cooking meals that don't need refrigeration

[halloweencat]

hello any and all :)

a friend of mine is helping out with a program at her church which requires her to cook meals for families that have no access to fridges or freezers. she's feels very challenged, so i thought i'd ask here on her behalf, what nutritious meals might be made that can be left out? also, fwiw, she's cooking for a family of seven.

many thanks in advance. cheers :)

hc

[jgm]

I'll be interested to see the suggestions on this topic. No refrigeration? The only thing I can think of is PB&J.

How long between the delivery of the food, and when it's eaten? That will make a big difference.

[touaregsand]

Is it possible for your friend to freeze some entrees in plastic containers? Soups and stews obviously come to mine. If it's possible to obtain some ice chests or even those soft sided insulated bags than the frozen dishes can double function as cooling devices to keep other foods at a safe (relatively safe ) temperature for a little while anyway. Free cycle and craigslist.com are good sites for free stuff.

My family didn't have a refrigerator untill I was 5. My husband spent his entire childhood without one. It's not we both come from poor families, it has more to do with where we were born. Another thing to consider is adding spices and herbs to soups and stews to help extend shelf life so to speak.

Hope this helps.

[Carolyn Tillie]

I'm trying to think of things that I have cooked for picnics -- stuff that needed to be transported and was potentially at room temperature for many, many hours. Here's what comes to mind:

- Left-over fried chicken

- Pasta Salad

- Muffaletta Sandwiches

- Cold-cuts in general (almost any cooked meat; roast beef, pork roast, etc)

- Grain and Bean Salads (not mayonnaise-based)

- Fruit salad

- Terrines

- Mediterranean items like hummous, baba ghanoush

- Roasted vegetables

[Pan]

When I was living in rural Malaysia in the 70s, no-one in the area had a refrigerator because electricity was available at night only. A common occurrence in (well, initially, outside) my house was for a chicken to be slaughtered, cleaned and boiled plain on the first day, then recooked with spices as a curry the next day. Fish from that day's catch were bought, cooked, and eaten on the same day. The key point is that as long as the families have working stoves and can thoroughly reheat everything, it is possible for their food to be acceptable or even tasty as leftovers the next day. Spices certainly do help, though, if any spoilage has occurred due to being left out in hot weather.

As per what Touregsand wrote, soups and stews -- especially well-seasoned ones -- are good candidates even if refrigerators and freezers are unavailable. Let's remember that until pretty recently, nobody had a refrigerator. That's a major reason for the development of fish sauce (garum, etc.) and shrimp paste; dried salted fish (baccala, etc.), shrimp, and squid; jerky/pemmican; jerk dishes; etc., etc.

Here are some specific ideas: Jambalaya, chili, spicy Thai curries (e.g., "Massaman" curry is the Malay Muslim-style curry of the villages in the southern part of Thailand and a time-honored no-refrigerator recipe), mulligatawny soup. For less-spicy ideas, consider a nice pot roast, boeuf a la flamande, bouef bourguignon, coq au vin. There's a great Ecuadorian chicken recipe from the Round the World Cookbook that my mother used to cook; it features olives and is called Aji de Pollo. I'm sure others will think of more, but I think these are the types of dishes to consider. Keep away from highly perishable foodstuffs like clams and mussels (I wouldn't recommend clam chowder). For vegetable dishes, ratatouille would be welcome, or provide some spicy vegetable curries, etc. Also consider lentil soup, split pea soup, dal, and Dominican-style (or Cuban-, Puerto Rican-style, etc.) black and red beans. I think that that style of beans, which contains a good deal of liquid, will stay good without refrigeration better than refried beans, which I figure should probably be refried and eaten right away.

Some fresh fruits and vegetables that don't go bad immediately could also be much appreciated.

[chefzadi]

This is a great thread. I'll be using alot of the ideas myself in this thread myself.

Alot of slow cooked country French dishes don't require refrigeration. (Heck none of it did untill we had refrigerators. ) think of dishes especially with wine in them, such as coq au vin or boeuf bourguignon. Your friend can use very cheap wine (hey I made these dishes with wine in a box for a bunch of rich French people and they all said it takes just like grandmas and got teary eyed) with inexpensive cuts of meat and add more vegetable garnishes.

Frittatas or Spanish Tortillas are a good source of protein and can be filled with a range of vegetables.

Pasta dishes with tomato/vegetable sauce.

Enchiladas, the spices and chilis in the sauce keep the dish from going bad quckly.

