Recommended tinned provisions

Last time I had an FB pie I wasn't impressed, the filling was mush and the pastry soggy.
There are many square meals to be had using three cans eg. Irish stew, new potatoes and peas or sausage casserole, potatoes and peas. All in one saucepan easy.
I tried Co-op brand breakfast in a tin, not impressive but maybe Sainsbury's or Waitrose versions are better (if they even sell them). Pot noodles are great for a hot snack on a night watch but not a proper meal.
 
I am just glad no one has recommended those Parsley Box things. Some idiot on this forum did just that, at the start of the covid lockdowns last year, when one could not get a loo roll for love nor money. Worried that we may run out of food I ordered £65-00 worth on the recommendation on this forum.
My wife & i tried one each & after a couple of spoonfuls of brown sick we chucked them. The rest we put in the charity box at the supermarket. However, we did feel a bit cruel taking the p..s out of those in need.
 
To get away from the tins, bottled meals are a tasty alternative that we’ve used on longer trips away from resupply. We use any screw top glass that we have to hand, pack the ingredients in together with flavourings, screw the lids on and cook in a pressure cooker for 45 minutes. Allow to cool naturally and remove jars from cooker. Check to make sure the tops don’t click inwards when cool: discard any that do as it indicates the seal isn’t intact. Store and use within a year.
Top tip: open jars in the open air, as if one has gone off, the pong is truly nauseating..
 
Forgive the slight thread drift but has anyone tried pemican which was a favourite of the early 20th century explorers such as Scott et al. I believe it went well with pony,
 
Little Dorrit said:
Forgive the slight thread drift but has anyone tried pemican which was a favourite of the early 20th century explorers such as Scott et al. I believe it went well with pony,
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No but I have had whale in Norway, it was like eating a slice of bicycle tyre dipped in faeces, not recommended, although the locals were loving it.
Pemmican is raw seal blubber mixed with cereal I believe, the only food available with enough calories when sledging. I'm fairly sure Blashford-Snell and Dr Mike Stroud used it on some intrepid expedition in modern times.
 
I daresay many replies here were meant to be amusing, and several are, even if they were intended sincerely...

...but I'm amazed at how very 1970s some of the preferences are. In a world where canning (and other means of preservation) makes almost anything available aboard small yachts, the majority of suggestions in this thread are nevertheless unchanged from 40+ years ago.

Corned beef? Baked beans? They're edible, but do we go out in boats purely to re-live past privations?

I recommend the William Saurin branded tins of "Petit Salé", lentils in rich gravy and lightly salted pork. With any available greenery, a large can of that provides carbohydrate and protein in a delicious form which consigns spam and fried potato to underprivileged memory.
 
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dancrane said:
I daresay many replies here were meant to be amusing, because several are, even if they were intended sincerely...

...but I'm amazed at how very 1970s some of the preferences are. In a world where canning (and other means of preservation) makes almost anything available aboard small yachts, the majority of suggestions in this thread are nevertheless unchanged from 40+ years ago.

Corned beef? Baked beans? They're edible, but do we go out in boats purely to re-live past privations?

I recommend the William Saurin branded tins of "Petit Salé", lentils in rich gravy and lightly salted pork. With any available greenery, a large can of that provides carbohydrate and protein in a delicious form which consigns spam and fried potato to underprivileged memory.
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I think it's time to move on from the shibboleth that 70’s food was all bad; to do so is to conflate the ingredients and our culinary skills at the time. I like to think the contemporary chefs and amateur cooks are more creative than you giving them credit for ;)
 
I wish I thought you are right.

People need pushing to try different things, which they then regard as fantastic. Before that, there's a deplorable tendency to default to whatever has been available for as long as anyone can remember.

Pies and blocks of preserved meat are a shortcut back to the lousiest, easiest, unhealthiest and often foulest solutions to hunger which were favoured when no broader selection was offered. It's a sad reflection of yachtsmens' conservatism, if those limited options are still preferred, or recalled with any fondness whilst aboard in 2021.

