PUMPKIN AS A TRAIL FOOD.

[Le Loup]

TRAIL FOOD & FOOD PRESERVING. Copyright Keith H. Burgess. MSF 2007, Armidale 2350.
Trail Food.
Pumpkin is nourishing and filling. Cut pumpkin into slices ½ to ¾ of an inch thick, or 1-2cm thick and cut the skin off. Cook slices on a tray in the oven. When they are cooked, open the oven door and let them dry out, at least enough to form a skin on the outside. These slices can be placed in a linen or cotton bag and carried in your haversack or market wallet to eat along the trail. It tastes great! NOTE: This process is more easily accomplished using a wood burning stove or an open fire.
Preserving and storage.
For preserving pumpkin, cut into slices as above. The butternut pumpkin is easier to process, but any pumpkin can be used. Dry the slices in an oven with the door open, or in front of an open fire. Be careful not to cook, treat the same as when making jerk (dried meat). In camp this can be done in front of the fire, over the fire on a rack, or sun dried. When dry, thread the slices on a line and hang up. Make sure each piece is separate, and not touching any other pieces.
When I store pumpkin at home, I cut a slit in the slice of pumpkin before drying. After it has dried I slip the pieces over coat hangers which I hang from a beam or pole. Dried pumpkin does not take up much room in your pack, and it is light.
Regards, Le Loup.