WHAT FOOD

[foxyrider]

"Pumpernickel" was a regular constituent of the 1975 Annapurna expedition ration packs, an expedition led by Chris bonnington.

But what is it !!!!

A bread product ???

What is it?

Brilliant is what, keeps well and I find it quite filling, scrape of bread fat, cheese, meat - great cheap breakfast. Usually does me 4-5 days from a packet. Of course it's readily available where I usually tour so that helps!

[landsurfer]

What is it?

Brilliant is what, keeps well and I find it quite filling, scrape of bread fat, cheese, meat - great cheap breakfast. Usually does me 4-5 days from a packet. Of course it's readily available where I usually tour so that helps!

YES, but what is it !!!!!!
I live down the road from you and i never see it for sale .....

[foxyrider]

What is it?

Brilliant is what, keeps well and I find it quite filling, scrape of bread fat, cheese, meat - great cheap breakfast. Usually does me 4-5 days from a packet. Of course it's readily available where I usually tour so that helps!

YES, but what is it !!!!!!
I live down the road from you and i never see it for sale .....

Go into Lidl - it's with the rest of the bread. I've a packet here atm, bout a pound a pack.

[landsurfer]

Go into Lidl - it's with the rest of the bread. I've a packet here atm, bout a pound a pack.

AHH ... That explains it .... I am with the dark side of shopping ....ALDI ...

I will pay the LIDL a visit on the morrow .....

[Cyril Haearn]

Westfaelische Pumpernickel
60% wholemeal rye flour, water, sugar syrup from sugar beet, salt, malt extract (barley), yeast. Contains no palm oil, keeps for months unopened, it is sweet but a bit dry, good with butter

1,2% fat
35% carbohydrate
11% roughage

[Gattonero]

A self supporting tour is in the pipeline in the very near future. This will be a cook your own grub , not entirely wild camping but will be well away from shops etc. I normally carry emergency rations for 2 days , this time need 7 days rations. What is the lightest / best, what do you guys use. Will be cycling about 50/60Km per day once there.

Couscous is very versatile and takes very little space and weigth for a substantial portion. you can add anything you want, Tofu (for vegetarians) or Mackarel (for the ones that eat everything) add a good amount of protein.
The problem you get over several days is that you need to make different food to avoid the boredom. I'd suggest to take adavantage of any chippy or grease spoon found on the way, or a good Cafe to treat yourself with fresh scones or whatever fancy. After all, one should go around to see things, right?

[crazydave789]

if you don't mind a bulky food bag and you like to eat then pack well, not heavy just bulky then look for stuff you can add value to so pasta and sauce opened up with a few scoops of milk powder and a knob of butter or margerine then resealed works well, you can add nettles or similar to the cheese and broccoli to fortify it or some tuna to the tomato and herb varieties with a sachet of mayo to make it creamier. as mentioned porridge or weetabix/alpen in sandwich bag with milk powder to eat out of the bag. swedish crispbread with jam and peanut butter or primula. instant noodles or I quite like boil in the bag rice and sardines as a simple fortifying meal - jamaican ones are spicey. look what I found pouch meals turn up in poundland quite often, sometimes you can find freeze dried rice which takes much less time to cook. poundland do sweet peanut bars that wont go manky and plenty of long lasting stuff like baby pain au chocolate. cup a soup, hot chocolate or mocca drinks if you don't want to pack out a full brew kit. kabanos or chorizo for easy keep meat. cooked meats last longer so you could take a good first night meal like sausage and mash or even a chinese takeaway (I like packing a singapore rice to eat cold on the first day). dry cure bacon will keep for a couple of days, black pudding or decent ham if you want an english style breakfast. sandwich wraps pack well and last a couple of days if you make them up with jam, marmite, peanut butter and keep in a bag.

a few power bars tucked away for when you are flagging or it's an emergency. good old fashion kids sweets and a big bar of fruit and nut (or three)

despite the weight I'm still a sucker for packing a tin or two of fruit if I know its going to be hot, the first few days bananas and apples survive quite well.

food that takes a while to boil you can take off the heat and wrap in a sleeping bag/towel/fleece or stick in a cool box/bag to continue cooking if no one has taught you that trick. rice in water will swell through the day and take less cooking or take a hot cup/wide mouth flask and put a rice bag and hot water in it so it just needs warming up at the end of the day,

most villages have some form of corner shop or access to pastries, croissants, baguettes and cheese.

as it's france though and you are on a bike don't forget a string of onions off the handlebars.

if you aren't on a campsite though make sure you pack a water carrier or filter to make sure you have enough spare capacity.

have fun.

