Emeril Spices Up Camp Food

So he’s never summited Everest or skied the Haute Route. Who would you rather have giving you cooking beta, some skinny uberhiker or America’s favorite TV chef? Here, Emeril looks at camp cooking and tells how to kick it up a notch.

5 Spices Emeril never leaves home without salt, pepper, Essence, cayenne, and parsley. What’s Essence? A mixture of salt, paprika, granulated garlic, black pepper, onion powder, dried thyme, dried oregano, and cayenne pepper. A few pinches of each ingredient in a film canister yields a week’s worth of Essence.

1 pot A 2-quart nonstick aluminum saucepan is all you need on the trail. Emeril’s favorite one-pot meal: Wild Mushroom Risotto (he uses porcini mushrooms, arborio rice, shallots, dried bacon, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese).

1 sauce Kicks up any meal. Saute slices of tabasco or serrano chiles, garlic, and onion with pinch of salt in 2 cups of water until steeped. Then puree the mixture, adding a cup of white vinegar. Refrigerate and age 2 weeks before using.

1 spud To rescue a salty dish, Emeril suggests adding a potato cut into quarters (lightweight version: Add plain dried potato flakes). The starch in the potato will help draw out the extra salt.