13. Antarctica

Sledging Biscuits and Antarctic Pemmican

Ingredients:

300 grams Beef strips cut as thinly as possible
350 grams beef suet
100 grams cranberries
1 tsp salt
sprinkle of herbs and black pepper (optional)

How:

Preferably purchase low quality beef from the butchers and ask them to slice it as thinly as possible. With this purchase they are likely to give you beef fat for free, but you can buy 100% beef suet from the supermarket as well.

Set your oven as low as possible (max 50C) and lay the beef strips on a baking tray to dehydrate. The end result must be free from water content and not have changed colour, which indicates that the meat has been cooked. Not good, as this reduces the Pemmican’s longevity and any water content will freeze in the low temperatures you will be facing in the Antarctic making your food far less appealing to eat in the field without cooking it (incidentally this is called “Hooch”, when turned into a soup with snow).

When the beef is dehydrated, leave to cook and blend it in a food processor to turn it into a course powder. Leave to one side.

Next set a frying pan on a low heat. Chop the fat into small pieces and add to the pan. The fat needs to melt and all of the water must evaporate, to ensure the mixture does not go off. However there is a fine line as it must not burn. Watch the mixture carefully as it turns into a thick, yellow, waxy mass. This should take around 20 minutes to half an hour. Remove any skin that is present in the pan and leave to cool.

When the mixture starts to turn hard and oily add the cranberries, beef powder and any spices you wish to add, including the salt. Add immediately to a small can and ensure that it fills all of the sides. Leave to cool and when it is cool enough leave in the fridge until completely set.

Ingredients:

150g wholemeal flour
½tsp baking soda
½tsp salt
30g full fat unsalted butter
50ml cold water

How:

Pre-heat the oven to 190C

Sieve the flour and baking soda together into a mixing bowl, then add the salt. Rub in the butter with your finger tips until you have combined the ingredients to resemble breadcrumbs.

Slowly mix in the water until a malleable ball of dough forms. All the dry ingredients must be evenly incorporated, yet the dough should not be sticky.

Lightly flour a smooth surface and roll out the dough so it is 2 cm thick and fits a large baking tray. Transfer the dough onto a lightly greased baking tray and cut into 5cm squares. Prick each square with a fork.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the dough just starts turning golden brown.  Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack.

Ernest Shackleton's Bannocks Recipe with Boiled Egg 

After the Endurance sank amongst the ice floes of the Weddell Sea, this simple flatbread sustained the crew as it could be made easily with minimal equipment on a blubber stove made of scavenged metal from the ship wreck.

Ingredients

• 200g plain white flour
• 10g baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 40g butter
• 100ml cold water

• Mix the flour, salt and baking powder together gently and thoroughly.
• Add a little of the water and mix to a soft pliable dough, adding a little water at a time to get the right consistency, you may not need all of the water and while you can add more, you can't remove it, knead the dough for a couple of minutes.
• Take the ball of dough on a lightly floured surface, tear it into 4 equally sized pieces.
• Roll each piece into a ball using the palms of your hands.
• Flatten the balls into rounds, you could use a rolling pin or just use your hands to press them outwards, thin is good here so they cook quickly, they should be about 5mm or 1/4" thick.
• Place a piece of butter, about 10g into a frying pan and turn to a high heat. Some recipes will state that you should melt the butter and add it to the flour mix before kneading, the choice is yours, I find this more straightforward and makes the dough easier to use, Cut the butter into pieces and use one per bannock as they will soak it all up during the cooking process leaving little for the next one.
• Add your uncooked bannock and leave for about 2 minutes, use a spatula to lift and turn it over, they stiffen as they cook making them easier to handle. Don't worry if it's not cooked enough, you can always turn it over again so that both sides are cooked evenly.
• Remove and serve or stack on a plate while you cook the others.

Directions

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, then add your eggs and cook 4 to 5 minutes. Drain, cool in ice water and peel.

Medium:

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low, then add your eggs and cook 7 to 8 minutes. Drain, cool in ice water and peel.

Hard:

1. Place your eggs in a pot and cover with cold water by 1 inch. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then cover, remove from the heat and set aside 8 to 10 minutes. Drain, cool in ice water and peel.
2. Antarctic Hoosh Recipe
   
   A simple stew made in the field from pemmican, sledging biscuits and snow. This and little else than this was eaten by the teams of Scott and Amundsen to reach the South Pole and by all of the early Antarctic explorers.
   Ingredients
• Pemmican - 60g (2 oz) per person
• Sledging biscuits - 75g (2.5 oz) per person
• Water - 100ml per person to start with - ideally as snow from Antarctica, but the tap will do if this is not available

1. Boiled Vegetables 

Ingredients

1. • 3 medium baking potatoes, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices (about 1 1/2 pounds)
   • 1 1/2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) sliced carrot
   • 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
   • 1 cup finely chopped onion
   • 3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 1/8 teaspoon pepper                                   

How to Make It

1. Step 1

   Cook potatoes and carrot in boiling water 5 minutes; drain.

   Step 2

   Heat oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat, swirling to coat bottom of pan. Add potatoes and carrots; sauté 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients; sauté 10 minutes or until tender.
2. Note: You can add cabbage during the saute. 

1. Sally Ayotte's South Pole Chocolate Chip Cookies

   Country: Antarctica 
   Course: Desserts 
   
    
   
   
   Ingredients
   • 1/2 cup margarine
   • 1/2 cup butter
   • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
   • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
   • 2 eggs
   • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
   • 2 1/2 cups flour
   • 1 teaspoon baking soda
   • 1/2 teaspoon salt
   • 2/3 cup chocolate chips
   • 2/3 cup white chocolate chips
   • 2/3 cup butterscotch chips
   • 1 cup nuts, chopped (I used peanuts and cashews)
   Directions:
   1. First, cream the butter and the two kinds of sugar.
   2. Now add the eggs and the vanilla.
   3. In a separate bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Then add to the sugar/butter/egg mixture and blend until a soft dough forms.
   4. Add the chips and the chopped nuts.
   5. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto a baking sheet, about two inches apart. The recipe doesn't say to grease the baking sheet, but my cookies stuck pretty badly so I would definitely put a little butter on the pan next time I make these.
   6. Bake at 375 degrees for 12 to 14 minutes, or until the bottom edges are lightly browned.
   Snow Cream Milk

(Good Eats: "Serious" Vanilla Ice Cream)