This week’s post is a little different. Usually I write about outdoor photography. Today I am talking about fuelling an outdoor photography expedition. Edin’s seabird research has involved time on islands with few modern conveniences and we have been limited to what we can carry in a single trip. Of necessity a research field kit in 2 large plastic boxes, clothing and sleeping gear, food and in my case camera gear including a light tripod and Lume Cubes for lighting. Coffee and chocolate are essentials but we also need a meal or two. To minimise weight I decided to take along one of the Back Country Cuisine Smoked Fish Pie packs. Back Country Cuisine is a New Zealand company based in Invercargill and supplies a large range of freeze dried meals which are light, easy to carry and quick to reconstitute. Some are single serves and some cater for two. The Smoked Fish Pie was advertised as a meal for two.
To reconstitute the Back Country Cuisine Smoked Fish Pie it was a simple matter of adding the required 400ml of boiling water to the pack and resealing it. After the necessary few minutes of soak time it was ready to serve and the amount of food seemed reasonable for two. Appearance wasn’t too appetising as would be expected for a fish pie out of a packet. The amount of food would not be adequate for two big appetites unless and entree and desert was planned. We added some “Master Chef magic” by slicing on a hard boiled egg each and this added flavour and bulked up the meal. Pre-boiled eggs are a great, compact and convenient food in their own right and work for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack.
In terms of flavour it was definitely a smoked fish pie with a decent amount of smoked fish, a strong oniony background with some cheese, peas and potato. The sliced egg worked well with it, adding a flavour element and bulking up the meal in anticipation of a long night of work ahead. It is worth taking some additional pepper if you’re a pepper freak like me.
The Back Country Cuisine Smoked Fish Pie was a successful meal. Light to carry, quick to prepare with limited resources and acceptable in flavour. Adding the boiled egg definitely lifted the meal.
