Quetico: The food was pretty darn good, if I say so myself.

This is Tom fishing.
Who is Tom?
And why is he fishing?
Did he catch anything?
Read on...

But first...

A few words about canoeing food and a short story about a special meal will follow.
When Marty and I first (and last) visited Quetico, we ate rather sparely- some Lipton dried meals, a few small bags of tough dried fruit. It was okay; almost anything tastes delicious after a very active day outdoors. But I missed vegetables and fruit and pasta and the vivid flavors that accompany fresh ingredients. I thought that it could be better.

For this trip, I decided to try dehydrated food. I bought an inexpensive used food dehydrator and cooked nearly double of everything I cooked all summer. I made one batch of steamed broccoli to eat; and another to dehydrate. It was neat to see the food transformed into brittle little dark versions of itself. Plus it weighed only a small fraction of what it did before dehydration. After a couple of months of this labor, I had a nice stockpile of GOOD food.

Above is a delicious pasta dinner cooked up in one pot of boiling lake water. It included whole wheat pasta, rehydrated marinara sauce (garden tomatoes, onions, garlic, oregano and garden basil) rehydrated garden tomato slices, rehydrated grilled yellow squash and zucchini slices and rehydrated roasted red pepper slivers. Delicioso! Yes, that is a wood stove under that pot- it is a lightweight backpackers version of The Little Bug stove fueled by 5" long sticks of wood.

Even though the eating was pretty good, we saw many folks paddling lazily with a fishing rig set up and dragging behind their canoe. In fact, many come specifically to Quetico from all over the world just to fish. Tom pictured above was on a grand canoe journey with his wife, Cathy, but he had made many such trips to the area Just To Fish.

Cathy was a lively, warm and friendly woman whom I recognized instantly on a lunchtime portage as a kindred spirit even though I had just met her. She volunteered the expert services of her husband; we could have fresh fish for dinner that night! Tom, just like that, caught two small mouth bass for us and even gave me a lesson in filleting on the spot. I wrapped up the fillets and ruminated on their preparation as I paddled. Oooh, my mouth watered in anticipation.

This is the bass, sauteed in olive oil and dusted with a dehydrated falafel (spiced chickpeas) mix.

I served it over mahogany rice (which dehydrated and rehydrated beautifully, by the way) laced with grilled zucchini and squash slices.

It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious with a lovely delicate flavor.
It was by far our best and most delicious meal.

The only thing missing was our new friends, but we toasted them with gatorade.

Cathy and Tom, you are cordially invited to come to Cleveland to fish for walleye in Lake Erie and enjoy a special dinner on our front porch! See you soon!



(And as they say, Cathy, "My garden would like to meet you!")
Continue to "Until Next Time" on the archive list on the right for the exciting Quetico trip conclusion...