Good Morning / Evening / Afternoon, wherever you are in the world I hope it's good.
In
Book 1 of "Welcome to the Apocalypse - Pandora", there are two game
presenters who instruct the players on items to hunt and gather in order to
survive each apocalypse. Most of the items are self-explanatory, dried foods,
tinned foods, packaged foods, but what sort of meals would you likely be eating
during any sort of apocalypse? I thought I'd put together a simple meal planner
for the typical apocalyptic week. Most of these techniques were passed down from my mother and passed down to her from her mother. And it might be because I go camping, that I still rely on many of these techniques, because I just can't take everything in the kitchen with me.
It also makes me wonder that if humans lose the practice of handing down practical tips, and the skills of bare essential cooking who will be the survivors of the apocalypse?
Bread:
 |
| A flat pan can be used to cook bread, but it works best in a camp oven or use a lid to get it to rise. |
One
of my favorite food types. Bread can eaten plain, toasted, loaded with butter
or jam, dipped in soups. Our bakers will have a hard time keeping up with the
demand, but anyone can make an incredibly easy bread with flour and water and place
it in a iron pot over a campfire. I grew up making a simple sour-bread, and
it's absolutely delicious. Often I vary up the recipe with tinned tomatoes and
herbs, or I use pineapple juice, you could add raisins and nuts.
Main meals:
 |
Pasta and rice will cook in the same pan so you don't need to carry more than one pan/pot.
|
Pasta
and rice are going to be staple ingredients during the tough times. But they're
also rather boring. But these two staple ingredients can become culinary
delights and they're both suited to salty, sweet, savoury, and milky flavours.
They're also suited to meats, nuts and vegetables. And they're filling.
Soups:
 |
| Soups, stews, casseroles have been a staple diet for centuries. |
Anything
put in water and cooked is a soup. Soups have been around for centuries as
meals to go the distance, especially in times of depleted resources. And if you
dip the homemade bread into a soup, it'll fill everyone up and taste great.
Coffee and tea:
 |
| Tea is my least- favourite hot beverage, but I'd drink it for the soothing effect |
Instant
coffee and tea will last as long as their shelf-life dictates, but production
of these two beverages will cease. Most apocalyptic scenarios will have limited
energy and resources. But there are alternatives. Ask any bush survivalist and
they'll tell you that plants boiled in water can provide nutrients and a
calming effect that comes from sipping on a hot beverage. Dandelions may be
weeds, but in the apocalypse they will become your new coffee or tea.
Desserts:
 |
| Flour and water scones cooked in fruit |
For
those of you who love ice cream, the apocalypse will be your worst nightmares.
With no electricity, there will be no freezers. As with the simple bread recipe,
you can add tinned fruit and chocolate to the bread mix and bake it in the
oven. Most fruits are suitable for cooking - bananas, apples, peaches,
apricots. If anyone is lucky enough to make a simple cake, boiled lime juice
and sugar poured over the top while it's still warm will provide a delicious
dessert.
While it's true that these techniques cater for the camping crowd, but during the apocalypse people will mostly cook over open fires. Man's greatest discovery was fire. It will be the thing that keeps us warm and fed.
I hope you've enjoyed reading about cooking during the apocalypse. So far, in Books 1 and 2, the characters haven't had to rely on these techniques because they have enough stored food, but they will run out of food.
Did
you know...
I learned many of these techniques from my mother. I grew up in a
poor household (no this isn't a woe is me story), with four siblings. There was
one income and my mother managed to cook a feast every Sunday out of one
chicken, potatoes and pumpkin, and we always had a homemade apple pie. She
learned a lot of her simple cooking skills from growing up on a farm in Wales.
The point is that during hard times, those who can make simple meals and make
them last will find it easier to adapt. Apart from dandelion coffee, I refuse to substitute real coffee for anything, and when the planets runs out of coffee, I will know we are in the middle of the apocalypse.
I've
had fun sharing these cooking tips with you. If I see you in the apocalypse, be
sure to drop by my kitchen.
