Food
Richards Mountain Pages

Taken To The Mountain Most people take sandwiches and Mars Bars to eat on the mountain. Unfortunately sandwiches can be easily squished to a pulp, and Mars bars either freeze solid (in Winter), or run off down the hill in a molten state (in Summer). you could try energy bars, but you need energy just to chew them (and a healthy bank balance). A cheaper alternative that has sugars, carbohydrates and fats, tastes nice, doesn't freeze, and doesn't run away - is the humble sponge cake bar. Camping Food If you've tried those packet of camping food that taste no better than dried shredded cardboard (with the flavour removed) and you don't fancy carting heavy real food around, you could try mixing your own. Start with couscous (as it cooks real quick compared to rice or pasta), add dried fruit, herbs and spices, and a stock cube to give it flavour. Alternatively just get instant flavoured pasta from the supermarket! but don't waste gas cooking it for seven minutes, just boil and leave for about twice that, so that its fully soft, and just the right temperature to eat.

Taken From The Mountain If you know what to look for, you will probably find food growing in the mountains. Wild fruits may not sustain a good hard walk, but they certainly add a little freshness to the diet - particularly when backpacking with dried cardboard meals. In Britain blueberries are the most common mountain fruit. They ripen in July-September to little blue-black berries with their distinctive shape. You may also come across wild strawberries (small and flavoursome), raspberries, blackberries (particularly in the lowlands), chestnuts and hazelnuts to name but a few. Here are some chestnuts I found earlier... On the sea shore you may find shellfish - but make sure it is where the sea is clean, as they readily gather pollutants. Mussels must be closed when picked, and open when cooked. Any which are not must be discarded. The same applies to all bivalves. Limpets can also be eaten, but to collect them without an intense struggle, you have to catch them unaware. Finally look out for herbs. The easiest to identify are mint, apple mint and spearmint. The mint family all have square stems (like stinging nettles, but with different leaves). As with any herb, their smell is the obvious clue. To test, just bruise a leaf, and smell.

Traditional Foods
In many mountains regions of the world you will come across local foods that are high in energy and packaged to stand up to travelling. The regions of Britain have quite a selection, here are a few contenders:

• Cornish Pastie - designed for the tin miners and farmers of the region, these pastries filled with meat and veg make a filling meal. The real thing is a world apart from the pathetic flimsy things you find in supermarkets.
• Bakewell Pudding - most people are familiar with bakewell tarts, but the Bakewell pudding is the original article. Its very sickly sweet, and packed full of handy calories.
• Melton Mowbray Pork Pie - sausage meat and pastry - travels well
• Yorkshire Pudding - usually found in roast dinners, but they have potential as a mountain food - I bet thats how they originated.
• Kendal Mint Cake - perhaps the most famous, but probably the least suitable. The almost pure sugar in this is like rocket fuel for the body - a quick flash of energy.

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