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Big Muddy Adventures combines the great outdoors with chef-driven campfire cooking.

IF YOU’RE LOOKING FOR ONE OF ST. LOUIS’ BRIGHTEST RISING CULINARY STARS, YOU’LL HAVE TO SEARCH BEYOND LOCAL RESTAURANTS AND BARS. YOU’LL HAVE TO VENTURE TO THE BANKS OF THE MISSOURI AND MISSISSIPPI RIVERS – OR BETTER YET, BOOK A TRIP WITH BIG MUDDY ADVENTURES. FIONA FORDYCE, THE OUTDOOR COMPANY’S HEAD CHEF, IS ELEVATING CAMPFIRE COOKING TO NEW HEIGHTS. TO SEE FORDYCE AND THE REST OF THE CREW IN ACTION, WE JOINED BMA ON AN OVERNIGHT FALL FOLIAGE CANOE TRIP IN EARLY NOVEMBER 2022.

After meeting up at the warehouse, packing our dry bags and getting a safety overview, we pile into vans and make the drive out to Hermann, Missouri. It’s there that I get my first taste of Fordyce’s cooking in the form of chicken salad sandwiches that she made earlier for lunch. The croissant is toasted and crackly, the chicken is tender, the mayo is light, and a touch of red onion adds just the right amount of acidity. The real difference-maker, as Fordyce will tell you, is loads of fresh dill. Even the other guides – Mark Malkowicz and Mike Clark (or “Malko” and “Muddy Mike,” as they’re called) – can’t get enough of it, and they’ve eaten it more times than they can count.

Once we’ve had our fill of persimmons and chicken salad, we load into the canoes and set off on the Missouri River. The sun is shining and the river is calm; Muddy Mike compares it to a giant lake to reassure any nervous guests. Our group of 13 paddles the two canoes for a few hours, all the while taking in plenty of bald eagle sightings and spectacular fall foliage. We stop at a small island – our camp destination for the night. By the time we finish setting up our tents and head back to the center of camp, Fordyce has already set a full charcuterie spread out, complete with artfully arranged cheeses, meats and crackers. The real standout appetizer is the guacamole, which mirrors the tableside guacamole service at a Mexican restaurant. Fordyce has a massive Tupperware container filled with peeled and pitted avocados, lime juice, salt and red onion; she mashes everything to a smooth texture right in front of us. As a fire crackles a stone’s throw away from the river, and we sit on the sand eating fresh guacamole, it’s clear that what BMA is offering is more than just a paddle down the river.

I talk with Fordyce as we engage in another BMA tradition: beach bocce ball. She’s humble and approachable – never one to brag about her cooking skills – which is all the more impressive when you consider she’s never had any formal culinary training or worked in a restaurant. Fordyce initially wanted to be a scientist and chose to study public health. She grew up on the river; her father, Wesley Fordyce, owned a large piece of land on the Missouri River and took her and her siblings out on canoes every chance he had. As she finished her studies, her looming career path began to feel out of step with her goals, so she came back to her first home: the river.

She’s worked for BMA for nine years now and is the innovator behind its multifaceted food program. In addition to designing and prepping food for day and overnight trips, she developed the Rivertime Supper Club, for which guests meet in the afternoon and paddle for a few hours before Fordyce crafts an unforgettable meal to be eaten on the shore by firelight. “She’s cooking dinner on open fire right there,” Muddy Mike says. “The Rivertime Supper Club sells out every time. It’s a hard ticket to get.”

The dinner Fordyce serves on this particular night perhaps best encapsulates both her philosophy of using local ingredients and the magic of her dinner theater. The farro risotto, with chestnuts and oyster mushrooms she foraged from her father’s land, is creamy and nutty with an earthy lightness that makes you want to rush for another scoop. Before the trip, Fordyce sous-vides pork chops with lemon and herbs – a technique that allows her to fully cook the pork chops and house them in a cooler to grill over the fire later. Although easier and faster in terms of preparation, the cooking method doesn’t sacrifice any of the primal satisfaction of seeing meat grilled on open flame. Fordyce and Malko get a cast iron grill pan rip-roaring hot before laying down the pork chops. The fire flares when some grease drips off the pan, and the scent of grilled meat instantly fills the air. Like with the farro risotto, Fordyce tries to source all of her meat locally and often visits BEAST Butcher & Block in The Grove for provisions. The finished pork chop – a notoriously dry meat – is wonderfully moist, yet crispy from its time on the fire. Fordyce serves it with a warm apple chutney made with Fuji apples, coriander, fennel, mustard, fenugreek and curry powder. The final element of the meal is a salad that is anything but an afterthought. This is Fordyce’s riff on Union Loafer’s famous Little Gem Salad: Bibb lettuce, chives, dill, parsley and panko breadcrumbs tossed in a buttermilk, sour cream, shallot and lemon juice dressing. If you put Fordyce’s creation alongside the Union Loafer’s standout, you’d have a hard time identifying the original. “People don’t expect to have gourmet dinners on the river,” she says. “People are always really pleasantly surprised.”

Obviously, Fordyce serves delicious food on these trips, but her real ingenuity lies in how she prepares it. Because she cannot attend every trip BMA plans, she preps the food in such a way that any guide – even those who lack culinary skills – can successfully serve the food to guests. From using the sous-vide method for meat to cooking grains and packaging sandwiches ahead of time, guides don’t have to spend additional time or energy chopping, stirring or prepping. They can easily finish the last few steps of the cooking process as they focus on ensuring guests have a safe, enjoyable time.

After dinner, we gather in a circle around the campfire to learn more about each other and the guides. Although BMA does offer private trips, part of the fun of this trip is meeting, joking and connecting with people I never would have met otherwise. We hear wild stories and tales of adventure from Muddy Mike – all of them off the record, which he repeatedly confirms with me as he speaks, pausing to throw a meaningful look in my direction. Those of us who gravitate toward the great outdoors have plenty of fun stories to share as well, and each member of BMA’s staff is funny, generous and personable. As I sip on the Hot Toddies Fordyce crafted for us, I feel connected to the outdoors and the wholesome community of people who make a trip like this so worthwhile.

After we pack up our tents the next morning, we’re met with heavy rain. This is a mild discouragement, but luckily, during a brief pause in the downpour, Fordyce manages to serve up one heck of a breakfast: eggs, bacon, hash browns, coffee, smoked salmon and fresh fruit. The guides break down the rest of the camp and pack everything into the canoes, and we head back out on the river for a few final hours of paddling. Despite the return of the rain, we’re all in high spirits while taking in the views as Malko and Muddy Mike feed the positive energy by telling stories and sharing facts about different things we encounter on the river.

As we reach our destination, I’m struck by how many types of people would enjoy Big Muddy Adventures’ approach to the outdoors. Even those who have never camped or paddled would still have a great time: The paddling is physical but not back-breaking, and they provide all the equipment you’d need. An avid outdoors person would feel equally satisfied.

Do note that this is not glamping: You’re camping in a remote area near the Missouri River without a building or other group in sight. This is not simply a paddle, either; it’s an experience. Behind the scenes, Fordyce is whipping up locally sourced food enhanced by the beauty of the outdoor setting it’s served in. Nowhere else in St. Louis can you find this intersection of elevated culinary experience and gorgeous outdoor recreation. Through innovation and creativity, Fordyce and BMA have created something truly special that will hopefully endure for years to come.

Big Muddy Adventures, St. Louis, Missouri, 314-896-4264, 2muddy.com

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