Has anyone tried corn pasta?
... for backpacking, obviously.
Thughts, concerns, recipes?
Had it once. Tasty, but real hard to get here. I'd think it was loaded with complex carbohydrates. So rare as to be a treat, instead of a staple.
Grits
The trail was here before we arrived, and it will still be here when we are gone...enjoy it now, and preserve it for others that come after us
I've taken whole corn elbows out a bunch but they are tricky to cook and if you cook them too long(easy to do), they end up a tasteless mush. Worth trying out though and a change O pace from the usual wheat.
Tipi Walter's right about the cooking situation. I figured it was too specific and touchy for cooking on trail, but sure, can be done and are tasty!
ad astra per aspera
Corn Pasta
In 2001 hiked some with Tuna & Wild Boy. Corn pasta & tuna was all they ate.They said that it had more carbs than regular pasta. They brought it in bulk and did food drops.
Grampie-N->2001
Yeah, I tried it once when a friend offered me some of his. Thought I was going to hate it, but it was actually really pretty tasty. Never made it myself though, so I have no cooking suggestions.
Don't take anything I say seriously... I certainly don't.
I probably over cooked it because I thought it sucked.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
Corn pasta is sort of a joke among PCT hikers who have read Ray Jardine's book "Beyond Backpacking". Mr Jardine proposes corn pasta as the most perfect food of all time, nearly. But most who try it agree that it's pretty horrible to eat. Just look in any hiker box along the PCT.
"Throw a loaf of bread and a pound of tea in an old sack and jump over the back fence." John Muir on expedition planning
He also says Raw only is the best food to eat, but then also mentions in other places that he couldn't make raw foods work on the trail because he couldn't get enough calories that way.
SGT Rock
http://hikinghq.net
My 2008 Trail Journal of the BMT/AT
BMT Thru-Hikers' Guide
-----------------------------------------
NO SNIVELING
I like corn,
grits,
on the cob,
fried,
by kellogs,
and in a jar.
Never tried pasta.
Tried corn pasta last night. It wasn't bad. The texture was just a little bit off, but I may not have cooked it quite enough.
It required more water than wheat pasta. Also a lot of starch cooked off it, so it needed a lot of rinsing. For those reasons, I don't think I'd want to fuss with it on the trail.
I have tried it at home many times. You can easily over cook it, it just isn't the same with tomato sauce. My wife and I do enjoy it a few different ways. I don't think it is a good trail choice. It is the same weight as regular and takes the same time (too much) boil.
Originally Posted by Farr Away
I've had it as well....kinda grainy, like whole wheat...I like egg based pasta better. Though tortillas soup is not bad.
had some great corn last night...it was "NBC" night...nothin but corn...and some veggies
A "Ray Way" staple for sure, tricky to cook indeed, an acquired taste- absolutely. Ray makes his with pasta sauce which helps a lot, you can put the dried pasta flakes in with the water and the pasta absorbs the flavor as well. Seems to aid in the cooking a bit. That said- takes more than trying it out- it's a skill. Growing up Italian I never could get over the taste and texture and couldn't make the mental leap. Like Whole Grain pastas, something about it is off, and it never tastes right. Worth playing with though, try it at home to figure out how to cook it- but overall most folks (myself included) never convert to it. Bulger, Millet, rice, and other grains do the trick for me, I get my corn from Pinole.
Ray was a corn pasta proponent in the PCT Hikers Handbook but by Beyond Backpacking said they don't make it like they used to and nixed the idea.
He's back on the corn (Spaghetti)- Trail Life pages 146-148. Ray has one of the best nutritional sections of any backpacking book, IMO. Not all aspects of the Ray Way are the way, but you can certainly learn a lot from the fella. Detailed advice on how to obtain and cook the magical corn are included.
Never read Trail Life, but found at the time it would have been nearly impossible to hike the PCT without the Handbook.
Rumor had it Ray hiked the AT this year, but I never saw where anyone spotted him.
PS Amazon says Trail Life (2009) is Ray's colorized version of Beyond Backpacking. I couldn't find any mention of corn pasta (spaghetti) in it.
Last edited by Sly; 08-09-2013 at 10:32.
Trail Life is the best version yet. As a climber Ray was one of my hero's long before I even heard of the PCT or AT- amazing dude. His site has a little blurb and a few photos from March on the AT...next post is a long motorcycle ride in the southwest in July. Possible...but doesn't look like a Thru. Small blurb on the news page too with some pics seems to say springer to at least Virginia. Even at around 70 I wouldn't doubt he could pull a four month hike, just doesn't look like he squeezed it in. http://www.rayjardine.com/adventures...3-AT/index.htm
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