To echoe what Michael said, soups with pulses, dried beans, lentils keep really well. They are nutritious, cheap, filling and very tasty depending on how they are seasoned. Inspiration can be drawn from India, the Middle East, North Africa... Some rice or bread and it's a complet meal.

[ludja]

fruit pies or pecan pie for something sturdy for travel and sweet...

Edited May 11, 2005 by ludja (log)

[helenjp]

I like to deepfry food that I know will be sitting out for a while - the fact that every bit of the food's surface is going to come in contact with very hot oil is extremely reassuring to me! The food also remains flavorful.

Apart from things like chicken, these two recipes are favorite "cook and leave" items of mine - however, I imagine that some recipients are used to eating a very narrow range of foods, and won't enjoy or feel safe with anything unfamiliar. In that case, the old standards with toppings that add to visual appeal might be the safest route.

Citrus salad with crispy pork (Other meats would work fine). Pull out the flesh of a grapefruit or two, add a little grated or shredded mild onion, sharpen the flavor with a little vinegar, season to taste, and set aside in a good-sized bowl. Now take finely cut pieces of meat and shake them in cornstarch or even plain flour, seasoned if you prefer. Deep fry the pieces, and as soon as they are done, drop them sizzling into the grapefruit "dressing". Allow to come to room temperature and add salad vegetables such as cucumber or shredded cabbage or bell peppers etc.

Salmon or other fish "southern barbarian" style: Lightly dust pieces of fresh salmon or other fish with cornstarch or flour. Deep fry, and drop into a "dressing" of 3 tab soy sauce, 2 tab mild vinegar, 1 tab sugar. Add grated fresh ginger or shreds of mild raw onion or chopped scallions or red pepper or toasted sesame seeds/tsp sesame oil or slices of lemon/orange....as you like. This can be used for pork slices too.

Meats cooked "adobo" style: Check collections of Filipino recipes online - basically meats are simmered in soy sauce and vinegar. This method is not greasy and the food keeps well.

Croquettes (deepfried or ovenfried) : This might be one of the easiest ways to present vegetables - since they can be prepared without an oven and taste good cold, they have been one of the most popular western foods in Japan for nearly a century! The standard version here is to boil and mash potatoes, and add half the weight of the potatoes (before you cooked them) in stir-fried ground beef or pork, with a little onion and seasoning added. These are shaped into little bars, floured, dipped in egg-and-milk, crumbed, and deepfried (would also work as oven-fries). The trick is not to allow the "additions" to be too greasy, or the croquettes won't hold their shape.

To make vegetable croquettes, replace all or some of the potato with pumpkin or sweet potato, and/or replace all or some of the meat with finely chopped stirfried cabbage, chopped boiled spinach, stirfried onion and tomato (fry till dry), green beans, corn, etc. Curry seasonings go particularly well with sweet potato croquettes. I often replace half the breadcrumbs in the coating with sesame seeds for a crunchy, tasty coating. Serve with mayonnaise or ketchup or worcester sauce.

Samosas are also good transportable vegetable food, and taste great cold. I think that anything crumbed and fried should be presented with one piece cut open diagonally, so that the recipient can see what's inside!

Quiche doesn't keep so well, but a straight-up bacon and egg pie does!

Edited May 12, 2005 by helenjp (log)

[rooftop1000]

the thing I eat with no fear that may have been left out waaaaay too long would be pizza.

So maybe some kind of stuffed breads....ala strombolli or whatever fillings would nationally appropriate...if the bread will keep wouldnt the fillings

[Really Nice!]

Folks, let's avoid speculation at the expense of other people's health and come to realize that if somethings' got to be cooked, somethings' got to be refrigerated. And it needs to be done so in a proper manner. Taking a refrigerated item out of refrigeration is extremely dangerous.

There's a thing called the Temperature Danger Zone (TDZ) that exists between 40°F and 140°F. If a food is cooked, chances are it's going to go above 140°F. When it cools down, chances are it's going to cool down through that same TDZ.

Any food cooked above 140°F must cool down to 70°F within two hours and down to 40°F within four hours after that. If it doesn't cool within that timeframe, it must be discarded. The same goes for foods that are warming up.

Taking properly handled foods out of the TDZ and into the TDZ puts the people who are going to comsume the food at great risk for which you will be liable.

Failure to properly move foods through the TDZ, or as the case is here, moving foods into the the TDZ can lead to time-temperature abused scenarios that lead to some illnesses that I (and probably you) would rather not have. For example:

Salmonella: Illness comes from poultry, meat, fish, shellfish, and dairy products either not cooked to the proper temperature for the proper amount of time or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, fevre, diarrhea, vomiting, and severe dehydration.

