Gnome has charged me with the task of making a journey ration (cake) in the old-fashioned sense of the word.  He is looking for a  staple that can be used for journeys or simply as a food ration.  It must be balanced with carbohydrate, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals.  Also, it should be storable at room temperature and have a reasonably long shelf life.  Taste is also an important criteria!  Oh, and I have to try to use ingredients that I can find in Belize or better still, food that is harvested from our farm.

Since we have had a few rainy days, I have had time to experiment: I am using the Italian Panforte as a basis for my recipe.  Nowadays, Panforte is eaten at Christmas time and can contain almonds, citrus peel, dried fruits and spices tightly packed and bound together with a mixture of flour (very little) and honey.  Traditionally, panforte was used as a “journey cake” for soldiers during long marches.

Since I don’t have an oven any-more, I have had to start the recipe from scratch and find a way to cook it on a cast iron skillet over a charcoal stove.  The first challenge is to get a basic recipe that actually works using this baking modality.

The first batch contained the following: Toasted pumpkin and sunflower seeds, dried jackfruit, lime peel with cassava starch, honey, jackfruit wine and brown sugar to bind.  I flavoured it with clove and cinnamon. Here is a picture; they look very Christmasy!

So far, so good.  The rations baked well and were very tasty.  I calculated these basic rations to be about 350 kcals each so on an active day, we would need to consume 6 of these and on a sedentary day, 3 of them.  Now that I have the basic recipe, I will be working on the following additions and modifications:

1. Extra protein possibly in the form of beef jerky/ ground ora pro nobis leaves.
2.  Vitamins and minerals from dried, ground chaya leaves.
3. Addition of a variety of dried fruits from the farm (suriname cherry, mango, pineapple, sapodilla and whatever I can get my hands on!)
4. Addition of a variety of citrus peel from the farm including lemon, calamondin and grapefruit for taste.
5. More exotic nut or nut-like food that we grow eg. cashew nuts, malabar chestnut and even coconuts.
6.  Cacao beans (nibs)!
7. Oooohhh, I am sure I will think of more things! It starts to get very fun and exciting to boldly go into the creative unknown!

This is still a work in progress and I am happy to keep on experimenting whenever the mood takes me.  So far, Gnome has been pleased with my efforts…I know this because he has eaten all my ration bars!!  In addition to this, I have made 100kcal truffle rations which can be eaten in between normal meals when we need a little bit of extra energy for physical work on the farm.  This lot has been polished off too…also a winner!!

Okay, I will keep you posted on my Munchkin Journey Rations!!

0