UKC

So maybe this is just my brain being warped after a couple of weeks stomping around the Pyrenees, but how does this sound for an idea?

The Mountain Hut Cookbook. Authentic recipes collected from the huts and refuges of Europe, from the Picos to the Tatras. Page after page of hearty, straightforward, rib-sticking dishes, equally suitable for winter family suppers or unpretentious dinner parties. A useful source of recipes, but also a small insight into the mountain cultures of Europe and their different, locally unique approaches to producing big plates of meat, fat and carbs.

Personally I could go for a slimmed down paperback version, but I'd imagine it working better as an aspirational coffee table type cookbook, with a bit of descriptive prose about the hut that each recipe came from, little interviews where guardians wax lyrical about the importance of food in their local culture, and shallow depth-of-field photographs of some garlic frying in a pan of olive-oil juxtaposed against glorious mountain sunsets, pictures of spartan but homely hut interiors, and goofy shots of hut dogs.

Would anyone else buy this? Or just want to reminisce about hut food in general?

Also, I have no idea how to write a book, but if any publisher wants to give me a massive advance to spend a couple of months next summer wandering around the mountains eating things then please get in touch.

This would also make an excellent TV series.

You should definitely check out the menu at the Gianetti hut under the Badile - the food was outstanding, and not just because we hadn't eaten for two days!

I would like the recipe for Bavarian pancake soup which was excellent when I had it at the Rossteim (sp?) hut.

One of the most memorable alpine routes I did was the traverse of La Meije. The experience had the usual ingredients: great partner, interesting climbing, majestic views. But it also had the added bonus of gourmet food in the two tiny huts at either end: I'll never forget the crepes flambees (!) in the Promontoire and the poulet au citron in the Aigle. My other abiding hut food memory is also from the Ecrins: the tarte au chocolat in the Soreiller, beneath the Dibona.

Honorable mention for the memorable goulash at the Lavarella hut in the Dolomites too.  There is something really special about excellent food when you are as well-exercised and malnourished as you often are when you get to a hut!

No it wouldn't, nothing to see here!  Trouble enough booking a hut in peak season as it is sometimes.

Some of my best hut meals have been in the Spanish Pyrenees so make sure you include some of those

Yes, absolutely yes. It's a great idea. Some rib sticking puddings would be a nice plan too. 

Ive seen the Hut custodian heat up a mean curry, carried up from Fort William, whilst in the CIC Hut - is that the thing your after?

I once had a pot noodle in Great Lingy Hut, does that count?

If that counts, then my classic "Smash with powdered tomato soup" recipe counts too.

So no, sorry.

We're so close to getting this thread above the "Recipe for disaster" thread.

Is that the latest Brexit thread?