Meet outdoor cook Harrison Ward, AKA Fell Foodie

Harrison Ward, known as the Fell Foodie, is an outdoor cook who loves to recreate restaurant-style food on minimal equipment (usually a camp stove) in remote locations

Is it true you’re named after Harrison Ford?

Yes, very much my Dad’s idea. I can’t take any credit, its always been a bit of a conversation starter.

You’re known as the Fell Foodie – what is that about?

It was a pseudonym I came up with to highlight two passions: time outdoors and cooking.

What came first, cooking or hill walking?

Cooking for sure, it is my earliest passion. I fell in love with the idea that food was the centrepoint for community and conversation. When I first got into hiking, I was taking packed lunches but more than sandwiches. On one occasion an onlooker noticed and suggested I cook on top of the hill as a bit of a joke. It sparked a challenge and a combining of two loves.

Read Harrison’s recipe for energy balls

Don’t you need a lot of kit to cook?

I like to show what is possible on minimal equipment. I’ve created delicious one pot meals for a group with a small saucepan, a stove and a fuel source. I’ve included a variety of options in my debut book. I enjoy that level of humour that the impracticality of whizzing up a katsu curry a top of Helvellyn or the like brings. There is a joy in cooking and eating outdoors.

What is in your backpack for a day of walking?

If it’s just me, a day pack is filled with appropriate clothing, water, map, snacks, stove, pan, lightweight chopping board, knife and a sit mat. That will see me right on most microadventures. I want people to see a cook-out as a different adventure when down at the coast, in the woodland or up in the mountains.

Do you like to swim outdoors?

Of course, I have fond memories down by the beck as kids growing up. Although my love of the outdoors took a while to bloom, it still played a part in my upbringing. Growing up in rural Cumbria was perhaps taken for granted in the early days but it has been integral to me leaving negative vices behind and bettering my health. I’ll quite often enjoy a dip either as part of a walk or as the sole activity and enjoy getting in the water in all weathers and temperatures.

What’s your favourite food?

The toughest question on the list. I love the practice of cooking, find it very mindful and particularly love cooking for others. Often it is the conduit for catchups with friends and family or memorable moments in life. It is difficult to whittle that down to a dish or an ingredient. But if I was pressed into booking the restaurant I’d be going Greek or Lebanese.

Is there anything you can’t stand to eat?

Ketchup. Satan’s sauce. Not sure when it started but I can’t stand the idea of the stuff, turns my stomach seeing someone empty a bottle over their plate. All the ingredients are fine by me but something puts me right off.

What food fad should be over already…

Heavily processed convenience foods and demand for out of season produce. We seem to have lost our connection with ingredients here in the UK.

How important is nutrition when you are on the hills?

I think how we fuel ourselves is super important. Ensure you get enough protein, carbs, fats and greens in your meals. Make sure you are fed, well hydrated and have back-up snacks!

Why should we buy your book?

If you love good food and the great outdoors, even if not always together, then my book Cook Out will traverse the two. There are over 80 recipes covering a variety of dietary requirements as well as information about how to cook outdoors and the equipment required.

Cook Out is out now, published by Vertebrate Publishing. Purchase here.