A River Captain's Table

While we are on the topic of culinary adventures and sailing the seas this cookbook, No.6 A River Captain's Table: Great Grub- River Tale- Tall Tales by Gus Karpes pp. 165; first printing; 1994; *signed copy*; published by Kugh Enterprises, sends us down the windy river to Canada's Yukon and sets up camp along the way. This is full on roughing it at it's finest. The author has claimed to have made hundreds of of wilderness river trips in and around the Yukon Territory. He has written many guide books for river travellers. Amusing stories to which you can picture the author, Gus sitting around the campfire telling... I should say, captivating the weary traveller. This book is broken down into eleven sections and they are as follows: 1) The Basics (things you need to know before you start) 2) Breakfasts 3) Lunches & Snacks 4) First Days Out 5) Cooking with Bacon and Ham 6) Cooking with Corned Beef 7) Cooking Breads 8) Cooking with Fish 9) Pastas 10) Desserts and 11) Essays and Editorials (river stories and tales). 


It is a pretty basic no frills cookbook because let's face it when you are camping no one wants a lot of fuss or complicated meals. You don't have your immaculate kitchen in tow.   He talks about utensils, stoves, pots and pans, food handling, hygiene, washing, drinking water and even beaver fever. This would also be a fun book to use on a rainy day when you are stuck in the house with the kidlets. You can pretend you are out in the wilderness, telling tales and cooking bannock and beans. Although I think I will steer clear of the Peanut Butter and Bacon Spread for pancakes. It is 1 cup peanut butter (smooth preferred), 1/2 lbs bacon and 1/4 cup hot dog green pickle relish! Just fry the bacon until crisp, crumble and mix of all ingredients together. All what I can say is please pass the syrup! -JW