The Most Basic Essential Foods

[phatch]

I obviously don't have your collective experience but I would have thought that beer, wine and whisky were basic foodstuffs.

[NotJustDreaming]

Just comments/additions to what was mentioned above. I'm not cruising though. These are just things from keeping a basic kitchen at home. And they're all things I do not refrigerate,

Pasta.... I have some Italian friends who would cringe at the idea of eating rinsed pasta. The only thing that rinsing does is keep the pasta from sticking. Just add your other ingredients or sauce as soon as you drain it, and it takes care of the starch making a sticky glob. I saute/stir fry in season vegetables (always with garlic) in a bit of oil and toss it with pasta. Top it with some of the grated hard parmesan. Yummy. (My parents kept a container of grated parmesan in the cupboard so when I left home I did too. Somewhere along the way I started using a fresh brick and like the taste better, can use larger shavings or finely grate and it lasts as long as I can make it last. though I refrigerate the brick.)

Dried fruits like raisins, apricots, apples etc.... we sometimes add diced dried fruit to salad fixings to contrast sweet with a sour vinegar dressing... and we often do not use a green leafy base (when they look like crap in the grocery store). Rather we make a base of whatever vegetable looks good, cucumber, peppers, tomatoes. So the dried fruit is a great staple to have on hand. (Mmm, cabbage with some dried apples and raisins with a bit of vinegrette and maybe some shredded carrot sounds great to me),

Oh yes, chickpeas... can't remember if it was mentioned above. Either dried (but you have to soak them overnight) or canned (much easier but I guess does not meet your added weight criteria). Very nutritious and makes more than just hummus. With the Indian spices you had listed... any meat or fish, with chickpeas and some onion and other veggies, simmer with coconut or whatever stock you have...delicious... Without the meat it makes a very filling side dish.

And I have not yet met a local vegetable that I have not loved grilled on the BBQ (tossed with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil (since you have it in your staples). And these grilled veggies are super yummy on the salad greens that do look good in the grocery store. Mix up some peanut butter with some garlic, lemon juice, salt, bit of sugar and sesame oil (that is on my staple list) for a dressing. Mmmm.

[tallyhorob]

ok all you guys have made me want to eat.

[D_e_n_n_i_s]

Originally Posted by gosstyla

This doesn't add much to what has already been said, but the attached Lists includes a list of my basic food stores for 5 weeks for 4 crew and 27 recipes.

I spent some time collecting the recipes and modifying them for 4. My criteria in selecting them were a) things I like b) easy to prepare c) use a basic set of ingredients. The List of foods stores was then created using these recipes. I provision based on this list then supplement with whatever interesting that becomes available.

This is just an example of a possible approach you could use to establish your own basic store of provisions - not that your final lists would look anything like this.

Two items I don't believe have yet been mentioned are dried sausages such as Chorizo and Wraps for bread - it is amazing the what can be done with Wraps and they can store for months.

Awesome list - Thanks for sharing !!! I haven't built up the number of lists that you have yet, but I do add location and even diagrams (doesn't take Visio, just use Excel, Word or open source alternatives and some creativity) that show where these items are located. I hate not being able to locate something I know I have onboard

[sww914]

Canned corned beef. I made corned beef hash for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I thought, what can I do to make it more interesting? I've already confessed my obsession with Mexican food on this thread and it carried over here. I had 5 Anaheim chilies rotting in the fridge, lost under some cabbage. I roasted them over the open flame on the stove (canned green chilies will work just as well) and scraped the black off, diced them and set them aside. I diced some potatoes and fried them for awhile, added diced onions and the chilies, sauteed the whole thing a few minutes and added the canned corned beef.
I can't tell you how great it was, words are insufficient. It immediately made our "great things to cook while sailing" list.
I know we're not going to find any fresh(ish) Anaheim chilies in some parts of the world, but I'll be packing some canned chilies next to the canned corned beef just for this so I can have it again anytime we have some useable potatoes and onions.
I added some pickled jalapenos to mine for some spice but left them out of the bulk of it so I wouldn't roast my kid's lips off. Anaheim chilies aren't spicy at all, just tasty.

[tager]

Rice:
Short Grain
Brown
Jasmine
Wild

Beans:
Red Beans
Pinto Beans
Black Beans
Garbanzo
Navy
Lima

Grains:
Whole Wheat Flour
Bread flour
unbleached enriched All purpose flour
Millet
Barley

Nuts:
Sunflower Seeds
Peanuts
Cashews
Brazil nuts
Pecans
Hazelnuts
Poppy seeds
Almonds

Drinks:
Green Tea
White Tea
Black Tea
Mint Tea
Gatorade Mix
Coffee
Orange Tea

Meat:
Jerky
Pickled Meats
Canned Salmon
Salmon Jerky

Fruits and Veggies:
Onions
Turnips
Potatoes
Yams
Sweet Potatoes
Peppers
Oranges
Grapefruits

Eggs

and a lot of other stuff.

Refrigeration is not necessary at all.
Avoid processed foods.

[Lancerbye]

All these sailors and all this food and no mention of Bergue (I think that is how it is spelt) Read Triston Jones. LOL As he said he would never leave shore without a barrel of Bergue lashed to the mast. Could be eaten heated up, cold even just dipping your hand in the barrel for an easy snack while battling heavy weather single handing. This mixture didn't really appeal to me but different strokes.... Does anyone remember the exact mixture.

[sww914]

IIRC it was layers of salted fish, porridge, and salted pork. None for me, thanks, I don't take advice from the English on food.

[Mariness]

Pasta is a mainstay of our diet & does NOT need to be rinsed. This is actually the first place I've even heard it suggested.
I haven't seen anyone mention - Honey. You'll want sweet eventually, million uses, it also has medicinal uses, and it keeps forever as long as you don't let it ooze all over the outside of the container (then it attracts bugs). Good stuff to have around. (Honey + Peanut Butter + Good Bread = Wow!)

[mintyspilot]

Originally Posted by sww914

I don't take advice from the English on food.

This comment from a man who found rotten chilis in his fridge and then roasted and ate them?

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by Mariness

Pasta is a mainstay of our diet & does NOT need to be rinsed. This is actually the first place I've even heard it suggested.
I haven't seen anyone mention - Honey. You'll want sweet eventually, million uses, it also has medicinal uses, and it keeps forever as long as you don't let it ooze all over the outside of the container (then it attracts bugs). Good stuff to have around. (Honey + Peanut Butter + Good Bread = Wow!)

Rinse it. It tastes better and it's certainly less sticky. My Sicilian grandmother always rinsed it, and so do I.

[sww914]

Originally Posted by mintyspilot

This comment from a man who found rotten chilis in his fridge and then roasted and ate them?

Yes, guilty as charged.

[fishwife]

Originally Posted by sww914

Yes, guilty as charged.

American food. What would the world do if 'Cool Whip' didn't exsist,

P.

[Boracay]

Not to misquote Russel Crowe but is it not desirable to include some discussion of weevil proof storage if we are going to take large amounts of pasta, grains, nuts etc.?

[Mariness]

You can throw a couple bay leaves in the container to scare off the weevils, I'm told. Just scoop around them when you need some.