A Wilderness Dweller's Cookbook

Book excerpt: One of Chris Czajkowski's first priorities when she arrived at Nuk Tessli, a remote location in BC's Coast Mountains, was to devise a way to bake bread. At first, she lived in a tent and her oven was a simple pile of rocks with a hole in the middle. But as she built her wilderness cabins and started providing for the clients of her wilderness adventure business, she perfected her stone oven and her recipes--and word began to spread of Nuk Tessli and the "Best Bread in the World." From tangy sourdough loaves of freshly ground grain, Nuk Tessli Fruit Bread sweetened with hearty molasses and aromatic spices, to Montreal bagels with an alpine touch, here are inspiring, adventurous recipes that bypass the bread machine. Also included are quick breads and desserts, like a hearty trail mix cake--perfect on a hike--and Nuk Tessli's enigmatic spotted dick, plus a few indispensable recipes for any wilderness dweller (or frugal urbanite), such as fresh yogurt and sprouts. A Wilderness Dweller's Cookbook is not just a collection of recipes; it's also a fascinating account of how a wilderness dweller--in a non-growing climate 20 km from a road, 60 km from a store, and 250 km from a town large enough to have a supermarket--feeds herself and her guests. Of particular interest to readers with their own wilderness dreams will be Czajkowski's descriptions of the logistics of getting wholesome, fresh food to the table in this remote and spectacular location