Uncle Biv’s 5 Spices for Camping Success

“It’s too bland,” you think to yourself, “I’ll never have good camping food.” Well, that’s where you’re wrong. There are a couple tips and tricks to having quality camping food, and one of them is simple. You gotta spice it up!

Camping food is often simple. That’s one of the appeals of it, and it makes our job as campfire cooks a lot easier. We can use simpler, easier recipes to get a good result when we’re away from our central kitchen where convenience and appliances are only a few feet away. This is why recipes like chili-mac, hot dogs, hamburgers, tin-foil meals, and others are so popular for campers.

And along with being easy to make and filling, a lot of the flavor of cooking these meals while camping comes from the hunger you build being out of doors, the anticipation of the food to come while you cook it (or wait for it to be cooked), the smell of the food and fresh air, and maybe a little wood smoke. All of that combines to make camping meals fun and delicious. That said, an unsalted hunk of hamburger can only get gussied up by camping so much. At some point, you’ve got to spice it. Enter Uncle Biv’s top 5 spices for any camping meal (and a secret sixth spice as well).

Salt

As grandpa used to say, “Son, your body is a salt pump.” And he was right! You need salt (electrolytes) to survive. When you’re camping, you’re typically moving around more and sweating more than you’re used to. You may also be eating less frequently. These factors in combination result in you enjoying the taste of salt, and potentially craving some salty foods. Salting your food appropriately will also help to being out the natural flavors of the dish, all the while making it tasty to us salt-depraved hikers waiting on it to finish.

black pepper

Did you know that black pepper is actually a dried berry? Now you do. Black pepper is a foundational spice and I highly recommend it for camping. The chemical make of black pepper includes components that aid digestion and enhance nutrient absorption. Like salt, this is something that not only tastes good by giving the bland food a little kick, but also is good for us (in moderation). It also has the side benefit of boosting saliva production which enhances the your ability to taste the flavor of the food. Another solid addition to the 5 key spices you should bring.

cumin

A lot of things you make on the campfire fall into the “chili-esque” or “tex-mex” basket because chili, and tex-mex, are easy, hearty, and flavorful dishes. If you’re like Mrs. Biv, you may add in some cajun dishes but the basics are the same. Season and cook the meat in a pan, then cook the veggies in the pan, then cover it all in liquid, add your fixins, season to taste, let it simmer, and eat it. I’ve just described; chili, red beans and rice, black beans and rice, chicken and rice, jambalaya, perloo, and several other “&rice” dishes. Cumin is one of the core ingredients that are going to bring out the flavor of the meat and veggies in these types of dishes, as well as dishes like tacos, quesadillas, burritos, and others that are tasty and easy to make on the campfire.

smoked paprika

If I could only pick one spice for the rest of my life, it would be smoked paprika. Paprika is one of the best flavors you can add to most campfire meals and this goes well on anything cheesy too, like mac and cheese, and it’s great on a potato. The smoked paprika brings a smoky flavor (go figure) to the dish and it complements cumin, salt, and pepper nicely. A must have in Uncle Biv’s spice kit. It’s good as a spice itself, or as part of a marinade or rub, and the red coloring of the spice can bring flavor to the eyes as well.

cayenne pepper

Used in moderation, but still one of the top 5 used spices in my kitchen, is Cayenne. As one learns living on bland and boring food out of a bag or box for weeks on end (freeze-dried rations get old, quick), spice is, well, the spice of life. Having a little hot sauce or, in my case, a shaker of cayenne pepper can bring spice and heat into any dish to help stimulate the appetite. If you’re stuffed up it can even get those juices flowing.

lemon pepper

Lastly, I have the secret 6th ingredient of my go to spice kit, lemon pepper. I couldn’t leave out lemon pepper because I love to catch and cook fresh fish when I’m camping. I use lemon pepper and flour or cornmeal as a frybase with a little salt and some paprika or cayenne chef’s kiss. I also will replace lemon pepper for regular pepper any time I do fish while camping as it reduces the requirement for me to pack and carry a lemon with me wherever I go, and then to pack out the rind again when I’m done. A must have and go to!

You don’t need 30 spices in your bag, just a little of each of these will help out tremendously when the time is right. Throw it into a plastic organizer or a zip bag and you’ll be charting a course for flavor. Hopefully this short list leaves your food perked up and your belly rumbling for me. Got a spice you swear by? proud of a recent meal? Send me a picture and a recipe of your latest creations, and send in pictures and tell me what’s in your spice kit! Uncle Biv wants to know, and it might just end up in the newsletter or on the blog.

Have a question about camping you need answered? Ask Uncle Biv.