Erbswurst
One of the best concentrated foods for campers and one admirably suited for use as an emergency ration is Erbswurst—a meal preparation used by various European armies. As it is hard to get except from grocers of the larger cities or sporting goods dealers one can well make it at home as follows:—Procure common dried peas and navy beans and dessicate them after cooking as suggested above (see paragraph on Dehydrated Navy Beans). Of the pea meal use one pound; of the bean meal 1¼ pounds; bacon chopped fine and dried, and onions pulverized, of each ⅛ pound. Mix all together and run through the grinder again, dry and pack away. It is used to make a thick soup and is very nutritious.
Evaporated Egg Powder
Probably the most remarkable dried food of all is the evaporated egg. Take ½ dozen eggs and beat them up hard with an egg beater. Take two flat bottomed baking pans from the kitchen and spread a very thin layer of egg thereon. Now in drying should you put this in the oven it will cook whereas if simply set in the sun during the day the moisture is evaporated and a crust of the essential elements retaining all the nourishment and flavor of the egg remains. True the product is shapeless as far as the ordinary conception of an egg is concerned but it is very effective for cooking where weight and fragility in packing are concerned. After the eggs have been in the sun all day remove indoors and if dry run through a cleaned coffee mill. This pulverizes the mass. It should next be completely dried out in the sun and packed away in empty molasses tins with pry up lids.
A pound of evaporated egg equals four dozen fresh eggs and one tablespoonful of egg powder with two tablespoonsful of water represents an egg. It is useful in omelets, scrambled or in combination cooking. Besides being a great saving in weight since one does not have to carry around the water, the evaporated preparation enables us to utilize eggs on the hardest kind of a hike where if we were forced to use fresh eggs their place in the knapsack would be positively prohibited because of their fragility.
Pemmican
When much fat is required for the body as in colder regions no food has been found to surpass Pemmican. Peary says:—“Pemmican is the most concentrated and satisfactory of all meat foods and is absolutely indispensable on long Arctic sledge journeys.” For a ten pound lot take of lean meat, 5 pounds; fat (suet) 4 pounds; dried fruit (raisins) ½ pound and of sugar ½ pound. Cut the meat in thin slices, dry several days as directed under “Jerked Meats.” Pulverize between two stones or otherwise grind and mix well with the suet, melted, to a paste, add the ground currants or raisins and sugar, allow to cool and pack away. Eat raw, boiled with flour or fry.
Lemonade Powder
This makes an agreeable lunch drink and is really necessary to keep the system in good order. Take the clear juice of three lemons and 15 teaspoonfuls of sugar and put into a broad, flat baking pan. Since so much water is to be evaporated it is best to dry this out in an oven, but prolonged exposure to a hot sun will do the trick. The lemon powder should be perfectly dry and then pulverized and stored in pry up tins. For use put the powder in water to the desired strength. The addition of citric acid crystals in small amounts is a help, but when relied upon alone to make lemonade, as recommended by some writers, will not make a drink which takes the place of the concentrated lemon except as to taste.