In planning our menus for each trip, there is both a macro-planning stage and a micro-planning stage. The answers to the questions we ask in the macro-planning stage help us pick the meals we're going to bring. The answers in the micro-planning stage help us decide on the order of the meals. This month we'll focus on macro-planning.
1. Who or what is going to carry the food? This is the single most important question. If it's our guides and participants (i.e. a backpacking trip), we focus on going as light as we can, consistent with the meals being yummy and having enough for everyone. For example, most or all breakfasts will be hot cereal with some yummy condiment. If it's a canoe trip, meaning that the canoe will be carrying the food most of the time but we'll be carrying it when we portage, we're a bit less rigorous about the weight but not completely oblivious. So for breakfast we'll have hot cereal a few times, and then also have granola, pancakes, and home fries with biscuits. On a wilderness-based hiking trip, the food is usually carried by horses, mules or llamas. On these trips we have more fresh fruit and vegetables, more heavy bread items like tortillas,and in general are more concerned with crush ability and need for refrigeration than weight. But if a car is carrying all the weight and we're planning to cook meals at the place we're staying, then we plan whatever sounds fun! And sometimes that means taking one of our favorite recipes and substituting fresh or canned items for anything that was dehydrated.
2. What season is the trip? If its winter, then we know: 1)everything else being equal, people will need more calories,particularly fat calories that burn more slowly. If you're winter camping, having a high fat dinner will help you sleep warmly throughout the night. 2) we have to worry about things freezing. So we don't plan to take tomatoes out on the trail and we sometimes pre-slice the cheese and salami. Both are edible when they 'refrozen, but not very easy to slice. On the other hand, in summer we have to worry about things spoiling. So we'll plan our perishable vegetables for early in the trip and we won't take cream cheese for more than a day. One thing to know is that cheese will often look quite raunchy as the oil separates, but it stays tasty for up to three weeks so don't hesitate to take it on a long trip. Spring and fall are usually easy to plan, as its cool enough to keep food fresh but not so cool that it freezes.
3. How many people are coming and who are they? Aside from the obvious fact that you need to plan to have enough for everyone,you should also give consideration to how much work each particular meal will be to cook for the group. For example, on our recent Havasu Hike where we had 12 participants and two guides it took a long time to boil enough water and then cook enough potatoes for everyone, and breakfast was a bit late that day. So next time we'll use the dehydrated potatoes instead, and we don't even think about pancakes. The "who are they question" has to do with ages. If they're adolescents, particularly adolescent males,increase your quantities (Hint: and take plenty of dehydrated mashed potatoes, a true lifesaver with this group). If they're younger people, don't plan food that sounds too healthy (it can be healthy, but it should seem "normal", like macaroni and cheese rather than African ground nut stew). If there are non-vegetarians on the trip, be sure to throw in some salami, jerky, and maybe some chicken or tuna.
4. How long will the trip be? Obviously on a longer trip we have to consider how perishable different food items are. Carrots and onions are extremely durable and will last for a couple of weeks, as will apples and oranges. If we're going for over a week, we don't worry about repeating a meal, particularly lunch. People just don't tend to remember (much less care) unless it was something they really disliked.
Once we've answered these questions, then there are a number of considerations that go into planning the order of the meals. These will be covered next month.
