Survival Food

There are certain foods that are great for hikers, campers, survivalists and trekkers. They keep for a long time, are nutritious and filling.

Jerky is any meat that has had the fat trimmed and been dried as a preservation method, traditionally it is usually salted, A good jerky is made from whole meat, thinly sliced, dried and salted.

In modern times, a lot of jerky is marinaded with various herbs and seasoning before the drying process. Many companies now sell ground ( minced ) meat that is then formed and dried as beef jerky, what I refer to as ''knock off'' jerky.

Jerky has been used as space food by astronauts since 1996, as it is easily stored, light weight, highly nutritious and very tasty.

The word jerky originated from the Spanish word Charqui, which itself originated from the Quechua word ch'arki meaning to burn meat.

Ingredients

Lean Meat

Salt

Very Similar to jerky, the main differences being that biltong is thicker and has a more variety of flavors as biltong makers use different ingredients, adding different spices and herbs to make their biltong stand out, originally from South Africa, biltong has gained popularity world wide, most notably in USA, Canada, Australia, UK, New Zealand and India.

Traditional Biltong ingredients.

Any red meat (preferably game meat)

Cider Vinegar or balsamic vinegar

Brown sugar or better yet, sugarcane sugar

Coriander (Preferably roasted)

Finely ground black pepper

Salt

I usually add a little cayenne pepper , but this is optional.

Buying Bilton in South Africa

Buying Biltong from a store in South Africa is a tricky business, very often the meat is mislabeled, unless you know the person who made the Biltong personally, chances are very high that you will not be getting the type of meat you think you are paying for.

In 2013, 146 samples of biltong were taken from South African local outlets selling biltong labeled as kudu, ostrich and springbok, out of those 146 samples, it was found that 100 of the samples were actually actually a mix of meats ranging from horse meat to hartebeest, this report highlighted the problems that South Africa has with its meat labeling.

A native North American dish, this very nutritious mix of fat and protein is another classic survival food. Pemmican will keep for decades under the right conditions.

Pemmican is basically a mix of dried strips of lean meat, that is then pounded into a coarse powder, mixed with equal amounts of melted fat and packed. Ready for consumption.

Sometimes dried fruits were added to enhance the flavor.

Pemmican has an important place in history being the food of famous explorers, scouts, adventurers and traders. It has used as an essential food on expeditions by.

In 1814 Miles Macdonnel Governor of the Red River Colony, passed a bill the ( Pemmican Proclamation ) which prohibited the export of pemmican from the Red River Colonies. A war nearly ensued, the Metis whom relied heavily on the Pemmican trade were in an uproar. The bill was extremely short lived.

Pemmican was issued to British soldiers as an emergency ration. Not to be consumed without the express order of the commanding officer. This iron ration was to be the last ration used.

It was a measly 4 ounces of pemmican and 4 ounces of chocolate and sugar, the theory was that a full grown man could march for 36 hours on these iron rations before collapsing from hunger.

Ingredients

Powdered dried meat

Melted Fat

This long voyage food, bears mentioning, the only problem is I do not really like the taste and as a meal it leaves one unsatisfied. In one form or another hardtack has been around for centuries.

Survivalists stock up on hardtack. Sailors and soldiers used to consume hardtack as a stable food source.

Advantages of hardtack as a food source is that it is a very durable, long lasting and high in food energy.

Disadvantages is that is pretty close to tasteless, and hard as a rock to chew on unless soaked in some form of liquid.

Ingredients

flour

water

salt

For short hikes, weekend camping trips, one does not need to purchase such long lasting meals, a simple trail mix will supplement your other camping fare. Trail mix is just handfuls of nuts, dried fruits, chocolates and grains mixed up as a easy to eat snack for hikers. Trail mix is also sometimes called Gorp, Scroggin or Schmogle. There is no specific recipe for trail mix. It seems everyone has their own idea of what should be mixed in :)

My Trail mix blend

Ingredients

Nuts

M&M's

Dried Fruit

Raisins