Elevate Your Camp Cooking With These 5 Tips by Chef Brian Lee

When camping with friends, chef Brian Lee likes to see how minimal he can keep the menu. One frying pan, maybe a Dutch oven, just the classics, But when destination calls for it—like it did on a recent trip to Mexico’s Baja Peninsula with a group of adventure-driven folks brought together by CamelBak—the chef who specializes in outdoor cooking pulled out all the stops. We’re talking yellowfin tuna diced into sashimi with soy sauce, wasabi, and thinly sliced jalapeño, halibut served as aquachile with fruit juice, and snapper—caught while spearfishing—grilled over the fire with lemon. All prepared tailgate-style on the beach at sunset. Far from hot dogs and s’mores my friends.

Lee lives in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Echo Park neighborhood, and he’s the first to admit there are far more convenient places for folks who like to spend time exploring outside to live. Yet ironically, the City of Angels played the pivotal role in leading Lee to the niche he occupies now, or rather, Venice’s famed bakery, Gjusta, did. It was during a year and a half long stint there that Lee learned about the farm-to-table movement, seasonality, and the value of good ingredients.

He observed how a close connection between cook and crop impacts the quality of the food they prepare. And later, while working as a sous chef at Rory’s Place in Ojai, Lee found himself even nearer to the source. “We’d have uni divers and fishermen come in with buckets of fresh uni,” he recalls. Even if LA isn’t the absolute best place for access to the outdoors, it’s an amazing place for accessing fresh produce.

Source: https://www.fieldmag.com/articles/camp-cooking-tips-chef-brian-lee