The Cook's Bag

JOURNAL ENTRY: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 14, 2001

"Well, the sun has come back out finally! After what seemed like forever, the heat returned. It rained here for 7 days straight! It was crazy. Everyday we would wake up and look outside and hope for sun. Well, yesterday the sun G-d's heard our prayers. I spent the day in the park reading my book and basking in the sun. This backpacking adventure is quite relaxing, I must say..hehe.Friday I am off to Blue Mountains with some friends and will write again after that excursion. We have been cooking every night and so far so good. Karine and I went to get some water bottles to transport our olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Not sure if this will work but fingers crossed. I really don't feel like washing all my clothes... oy!"


TIP #1: THE COOK'S BAG

Ok guys, here is my first tip. When you are travelling from hostel to hostel you want to have as few bags as possible. However when you are cooking in hostels, you will need to buy a few items that you will want to bring with you so you don't waste your money at every stop you make. This is where the "cook's bag" comes into place. The cook's bag is basically your bag of cooking essentials that you will need for almost every recipe you make. Here is how I made this work for me:

Food staples for the cook's bag:

• Olive oil


• Balsamic vinegar

• Salt and pepper mix


• Cajun spice mix or curry spice

• Chicken powder (great as a salt substitute but gives a lot of flavor as well)
  

Before travelling you can purchase two small water bottle-type containers for your olive oil and vinegar. These containers usually come in space saving designs which are ideal for travelling. When I backpacked, my "cook's bag" was a simple plastic grocery bag with my name clearly marked on it. I would attach it to the outside of my pack when I had to switch hostels or carefully pack it in my day bag.

When it was necessary, I would buy some extra items, leave some items behind, and share some items with fellow backpackers. One of the greatest things about cooking in hostels is that there almost always is a communal section where people leave sauces, spices etc. These are things that usually are costly so it is great when you can find something for free and it is equally great to leave something behind for the next backpacker.

The greatest reason to have a "cooks bag" is that you will save tons of cash by avoiding double shopping. Saving cash is awesome because then you get to spend your money on cool things like seeing the sights, going out, and of course...drinking! You will quickly see that cooking in hostels is cheaper then eating out all the time. Also eating real, fresh, tasty food is just as affordable as the canned stuff so please put down the canned meatballs and let's make them instead!

Stay tuned for more tips, advice, and of course recipes.

The Hostel Chef

Recipe 1: Hostel Pizza

After doing some looking around the house, I stumbled upon my old emails that I had sent when I was on my backpacking adventure through Australia. It was quite a moment of nostalgia finding these emails...so much so that I have decided that they would be a great way to start each of my posts and follow them with a recipe designed just for you. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed finding them!

JOURNAL ENTRY: SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - MARCH 4, 2001

"Well guys, I did it....I tried kangaroo! It was in sausage form so I still have to try it in a steak, but it was pretty good (as long as you tried to not think about what you were eating).

Today it rained, which sucked! It was the first bad day since we got here so instead of going to the beach, we went in town to Sydney. We went to Hyde Park - which was really nice, St. Mary's Church, the Great Synagogue, and the Australia museum. The museum took 3 hours! A bit long but I learnt a lot.

Once we left the museum, we were famished so when we got home, we made our pita pizzas. They are really great and easy and super cheap! Karine and I have mastered the food shopping, if I do say so myself. 40$ for a weeks worth of food! Don't ask me how, but somehow we are doing it."

RECIPE 1: HOSTEL PIZZA

(serves 2)

Hostel Pizza

photo: Ryan Szulc www.ryanszulc.ca

Food Stylist: Noah Witenoff - the Hostel Chef www.nustyling.com

What you need:

• 2 large Lebanese style pitas (or any large flat bread available)
• Half a large red onion, cut into half moons
• 1 green pepper, cut into random medium size pieces
• 1 can of artichoke hearts
• 1 small can of pizza sauce
  
• 2 coffee mugs of shredded mozarella cheese
• 8 basil leaves (optional)
• 1 sheet of aluminum paper

What you need to do:

• Preheat oven to 375°F or gas mark 5.
  
• Place the sheet of tin foil on the middle rack in the oven.
• Drain the artichoke hearts and cut into quarters if they are not already cut in the can.
• Cover each pita with half the sauce.
• Place the green peppers and the onions randomly over both pitas.
• Cover each pita with cheese and place the basil over top.
• Place pitas directly on the oven rack and bake for 15 to 20 minutes.
• When it's ready carefully slide your pita on a cutting board or directly on your plate.

Ok now here are some options for you guys who are saying what if I can't find basil:

Feel free to change any toppings for anything under the sun. You can put pepperoni, prosciutto, tomatoes, olives or any other of your favorite pizza toppings. Just remember budget and that you don't want to buy too much that you won't use and that you will end up wasting. If you won't finish a whole pack of pepperoni, try to get the deli counter to cut just what you need and save some money.

Also if you are nervous about cooking your pizza on the rack, you can always put it on a tray (if you have one at your hostel) or stick it directly in a pan and cook it like that.

Don't forget to have fun and enjoy!

No more spaghetti out of a can on toast. It is time to see how easy and cheap it is to enjoy great food while you backpack.

The Hostel Chef

A Long Time Coming

How does a cookbook designed for backpackers travelling in youth hostels sound? It has been my dream for many years to publish a cookbook 100% designed for backpackers travelling around the world and living in youth hostels and so I have decided to do it the modern way...blog style! This blog is based on my travels and my experience. I am now a professional food stylist with much experience in fine dining but my cooking and career started in youth hostels, where I fell in love with cooking.

8 years ago I travelled through Australia on the greatest adventure of my life. I was a university student looking for something new and exciting to do with my life. I hated what I was studying and like so many university students I had no idea what I would do when I had to enter the "real" world. I graduated with a degree in International Business and the only reason I went into the program was because I loved to travel....not the smartest move I ever made : )


In Australia I taught myself how to cook while travelling from hostel to hostel and living on a tight budget. I quickly learned that the best way to budget my food expenses was to cook fresh and tasty food in hostels, and when I travelled from one hostel to the other I would leave some stuff behind for fellow backpackers and bring my key ingredients with me. Cooking in hostels was a way for me to be social as well. I would cook for me and some new friends and next thing you knew, we were touring the city together. It was a great experience and I am super excited to share this way of travelling with you all.


I really hope you all enjoy this blog, and are able to use these recipes while you travel. Feel free to leave me your comments and questions and lets chat about food and how you can take a recipe and make it work for you.



Talk to you all soon!


The Hostel Chef