[pct-l] Which Book to Read ??

[Scott Williams]

Yes, Colin Fletcher's 1,000 Mile Summer and Complete Walker were my first
books on backpacking too.  He really sparked my teenage imagination in the
60's.  And Nitnoid, you're right, I did get corn pasta from Jardine's PCT
Handbook, but didn't realize he backed out of the stuff later on nutritional
grounds.  The corn pasta I got was from a reputable health food store, and
was whole grain I thought, as I am pretty conscious of that stuff.  My
problem wasn't the nutritional nature of corn pasta, it was that it just
cooks up yucky.  I love Bob's Red Mill whole grain corn meal for making
mush, and it's great trail food.  All the Red Mill products are top notch.
 And polenta, grits, pozole, and masa drinks, they're all good.  But I don't
think corn makes a very good tasting pasta.  It falls apart and when it
does, it doesn't turn into the nice mush that ground corn makes.  It's just
not very tasty in my opinion.

But it has been a great joke on trail ever since.  Who ever out there likes
it, go for it.  I'd just rather eat a whole lot of other cruddy and semi
tasty trail food before relying on corn pasta again.  And corn meal mush is
not in that category.  It's delicious simply with oil, or a bit of cheese,
or with any number of good things on top.

It's interesting in light of this thread, that I've just been directed back
to the purported super properties of corn by Christopher McDougall in his
book Born to Run.  A good read by the way.  He claims part of the incredible
running power of the Tarahumara Indians of the Copper Canyons of Mexico is
their reliance on pinole, a ground and sweetened corn or maize, with spices.
 They mix it with water and drink it. He describes it as tasting like
"shredded popcorn."  Hell I love popcorn.  He quotes a Dr Robert Weinberg
who claims it has the highest quantity of phenols (very anti carcinogenic
compounds) than any other grain.  They supplement pinole with chia seeds,
which is the most common flower for miles of the PCT desert section.  I used
to bring chia backpacking in the 60's and 70's after learning that
California Indians could hike all day on a tablespoon or two of the stuff.
 It is packed with nutrition and soluble fiber.  If you try to eat it
straight however, as I learned back then, it bulks up right in your mouth.
 Much better to grind and mix that with water too I would think.

Maybe I'll give pinole a try this summer as he gives one U.S. source for the
stuff.  It doesn't need cooking, and could be mixed in a gator aid bottle.
 Corn pasta drink here I come!

Shroomer