Staphylococcal Poisoning: Illness comes from ham, poultry, eggs, and dairy products either not reheated to the proper temperature for the proper amount of time or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, headaches, nausea, muscle cramping, retching, diarrhea, changes in blood pressure and pulse rate.

Clostridium perfringens: Illness comes from meat, poultry, stews, gravies, and beans that have not properly been cooled or the product spends too much time in the TDZ. Symptoms include: abdominal cramps, diarrhea, nausea, dehydration, fever, and headache.

Bacillus Cereus Gastroenteritis: Illness comes from rice, potatoes, dairy, vegetables, and fish that have not properly been cooled. Symptoms include: nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, and diarrhea.

The list goes on and on...

Botulism, Vibro spp. (noncholerae) Gastroenteritis/Septicemia, Yersiniosis...

Notice the text in italics... or the product spends too much time in the TDZ!!! When you drop the item off at the door step, the product is in the TDZ. How long are you willing to let it sit there before someone consumes it? Three days???

You may very well do a great job in moving the foods through the TDZ within the required timeframe. However, when you return the food to people who do not have refrigeration, you are exposing them to the illnesses I describe above.

If you want validation, search for HACCP on the Internet. You can't get a food handler's permit without knowing HAACP! I'm not going to give you details about it as this is a project worth searching and finding the answers yourself especially if you plan on handling food that is going to go into someone elses body. This means you are a food handler and you must have a food handler's permit!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, in this scenario, the best thing to do is to go to an Army Surplus store and buy some freeze-dried or ready to eat meals for them.

[Pan]

Folks, let's avoid speculation at the expense of other people's health and come to realize that if somethings' got to be cooked, somethings' got to be refrigerated.[...]

←

For some of us, this is not speculation. What did and do people who don't have refrigerators do? Answer: Reheat everything thoroughly. That's the key: Everything must be reheated thoroughly before eating. If the people being given food have no cooking facilities, then they must not be given anything that requires heat for sterilization. But if they do, they can carefully reheat the kinds of things I've been recommending and eat them with a reasonable expectation of safety. Your approach simply wouldn't have worked for most of human history, before refrigeration was invented.

Edited May 12, 2005 by Pan (log)

[petite tête de chou]

hello any and all :)

a friend of mine is helping out with a program at her church which requires her to cook meals for families that have no access to fridges or freezers.  she's feels very challenged, so i thought i'd ask here on her behalf, what nutritious meals might be made that can be left out?  also, fwiw, she's cooking for a family of seven.

many thanks in advance. cheers :)

hc

←

So, is the assumption that your friend would be making one meal for one day at a time? Or is she making a couple meals to last the family a couple days, meaning that the uneaten meals would be left out?

[Carlovski]

I'm slightly concerned - a few of the things people have suggested as what they would be most happy to eat after being left out for a long time seem particularly dangerous to me.

[Behemoth]

My Lebanese grandmother didn't acquire a fridge until the very late 1960's. It's truly amazing none of her 10 kids died of food poisoning.

I think the idea is, these people didn't have a lot of money -- so with ten kids, almost everything would be eaten within one day.

I don't know if this is still common, but I remember buying meat from butchers in the souk who had no refrigeration. Chickens were killed right when you ordered them. Eggs were never refrgerated. But with American farm practices (and liability laws) I would stick with pulses and vegetables cooked in plant oil as the safest choices. These were often prepared in the morning on hot summer days and left on the counter to cool for the evening meal. I've left those out on the counter all day with no adverse effects. I would not do the same for animal products, especially in the summer.

Examples:

Greens like escarole stewed in olive oil, topped with caramleized onion

fried eggplant and cauliflower

**breads**

cracked wheat pilafs with lentils, tomatoes or zucchini

hummus

She left cooked yogurt dishes out as well - since you have to leave yogurt out for a while when making it anyway it is probbaly okay for a day.

Actually, you can make labneh balls by draining yogurt, rolling it in a ball in some herbs and packing it in a jar full of olive oil. I keep my jar in the pantry until I open it. My grandmother just kept it in the pantry without refrigeration. (not that it lasted that long...)

Samosas are a good suggestion -- there is a lebanese version of this -- I think there is a thread in the ME forum, foodman has a recipe.

