I suppose what you say is true, but the person who wants the title "Overland Chef" (in my way of thinking) must be able to put meals together from scratch while doing so off the grid in the field. If the only thing somebody is doing when they travel is heating things up that they purchased "ready to eat" or that they made in advance, then they are just an "overland cook" by my reckoning--note that the chef gets capitalized while the cook remains lowercase. I think that a significant part of enjoying food in the field is the preparation--this is why things like the Iron Grill Table are so cool. I occasionally attend events in the desert as part of a crowd called ECV--they will have several hundred folks who eat mass-prepared meals from a chuck wagon type of set up. While the food is o.k. at these things, I generally hang out with a few guys who choose to do our own thing. We have been known to make things like dry rubbed prime rib, garlic and rosemary lamb chops, steamed king crab legs, and eggs benedict where every aspect is field made including hollandaise from scratch--not that mix crap that most people use. It is a pain in the @$$ to make hollandaise over a camp stove, but it can be done. If you think it tastes good at home, you should try it in the field. With a liberal dose of cayenne pepper, it also is killer on steamed asparagus. It is especially nice to see the other peoples' faces (those who ate at the chuck wagon) as they walk by and (drooling!) see what we are eating.
Cheers,
Greg
