Emergency Rations

We prefer to cook ourselves fresh food onboard Naughty-Cal with fresh ingredients where ever possible. We always have a stash of fresh onions, mushrooms and vegetables aboard so generally all we need to find is fresh meat or fish. We do however have a cupboard of canned “emergency rations” for those unexpected times when finding fresh food is impossible or proving very difficult.

Mixed in with the emergency food are the staples such as tinned tomatoes, tins of beans and tins of fish which can be used to rustle up a quick meal at a moment’s notice along with dried pasta, rice and bread of different varieties. We also stash away tins of curry sauce, mixed beans, meatballs, stew, chilli and the good old favourite hot dogs. We never find we are stuck for a meal onboard Naughty-Cal even in the most desolate of locations.

Eating tinned food is not ideal, and through choice we wouldn’t resort to the rations cupboard, but there have been times when we have had little choice and some of the meals we have rustled up are actually quite tasty if not the most healthy option. One particular favourite is chilli wraps, easy to prepare and quick to cook. Take a tin of chilli, we usually have stag chilli aboard, add some fried mushrooms, onions and peppers, simmer for ten minutes then wrap the mixture inside tortilla wraps. A quick and simple meal. Other tinned affairs we don’t mind are Fray Bentos steak puddings which you steam on the hob, hot dogs of course for really lazy evenings and tinned curry is quick to prepare and served with rice, poppadoms and naan breads makes for a filling meal.

The emergency rations cupboard has not been immune from the latest wave of spring cleaning and a clear out of any food not likely to be eaten has taken place as well as the removal of a few out of date items which we didn’t fancy risking. Later this week the cupboard will be restocked ready for the 2011 cruising season. Hopefully it won’t be pilfered to many times during this year, but it is there just in case we need it.