26 October 2012

More on Food - Chocolate Doughnuts!

When we came down the Waimakariri we’d been short of food for a couple of days, it was cold and wet, we’d been going for two hours and hadn’t had any breakfast.  We stopped at Anti-Crow Hut to have a break from the weather and found, in a corner of the hut, an old camp oven half full of what seemed to be solid tallow or mutton fat.  A search of the hut, which seemed to have been vacated recently by hunters revealed a good quantity of flour, sugar, cocoa and some baking powder.  It didn’t take much imagination!  We had time up our sleeves and soon had a good fire going and the camp oven sitting on the embers.  While the fat melted and heated we set about the mixture.  As soon as the fat was hot enough we dropped our doughboys into the fat and watched them grow.  When they had developed a golden crust we fished them out with the No8 wire toaster and set them to drain on the hearth.  As soon as they had cooled enough we devoured them.  They were warm, chocolate sweet with enough satisfying fat and a warm golden colour on the outside.  They were more than satisfying.  Better than fish and chips!



Two Hours To Go


We trudge down valley
cold, wet and out of food
legs drag aching foot
after aching foot
hunger verging on weakness
gnaws deep beneath our ribs
we stop beside the hut
only two hours to go.

Anticrow Hut - 1950s
Inside is dry wood
a camp oven and fat
self raising flour
sugar and cocoa
and we have time
up our sleeves - yes
the last two hours
we do in one.

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