It seems like we are going to stay in France for the indefinite future. My wife likes her job. America seems poised on the edge of destroying itself. The food here is good. The new apartment has a lovely view of the Canal du Rhône au Rhin. Our camping-car, the Washing Rat, takes us to other places while maintaining social distancing and familiar sheets. The only problem is that I am not likely to find work anytime soon. COVID-19 has changed the world and contributed to make it even harder to find a job. It is not just the shrinking economy that hurts, but decreased social interactions have slowed the evolution of my language skills and networking opportunities. So I have decided to make YouTube videos.

My videos are about cooking for camping trips. They are not about how to survive by foraging for edible bark and clean water. They are not about how to make a meal with only a survival knife and a piece of flint. These videos are about what I eat. I spent most of my life as a fine dining chef de cuisine. I still enjoy cooking and love the ingredients I find here in France. What I do not love is trying to cook while camping. I never have enough room to prepare vegetables. We mostly wild camp, so we are constantly conserving our water. Temperatures fluctuate in the camper and I really do not want a forgotten tomato festering in a cabinet somewhere. There is not an oven available. Refrigeration is sometimes questionable. Sure, camping food always seems to be tasty. The taste of a wood fire and exercise-driven appetites make everything taste better. What could be better? Gourmet meals are better.

So far, it seems that my camping food falls into two categories. Some of what drives my menus are cravings. I miss steak, BBQ, bacon, and anything spicy. I call this nostalgic eating and it also includes things I associate with camping like chili, stew, and steak. The other category is classical French cuisine that lends itself well to camping. Things like duck confit and pâté are perfect for camping because these dishes were designed before refrigeration was available. Obviously, I use a refrigerator, but if you’ve ever used an absorption fridge, you know that a safety margin is helpful. I do a lot of sous vide and canning. I also prepare or buy some frozen vegetables to minimize what has to be washed and cooked while camping. I’ll show you some tricks to deal with texture issues when you do this.

I really am not a filmmaker. I knew nothing about editing video before I started this. I use relatively inexpensive cameras and a seven year-old MacBook to make these. My friend Tom DePlonty lets me use his music. I do not go camping as often as I would like because of other commitments and my wife’s work schedule, so sometimes I have to show you how I finish a meal at home. I am uploading the videos as I slowly produce them to a private channel which I will link here. When I have a dozen or so of them finished I will make the channel public. Your comments here are incredibly valuable to me.