Dessert Light

I welcomed in the New Year on a 5 day walk in New Zealand’s mountains. Coming from southern Australia, in its 8th year of drought, I spent my entire time in NZ goggle eyed at the greenness. It still rains here. The huts for walkers had tiny little water tanks installed – it must rain every week for them to be useful. Crazy.

Bushwalking has a few implications for food. 1) It is preferable if it is light; 2) You eat more; 3) If you’ve ever under-catered on a bushwalk you carry the memory a long time; 4) Everything tastes good.

It’s been a long time since we did any real walking. And now that we’re older, softer, weaker and more desirous of creature comforts, we make our lives harder by carrying more to satisfy those comforts. So there was wine (in plastic bottles – thanks Qantas) for New Years, and there was dessert.

Dessert that night consisted of freeze dried, rehydrated fruit and hot custard made from powder. Ok it doesn’t sound fancy. My sympathies go to astronauts who haven’t walked themselves to the point of enjoying anything edible before consuming such stuff. If you’re looking at freeze drying fruit I recommend berries and kiwi fruit.

~ by moredessert on February 20, 2008.