What do hurricane season and Y2K preparedness
have in common? If you're ready for one,
you're ready for both
Hiking food
Choices abound from chili to
Stephanie Kendrick
beef teriyaki, but not all are
created equalStar-Bulletin
One way to prepare for a disaster, be it caused by computers or Mother Nature, is to stock a portable, non-perishable and easy to prepare supply of food.
Dehydrated hiking foods have gotten more sophisticated. Many of these meals, which come in lightweight, compact envelopes, can be prepared simply by adding hot water. High-tech packaging even doubles as a cooking pot.
When preparing dehydrated foods, it is important to follow the directions on the package. Failing to do so can turn a potentially palatable meal into a miserable bag of glop.
In particular: Don't skimp on water, but don't over water either; allow the food ample time to rehydrate; stir well at the outset; and if you have left the food in the bag, massage it periodically to aid blending.
An outdoors-minded Star-Bulletin team of two reporters and two photographers recently sampled dehydrated offerings from Mountain House, Alpine Aire, Natural High and Backpacker's Pantry.
The hands-down winner for flavor and useful packaging was Mountain House. We sampled two meals just to make sure the company hadn't gotten lucky with the first one. It hadn't.
The Mountain House bag has a flat base, which makes it easy to stir water into the entire meal. The bag is effectively sealed with a cardboard ring. Our first taste of Mountain House was its Mexican Rice and Chicken. It was pleasantly spicy. Overall flavor and texture were good, with black olives being a particularly nice touch. To confirm our findings, we sampled the Mountain House Beef Teriyaki. It was a winner with all tasters, some of whom even preferred it to the Mexican Rice.
"Almost makes you look forward to hurricane season," said chief photographer Dean Sensui. The teriyaki was also spicy, but had sweetness for balance. Photographer Ken Ige, an avid backpacker and dehydrated food connoisseur, said "The beef was the closest to 'real' that I've tasted."
The group also tasted two items from Alpine Aire. Its Sierra Chicken with Pasta got middling reviews, being too sweet to suit our tastes. But it might be a good choice for palates averse to spice. The texture of the pasta held up well, but the chicken and sauce seemed to blend into a sort of paste. Our second look at this company, the Alpine Aire Sweet Rice Pudding, was a hit.
"Not too sweet, good texture, hearty," said reporter Cynthia Oi. We decided it would be a good choice for either breakfast or dessert. Alpine Aire's zip-lock bags were a plus for steeping effectiveness, but deep, sharp corners made it tough to get everything mixed together.
The Natural High Three Bean Chili didn't win any fans. The flavor was generally judged to have a chemical or plastic tinge. The texture was thin and unappealing. Packaging was good here though, with a short, well-structured bag that allowed for easy mixing.
Backpacker's Pantry's Cajun Rice with Chicken was judged too salty to be appetizing. The chicken pieces had decent texture, but the rest was a mixed bag with mushy rice and crunchy vegetables. A packaging plus was a nicely squared-off bottom, allowing the bag to stand on its own and the contents to be blended well.
All four of the brands tasted are available at local camping and health food stores. They are also available online at http://www.rei.com and http://www.ldpcampingfoods.com.
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