]

Is there a foodie camp? How fun would it be to do a foodie potluck?

My favorite (and easiest) Playa recipe is to get a pork tenderloin (the ones from Costco work great) and sprinkle generously with fennel pollen. Grill. That's it. It SINGS when warm, and is great cold the next day for sandwiches or quesadillas or just picking at.

Something I'd never eat at home, but works great on the Playa is that pre-cooked, vacuum sealed bacon. On salads, sandwiches, or for breakfast, it's Playa-proof.

I make shrimp toast and freeze them, then bake for 10 minutes for an awesome snack.

www.cajachina.com has a roasting pit that might be Playa-worthy. If you see a tall, pregnant chick roasting a pig, stop by for a bite!

Mamacita

[diane o'thirst]

I brought a whole suckling pig (dead) in '98. The idea was to dig a pit oven but that was a definite no-go then. Now, you'll find a lot of people screaming, "NO WAY ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR F***KING MIND!?!??!?!"

:/

Sorry to pour water on your fantasy...it's a cool idea, just unworkable. One thing you can do to replicate it roughly on a smaller scale is to salt-bake the pork tenderloin you mentioned. The only downside to that is you'd need to bring a glass or clay dish to do it in and those can break. Metal pans don't work because they'll react with the salt, unless you want to get a metal pan to sacrifice to the "salt-baked roast" god. There's also a matter of bringing some heating vessel big enough to do a roast in: you'd need a chimenea or bar-be-kettle and those can be a pain in the neck logistically (I know because I'm bringing the former this year and I'm trying to figure out how to pack it without breaking it).

Also, even if they'd said "No, you can't dig a roasting pit in the Playa," I'd have probably abandoned the idea anyway. I got out there and the reality of 100+ temps, the manual digging of a 3x3x6' hole in the hammering sun and wind, dust flying, et alia, knocked a serious reality check into my fantasy. We wound up roasting the pig in an above-ground barbecue pit someone with a big truck brought.

[Mama 2 Be]

I hear ya...the caja china I spoke of is a portable, above ground contraption that assembles easily and replicates a pit without having to do any digging. Also, since it's elevated, it leaves no scarring on the Playa.
check it out...

www.cajachina.com

[Desi Arnaz]

We certainly eat well out there. My belief is that we have to compensate for the harsh environment with some seriously good eats. Past things that we've made...filet mignon and lobster, grilled salmon, chicken marsala, thai tofu curry, turkey burgers, bbq'd tri-tips, Mexican breakfasts, green salads, roasted veggies...

We also do our naked chefs bit 3 or 4 times each year, where we "dress up" (read "undress") and pass trays of hors douvres through the neighboring camps. For that we've served grilled chicken sausages, tofu sate, various canapies, hummus, and tapenades.

[missmann]

mmmm...
I have a few ideas for things I want to make.
Luckily, I'm going to have access to an oven, so I am going to try and do some yeast breads and quick breads... probably some scones too.
I love making curries and other Indian foods; its a fun cuisine to play around with, and whats neat about it, is other than making things taste good, the spices used serve ayervedic purposes.
Finally, I'd like to do a variety of farinaceous- risotto milanese, handmade ravioli... we'll see though.
The foodie potluck idea is awesome though... *HINT*

[calsur]

Now I will probably be crucified here by all the fresh food folks but I will offer a comment. Have a canned meal or three in reserve. Just for those times you drag your butt back to camp and you are tired or in a hurry. Some people I have camped with like canned sardines or smoked oysters. Dingy Moore Beef Stew has save me on a bunch of camping trips. A can of that and some crackers are good eats.

Plus having the canned stuff is a good backup in case of a cooler disaster. And if you do not use it then stick it in your emergency supplies when you get home.

Just my thoughts.

[diane o'thirst]

Hey, believe it or not one of the best Playa meals I've had was a can of Campbell's Chunky Beef and Veggies with corn tortilla chips. I'm bringing about five cans of soup as part of my food supplies.

[diane o'thirst]

You know, when you're not doing a major project, the project becomes...yes, your food

That's been on my mind the past few days. We're talking big trouble here, folks: I got a smoker off Freecycle. It hasn't stopped in the past week. Mostly I've been smoking salmon, ribs and chicken. Currently waiting for the latest batch of honey-smoke ribs to finish up; they've been going since four this afternoon. I might experiment with some hard cheese like romano later on. Tried to smoke Monterey jack but it melted all over the place

I'm going to make smoked salmon chowder and freeze it tomorrow. They also had smoked chicken/turkey pesto sausage for $4 a pound at the market, I'll probably pick some of that up in the next few days. One of these weekends I'll get out to one of the farms around here and pick up some honey. Yeah, hhhhhhhhonnnnnnneyyyyyyyyyy —! :9