I'll get my coat...
 
Robin said:
French supermarkets used to sell a variety of boil in bag meals, like lasagne, spag bol, sweet and sour chicken with rice etc. we used to keep some as 'go along' meals as they come in trays like airline grub, no dishes to wash isadded bonus.

I still remember 'dynamite stew' from Ocean Youth Club IN 1960s. take one tin of everything in big stewpan, add curry powder peeled spuds and boil away till spuds cooked, reheat daily until used up. preferably sit on rail, racer style after eating.
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I learned how to cook from the ocean youth club in the early 80s. it hadn’t changed.
 
dancrane said:
I wish I thought you are right.

People need pushing to try different things, which they then regard as fantastic. Before that, there's a deplorable tendency to default to whatever has been available for as long as anyone can remember.

Pies and blocks of preserved meat are a shortcut back to the lousiest, easiest, unhealthiest and often foulest solutions to hunger which were favoured when no broader selection was offered. It's a sad reflection of yachtsmens' conservatism, if those limited options are still preferred, or recalled with any fondness whilst aboard in 2021.

I'll get my coat...
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That's all very well but if you have a small* 28' yacht like mine with no fridge or ice box, tinned food is ideal.

After all, to quote Captain Josselyn , author of “Down Easter Captain”
“There are so many pleasant things about the sea life that one can put up with some discomforts."

* By small I mean by the standards of today's UK yachtsmen and yachtswomen. I am pleased to note that a great many French yachtsmen, in whose delightful country I keep my boat, seem perfectly content with small boats and have a lot of fun in them without spending a fortune. Whereas many British regard anything that does not have two showers, fridge, freezer, central heating, hifi, etc. as some sort of floating hovel. :D
 
Boating is a choice. You can choose camping on water, been there, done that, tee shirt is totally worn out.
Or, if you have and are prepared to blue the dosh on a more sophisticated and better equiped vessel, enjoy almost, but not quite, the comforts of home.
Which is our choice.
Lots of fun can be had in small yachts, no question about that.
As a 50/50 partnership First Mate has some input - probably more than her 50% worth if the truth is known.
She made two demands - standing room in the galley and heads plus a dry and seaworthy vessel.
Neither were unacceptable. First sailing boat was a 1/3rd share in a Hunter 27OOD. This JUST met her demands. And was a really good boat to learn sailing on.
Second was a Gibsea 96 three cabin. Excellent boat, but a Senior Moment had us keeping two boats for a while as we fell in love with an Island Packet 350. We could - and did - live aboard for five months each summer exploring the British Isles. The possibilities that were opened up to us with a larger vessel were enjoyed to the full, and in some comfort.
The current boat has comfort and features in spades. She sales like a brick compared to some, but has 1,000 NM's range on engine with a full tank and in the right conditions makes good progress under sail.
Each to their own.
You cant take it with you and enjoying our sailing late in life requires a comfortable and fully equipped boat.
Others might have a different opinion, which is fine. Be very boring if we all wanted or aspired to the same thing.
Getting back to the OP, we find French canned Duck Confit, Cassoulet, green beans and some others very good. We also use soups, canned ham, baked beans, corned beef, stews and others when we cant get ashore.
We have a large freezer, breadmaker and one large and one small fridge.
And an 8KW Genset when not on shorepower.
 
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WoodyP said:
A week in Eyemouth would be a long time even if you feel well.
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A great place. 20 minutes on the bus to Berwick upon Tweed where I was sent as a 6 year old for a year when my mother was ill & later had a holiday home for 14 years. I spent many happy hours fishing in the harbour for poddlers:D & watching the large fishing fleets come in to the original harbour in heavy weather & the fish being sold. Have been back hundreds of times as a tourist. Never dreamed that I would be able to sail a yacht in there. Love the place. :D
 
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