Dinner al fresco

The outdoor industry has no shortage of brands looking to sell us food for the short of space and time. But they aren't exactly cheap. Many of them are over £12. And although they pack a load of calories (usually over 800) their taste is somewhat variable - to say the least. I've been trying out various alternatives on my trips. Some good, some less so.

Go to the pub

Pretty much all the routes I've ridden over the last 3 years have passed decent pubs. So why not help the community and use them? Even a standard serving of Wetherspoon's Wiltshire Cured Ham, Egg & Chips contains 856 calories. Not forgetting the pint that washes it down.

Pasta

My go to for the last few trips has been to buy one of the Rana filled tortelloni pouches. All over 700 calories and taking just 2 minutes to cook - they just about fit into a 650 ml titanium pot half filled with water. I also carry a tiny container of chilli oil to add at the end after I've strained them. Just £3 a pop currently. I should flag that they are supposed to be refridgerated so probably not the best for a multi-day trip in hot weather.

A stripped down dinner service

OK. This isn't a menu idea, but I've found that these 3 items are pretty important to my planning. Firstly a collapsible mug and a re-used food pouch. All I really want to use the titanium pot for is boiling things - not for eating out of. The mug allows me to get a brew ready and the pouch is simply the best thing to eat pasta or couscous out of. It can be sealed up and packs down to nothing. The spork is pretty standard these days and I'm sure there are better ones, but this does.

Cous cous plus

The same cone shape can be used for a twig stove. The instructions tell me that I can use longer sticks at the three open corners by pushing them in further as the wood burns away. In my test I found that quite tricky - but I'll see how it goes when I'm next out.