Edited May 12, 2005 by Behemoth (log)

[ludja]

hello any and all :)

a friend of mine is helping out with a program at her church which requires her to cook meals for families that have no access to fridges or freezers.  she's feels very challenged, so i thought i'd ask here on her behalf, what nutritious meals might be made that can be left out?  also, fwiw, she's cooking for a family of seven.

many thanks in advance. cheers :)

hc

←

So, is the assumption that your friend would be making one meal for one day at a time? Or is she making a couple meals to last the family a couple days, meaning that the uneaten meals would be left out?

←

Good question! I guess I was thinking that what was meant was bringing over for the same day--i.e. to be eaten with a few hours.

[chefzadi]

If you want validation, search for HACCP on the Internet. You can't get a food handler's permit without knowing HAACP! I'm not going to give you details about it as this is a project worth searching and finding the answers yourself especially if you plan on handling food that is going to go into someone elses body. This means you are a food handler and you must have a food handler's permit!!!!!!!!!!!!

Overkill, uneccessary and unrealistic. I am quite familiar with professional food handling procedures.

Halloween cat's friend is donating food through a church to needy people. If every food handler as you define needed a permit thousands if not hundreds of thousands of people who rely on shelters, churches, food banks for sustenence would starve to death.

I won't repeat what Pan and Behemoth have already mentioned in response. I agree with them in this regard.

[Pan]

I'd like to emphasize that samosas must be thoroughly reheated after sitting outside for x-number of hours. I remember family members getting upset stomachs after eating curry puffs that had probably been sitting out too long at roadside stands in Malaysia in the 70s.

[halloweencat]

this has become a +very+ interesting thread, with a lot of thoughtful responses on issues i hadn't thought of yet.

i'll forward the questions about this arrangement (which i cannot answer myself) to my friend. for example, i honestly don't know if the meals are supposed to be eaten same-day or are meant to last a few days. also, i don't know if they have access to reheating facilities (which are different than cooking facilities, perhaps). i got the impression that the folks she was helping were housed in a motel.

be back soon with some answers.

thanks and cheers :)

hc

[sparrowgrass]

People lived for gazillions of years without refrigeration, and some of them survived. However, that was before they invented lawyers.

Unless this food is to be consumed within hours, I would stick to stuff like bread and cheese and peanut butter.

[petite tête de chou]

People lived for gazillions of years without refrigeration, and some of them survived.  However, that was before they invented lawyers.

Unless this food is to be consumed within hours, I would stick to stuff like bread and cheese and peanut butter.

←

I agree. I'll bet these folks either don't have any medical insurance or very little and a case of food poisoning, well, let's not introduce any more hardships into their lives.

[Milagai]

When I was living in rural Malaysia in the 70s, no-one in the area had a refrigerator because electricity was available at night only. A common occurrence in (well, initially, outside) my house was for a chicken to be slaughtered, cleaned and boiled plain on the first day, then recooked with spices as a curry the next day. Fish from that day's catch were bought, cooked, and eaten on the same day. The key point is that as long as the families have working stoves and can thoroughly reheat everything, it is possible for their food to be acceptable or even tasty as leftovers the next day. Spices certainly do help, though, if any spoilage has occurred due to being left out in hot weather.

As per what Touregsand wrote, soups and stews -- especially well-seasoned ones -- are good candidates even if refrigerators and freezers are unavailable. Let's remember that until pretty recently, nobody had a refrigerator. That's a major reason for the development of fish sauce (garum, etc.) and shrimp paste; dried salted fish (baccala, etc.), shrimp, and squid; jerky/pemmican; jerk dishes; etc., etc.

Here are some specific ideas: Jambalaya, chili, spicy Thai curries (e.g., "Massaman" curry is the Malay Muslim-style curry of the villages in the southern part of Thailand and a time-honored no-refrigerator recipe), mulligatawny soup. For less-spicy ideas, consider a nice pot roast, boeuf a la flamande, bouef bourguignon, coq au vin. There's a great Ecuadorian chicken recipe from the Round the World Cookbook that my mother used to cook; it features olives and is called Aji de Pollo. I'm sure others will think of more, but I think these are the types of dishes to consider. Keep away from highly perishable foodstuffs like clams and mussels (I wouldn't recommend clam chowder). For vegetable dishes, ratatouille would be welcome, or provide some spicy vegetable curries, etc. Also consider lentil soup, split pea soup, dal, and Dominican-style (or Cuban-, Puerto Rican-style, etc.) black and red beans. I think that that style of beans, which contains a good deal of liquid, will stay good without refrigeration better than refried beans, which I figure should probably be refried and eaten right away.

