[pct-l] cold water food experiment

[dsaufley at sprynet.com (dsaufley@sprynet.com)]

We hosted the Boutenkos, a family of raw food vegetarians in '98.  They told us that anything that can be cooked to become soft can also be soaked for the same effect.  Rice, noodles, grains, etc.  They especially advocated soaking nuts, indicating that when the nuts which are essentially seeds are soaked, they begin to sprout, thinking it's time to grow into a nut tree.  When this occurs, the seed goes through a metamorphis that makes it more nutritious by some exponential factor.  So, soaking your nuts (ahem) is better than eating them raw.  

L-Rod

-----Original Message-----
>From: Robert Ellinwood <rellinwood@worldnet.att.net>
>Sent: Feb 11, 2006 5:18 PM
>To: pct-l@mailman.backcountry.net
>Subject: [pct-l] cold water food experiment
>
>Roll your eyes now and get it over with...
>
>Last summer on the very few evenings when I decided to "eat cold" and not
>cook, due to tiredness or inclement weather, I found myself "wired" late
>into the night by too much sugar, I guess, in the snackables that I consumed
>in place of "dinner."   Tonight, I finally got around to experimenting with
>some traditional hiking dinner foods and seeing how edible they became after
>periods of soaking in just cold water.  A couple hikers have told me mashed
>potatoes fixed with cold water were quick and good.  
>
>Arranged before me were couscous, stovetop stuffing, mashed potatoes, ramen,
>pre-cooked minute rice, a Lipton noodle dinner, and Mac & cheese spirals.
>Arbitrarily, I chose intervals of 10 min, 20 min and 30 min for tastings.
>Predictably, at 10 min the mashed potatoes and stovetop stuffing were just
>fine for eating and probably were almost immediately.  At 20 minutes the
>ramen noodles were fine for eating and may well have been at the 15 min
>mark, but could definitely not be included in the 10 min group.. At 30 min
>the couscous and the minute rice were "doable" but gritty and not enjoyable,
>while the Lipton noodle dinner was "barely doable" and definitely not
>enjoyable.  30 min didn't even make a dent in the Mac & cheese spirals.  
>
>The mashed potatoes and the stovetop stuffing have the same caloric value
>and taste good immediately.  The ramen has more calories at fewer ounces,
>but takes a bit longer to soak.  I had assumed, incorrectly, that the
>couscous would be among the top finishers, but nope.  Stovetop stuffing,
>while good, has a distinct, pronounced flavor, while the mashed potatoes and
>ramen seem to me better suited to "doctoring up" with cheeses and other
>additions.  
> 
>So, FWIW, if I find myself stuck in a tent in a storm on the PCT this
>summer, any deviation from a normal hot dinner will probably involve mashed
>potatoes or ramen fixed with cold water.   I hated lying there wide awake
>most of the night from too much sugar too late.   It was probably not the
>caffeine in the chocolate, in that the "level of caffeine in chocolate (6
>milligrams per 1 ounce of milk chocolate) is low when compared to the level
>in coffee, tea, and some soft drinks." (ask.yahoo.com/20001018.html)
>
>Dr Bob