Last weekend on an unusually warm and sunny November day, I was invited to join Tyler Scott and his wife, Kassy of Camp Kitchen on a gourmet, outdoor dining experience. All in all, the entire experience was approximately four hours in total as it included a 2 km hike into the woods where we would stop and settle around a pre established fire pit that Tyler had constructed.  

Prior to the hike, Tyler and Cassy filled us in on what to expect from the day's outing and the reasons they had chosen to start taking people out on these dining experiences.  Tyler and Cassy both have deep rooted ties to the restaurant industry in Peterborough as the previous owners of Rare on Brock street and as one can imagine, the restaurant industry can be a difficult one to balance a healthy lifestyle and especially with children.  To that point, a massive lifestyle change has been adopted by the Scott family that involves spending more family time together outdoors.

All that being said, we began our hike.  Along the way, we chatted about how awesome the Kawarthas are for outdoor enthusiasts and we stopped a couple of times to try some of the snacks that Tyler had prepared for us.  We started with some freeze dried apple slices that were spiced with Mexican cinnamon.  Crispy, light and delicious.  A little further on and some homemade beef jerky was given to us.  Tender and juicy and full of flavour. 

 

Not long after our beef jerky snack we arrived at our destination.  A fire pit with a stone ring already prepared so that all that was left to do was gather some firewood.  Tyler quickly and expertly sparked up a fire and soon he had the heat he needed to prepare our meal while we sat on our comfy, portable chairs watching.  

As Tyler prepared the meal, he told us where all the locally sourced food came from and why he chose the ingredients for our special outdoor meal. We were going to be treated to a Ramen dish with homemade Ramen noodles, F1 Wagyu beef, shiitake mushrooms, homemade broth and watermelon radishes to name a few of the ingredients that were going to make up our meal.  All of this cooking on the open fire while we shared some tea that had previously been served to us hot as well.  At the same time Tyler also prepared our dessert which was a bannock type cake, made from scratch that would be served with homemade panna cotta. Cassy had carried the chilled panna cotta in a backpack cooler during our hike.  And let's not forget the whisky infused maple syrup that topped the dessert.  Amazing. 

The final touches of the presentation were put together for us on a portable table and we all sat down together to eat.  Not often you get to share a meal and conversation with the chef that prepared your lunch.  It was pretty special.  Not long after we were done, Tyler collected water to put out the fire properly and we hiked back out to the cars.  Full and satisfied with our outdoor meal experience.