[slowpeddler]

I always keep a couple of onions, some rice/pulses and some curry powder in my front pannier.

The onions travel and keep well. together with rice and pulses you can always cook up a warming meal after a day riding. The locals have to get their food from somewhere so you only need to have something in your bags for emergency or to supplement what you buy and forage.

Always make sure you have water. I carry an Ortlieb water bag in addition to the water bottles if the temperature id very hot and the conditions arid.

I've never been hungry or thirsty

John

[Vorpal]

I haven't read all replies, and I also haven't done this cycle camping, but when I have needed to carry lots of food, long distance walking, I mostlly took dried food. I also took some sealable plastic bags or tubs, like zip bags to soak it in.

What I do is put water and the dried food for my next meal (or two, depending on the foods) in a zip bag or pot, and then put that inside another zip bag, in case of leaks. Then, that reconstitutes while I walk (cycle) or sleep and it's ready to cook when I next stop or get up. Some dried foods can be eaten cold like that. Some need cooking. It does go a bit easier with 'one pot' type meals. That is, you can mix some couscous or rice in with bean flour, salt, spices, dried mushrooms, tomatoes, water etc. Let it soak up water for a few hours, then cook it for supper.

Most pastas turn to mush using this approach, so rice, couscous, quinoa, bulgar wheat, and other whole grains work much better. You can do the same thing with porridge oats, leaving them overnight to soak. If you don't mid eating them cold they are edible without cooking. It's important to have them well-sealed to keep pests out at night. I have normally been able to enhance meals with foraging, but that can be more difficult if you don't know the local wildlife.

A sealable pot can be washed and reused day after day.

[yutkoxpo]

I find couscous to be brilliant on tour!
I have it for breakfast with powdered milk, cinnamon and fruit & nuts - a little bit of luxury.
The pot is much easier to clean than with porridge. Works for lunch too! And great to have something quick & warm when it's cold & wet!
For dinner, add a stock cube to the hot water for flavour. Fry up a little chorizo or other dried meat & mix it in.

Noodles are good too, very light to carry, but mine break into little pieces in the panniers. Again, cook then with a stock cube for flavour. Or bring a little jar of pesto to liven them up.

Here in NL, I can get kidney beans in sauce in foil bags. They're great for adding to a base - couscous/pasta etc or with tuna in a tortilla.

Sometimes I'll bring self raising flour, mix it with water (& herbs if I have them) and make a simple flat bread. A little pesto, or some olive oil & rub a clove of garlic against it for extra flavour.

And I never leave home without hard-boiled eggs

Dark chocolate, fruit/nut mix is my go to snack.

Have a great trip!

Frank

[Heltor Chasca]

Popcorn. Uncooked.
Rice. Uncooked or those par-boiled Uncle Ben's.
Cous cous.
Pasta.
Chorizo sausage or other dried sausage.
Fruit. I love fruit.
Muesli bars.

And very soon I will be experimenting with supplementing a meal a day (and if pushed 2) with ... Huel. Has anybody tried this stuff? So long as you can get water it should work.

Even on a recent 4 day tour I found I didn't have enough food off-road and up on the Ridgeway and I think Huel would have been ideal.

[sabrutat]

Nettles have already been mentioned: I tried this recently after having seen Ray Mears doing it - pick them by the stem and waft the leaves over an open flame until they are slightly charred, then you can just pick the leaves off and eat them, or add them to a soup/stew/noodle dish. Taste a bit like spinach, and absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals.

Thus, I'm toying with the idea of making nettle and goat's cheese pizza in my ridgemonkey toaster. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0191VESHY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just need to catch a goat.

[mercalia]

Nettles have already been mentioned: I tried this recently after having seen Ray Mears doing it - pick them by the stem and waft the leaves over an open flame until they are slightly charred, then you can just pick the leaves off and eat them, or add them to a soup/stew/noodle dish. Taste a bit like spinach, and absolutely packed with vitamins and minerals.

Thus, I'm toying with the idea of making nettle and goat's cheese pizza in my ridgemonkey toaster. https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0191VESHY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Just need to catch a goat.

next thing roast a road kill hedgehog over the woodburner stove

[Vantage]

Have you considered beans on toast? Beans keep good for a couple days as does butter for the bread which is both lightweight and packs flat...kinda. Can be toasted on one of these... https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B004VW0Y1S/ ... Hzb1ED1S1X

I have two and they make (if you do it properly) the nicest toast. Far better than the **** poor job any electric toaster does.

[Sweep]

Looks interesting vantage though gather that the mesh is a consumable.

How practical is it for carrying on a bike?

I do like toast of a morning when at home but need to limit my clutter when bike touring.