Some fresh fruits and vegetables that don't go bad immediately could also be much appreciated.

←

very true.

people did live without refrigeration and learned what foods

exist without being refrigerated.

from my hot-humid-climate south indian background:

1. yogurt and rice, (spiced with ginger, curry leaves, green chillies,

mustard seeds etc.). standard lunchbox food in 45 deg c. temps.

the yogurt cultures retard spoilage.

2. idlis (made of steamed fermented rice / urad dal batter)

again good travel food, e.g. 3 day train trips in summer heat.

with oil+chutney powder, not coconut chutney.

a cooling savory lassi drink (again see the yogurt thing).

3. NOTHING with coconut or potatoes, as these spoil fast:

Pan: see yr post on bad curry puffs. I would never try and "keep"

samosas outside a fridge for > 1 day, because of the potato

spoiling thing.

there's prob a lot more, but i can't remember......

none of us died of food poisoning.

i know intellectually that there's all these data about safe temperatures

etc. that may be much more relevant for large scale commercial

operations.

for private family cooking, all my childhood all of us ate unrefrigerated

food and have lived to tell the tale.

our moms and grandmoms knew how to cook, cover, store, and serve

food w/o the fridge.

so, empirically, i make and pack picnic food without being too afraid.

milagai

[WHT]

If you want validation, search for HACCP on the Internet. You can't get a food handler's permit without knowing HAACP! I'm not going to give you details about it as this is a project worth searching and finding the answers yourself especially if you plan on handling food that is going to go into someone elses body. This means you are a food handler and you must have a food handler's permit!!!!!!!!!!!!

In most states this is not true almost anyone can work in a kitchen, no license or permit needed. Illinois, NY and a few other states have varying levels of certification. Some only require management to have certification but most states work under varying types of health inspections and nothing more.

The real problem in this situation is a lot of would love to help and give suggestions and other input. The original poster has not given us enough information on the exact parameters on how long the food is to remain out or if the people have the ability to reheat the food correctly. We are all taking shots in the dark and that is of little help to anyone.

HACCP, SafeServ and other programs are all well and good but it al parties involved are not knowledgeable it will not work. I would venture to guess that the average person is clueless about proper food sanitation. My mother-in-law being a perfect example of this scenario as food is put in the fridge by where it will fit, things left open. I could go on but most of us know the type of mistake I am talking about.

Lets wait for the original poster to fill in some of the details of the situation and then we can more effectively help.

[touaregsand]

People lived for gazillions of years without refrigeration, and some of them survived.  However, that was before they invented lawyers.

Unless this food is to be consumed within hours, I would stick to stuff like bread and cheese and peanut butter.

←

I wouldn't worry about law suits. I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me that they would have to prove that they were given food that had already gone bad. Food going bad while in their posession is different obviously.

If I order food at a restaurant and leave it out for 2 days before eating it and I get sick it's my fault.

[WHT]

I wouldn't worry about law suits. I'm not a lawyer but it seems to me that they would have to prove that they were given food that had already gone bad. Food going bad while in their posession is different obviously.

If I order food at a restaurant and leave it out for 2 days before eating it and I get sick it's my fault.

←

At several places I have worked at in the past liability was the main reason left over product was not donated to charities. People are far too litigious and some injury lawyers take things too far. This is another reason that some organizations have quit operating the preverbal soup kitchens. Really rather sad that people can’t get help because of the misdeeds of others.

[rooftop1000]

must have a food handler's permit!!!!!!!!!!!!

BTW, in this scenario, the best thing to do is to go to an Army Surplus store and buy some freeze-dried or ready to eat meals for them.

←

I have been working mostly in food service since 1982 and have attended culinary education classes.

I saw my first servesafe certificate in January of this year and at my current job am supposed to have one...this is a town by town thing in NJ ...

and to be brutally honest I eat things at home that I wouldnt serve to the general public....like pizza left in the box on the table overnight...I like my leftover pizza at room temp meatballs be damned

and yes I have gotten a wicked case of some sort of food poisoning due to being late for the camp bus and having my dinner bag in my back pack and once from a catering hall...lasted way too long to be a hangover

rural or primitive peoples have stonger systems than some of us they, drink "bad" water and dont refridgerate their food. Where WE might get sick they dont.

Have you ever had an aquaintance go back to a native land and come home sick as a dog?? they have lost their natural resistance

dont forget to avoid that expensive dry aged beef, yes its refridgerated ...but eeeew it gets mold on it

By the way is this project in the US??

tracey

now where is that old slice of pizza for breakfast