Good morning,
I’m after some ideas for a ready steady cook style evening that others have done and were successful - using only trangias and tinned/dried goods.
Many thanks in advance for your help.
Keep it simple is my advice.
Get the cadets to cook a 3 course meal for the staff. I got changed into a tux for our last one and got some candelabras etc, i am sure you get the point.
We let the cadets pick whatever they want to cook. Normally gives a good discussion point as to why they brought frozen/chilled items and what food will/wont last being in a bag for 1+ days.
We let them cook on whatever they want, i normally set up a trangia, 1-2 gas cookers and something like hexi (or gel) to give them some experience and give them the cooker safety lesson before the start.
Pro tip - make sure the staff watch stuff being cooked, ive been given a few raw meals in the few times ive done this.
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Give them £10 and take them shopping if you can.
Brief them on what they need to cook (3 courses/only puddings/suitable for exped/breakfasts/veggie) let them plan and then review after.
Give them points for presentation, for how well it matches the brief as well as taste. Get them seeing if they could prepare from only dried ingredients, could they package what they’ve made and take it with them, look at the nutritional content of them and the energy requirements for a day of walking or canoeing or climbing etc
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Give them £10 and take them shopping if you can.
Brief them on what they need to cook (3 courses/only puddings/suitable for exped/breakfasts/veggie) let them plan and then review after.
Give them points for presentation, for how well it matches the brief as well as taste. Get them seeing if they could prepare from only dried ingredients, could they package what they’ve made and take it with them, look at the nutritional content of them and the energy requirements for a day of walking or canoeing or climbing etc
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We did something similar.
But before hand we did a sqn talk on how many calories were needed for activities, nutritional info for expeds and so on.
We then picked something and that’s what the main meal HAD to contain, something relatively easy but what a cadet won’t normally cook and then they had to cook a 3 course meal.
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I’m always a fan of chucking in random ingredients that have to be used (pink icing fondant was a favourite) - yes the staff have to try it but it adds to the fun!
I always make sure that any ingredients can be eaten raw so I don’t get poisoned (e.g. no raw chicken or pork but maybe spam or a veggie alternative).
Or maybe teach cadets how to cook something properly and how to check things are cooked?
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It’s ready steady cook, not a food tech masterclass…
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A well thought out fieldcraft/exped training plan would include how to cook safely. It’s not exactly michelin star stuff.
Doesn’t really work considering ratpacks don’t even need to be heated and you’re not going to be having cadets take raw meat on an exped.
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You mean you don’t get your cadets to take a whole chicken with them?
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I see nothing wrong with teaching cadets to work to a restricted budget, become accustomed to using a supermarket, plan and cook things properly in a sequence and deal with the hygiene of washing up properly, as opposed to heating up a ridiculously priced foil packet of lumpy gloop. I much prefer cadets to cook and eat things they know they will like on an activity, as opposed to buying or being given a packet, warming it up, opening it and finding they don’t like it.
My point was that it’s outside and beyond the scope of “well thought out fieldcraft/exped training”
I had noted your tips . Now I tried it. It turned out amazing. Thankyou
When I did a cook off type thing at my sqn my team did a medium rare stake with egg and chips on a trangier and it was beutifal. So hopfully cadets at your sqn can top that.