Kitchen(less) Cooking

On a recent solo four-wheel drive expedition across Australia, I was determined to nourish myself without the convenience of a kitchen or the ability to Google recipes.

What initially felt like restraints, provided an opportunity for creativity to flourish and unconventional fire based cooking methods to unfold. An outback adventure turned into a taste of Australia and the concept for Kitchen(less) Cooking a platform to inspire people to cook and eat in the outdoors was borne.

Kitchen(less) Cooking seeks to inspire people to dive into the world of outdoor cooking and explore the joy of cooking without devices that plug in. The kind of meals you might imagine crafted if Indiana Jones and Martha Stewart threw a dinner party.

Cooking in the outdoors evokes a sense of liberation in an age where delivery is at our fingertips and there is a normalized a disconnection between food, the ecosystem, and ourselves.

Outdoor cooking is a complete sensory experience – there is nothing like the crackle of wood burning, the warmth of the flames, the smoky scent, and the mesmerizing visual display.

Armed with matches, a pocket knife and local ingredients, join ballerina turned award winning explorer, Capt. Sophie Hollingsworth, cooking in some of the most remote parts of the world.

Recipes are simple and straightforward often involving only a handful of ingredients. But nothing tastes as good as food cooked over the fire not to mention the magic that lights up people’s faces when they partake in an outdoor cooking experience.

While these recipes were originally crafted in the outback, they can easily be replicated in your own backyard: Cook by the beach, in the forest, or on your apartment rooftop garden. Scrap your stove and build a fire!

Stripping food preparation back to the basics, overleaf is a recipe for a gentle introduction into outdoor adventure cooking that is sure to have your weekend brunch guests coming back for more.

Recipe: Fire-Roasted Bacon

Ingredients:

• Bacon

Equipment:

• 2 "Y" Shaped Sticks

• 1 Straight(ish) Stick

• Pocket Knife

• Matches

• Firewood

Instructions:

1.) Light a fire and let the fire burn down to a medium heat.

2.) Build a spit - find two Y shaped sticks and dig two small holes on either side of the campfire, far enough from the flames as to not catch. Place the two Y shaped sticks in the ground using surrounding dirt and rocks as necessary to ensure the Y sticks can stand on their own.

3.) Find one straight(ish) stick - Delicately place your straight stick perpendicular between the two Y sticks. Make sure this stick is strong enough to hold the bacon but thin enough to allow the bacon to cook.

4.) Hang the bacon over the middle stick and flip the rashers occasionally.

Cooking times are elastic as there are many variables that factor into each fire cooking adventure: humidity, wind, size of fire, type of wood and of course your bacon crispy preference index.

Bacon can take anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour.*

Visit www.thesofialog.com for more outdoor cooking inspiration

*Fair warning for hungry cooks: As the decadent smell of bacon permeates the surrounding region you may become overpowered by a sudden desire to eat said bacon. Given the long lead time for fire-roasted bacon, it is well within reason to throw a few strips of bacon in a cast iron skillet over the fire for a few minutes to tide you over while the rest of the bacon hangs over the fire.

Sophie Hollingsworth | 2016 Fulbright Anne Wexler Scholar | Public Health New York University / The University of Sydney

Sophie Hollingsworth graduated from NYU with a Bachelors in Environmental Science and double minor in Global Public Health and Psychology. In 2017, she commenced her Master of Health Security at the University of Sydney. Sophie's paramount focus will be on shared political interests and cooperation between the U.S. and Australia in trade, security, and development related to health security.

Outside of academia, Sophie is a modern female explorer. She has sailed across the Pacific Ocean, transected Madagascar, and holds a 200-ton captains license. For the past five years, Sophie has worked as the Founder and Director of Operations of AquaAid International – an organization establishing sustainable sources of clean drinking water and basic sanitation in remote Central American jungles.