Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out

by Jon Robertson, Robin Robertson

An irreverent guide on how to eat with taste and style in spite of home emergencies, severe weather, and power failures shares simple and practical tips on how to obtain, store, and prepare such meals as Last Resort Lasagna, Consolation Couscous, and Three's a Crowd Bean Salad. Original. 20,000 first printing.

Genres: Cookbooks, Food, Nonfiction, Reference, Cooking

256 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2005

Reviews

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great cook book that will help you provide tasty meals when the power goes out...simple and easy ideas that will prepare you for the worst. I found out how important it is to be able to cook fast when I was in the military; you had to be able to work eating around your tasks - could have used this book back then.

[Steven Peterson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This witty book, co-authored by spouses Jon and Robin Robertson, provides a sense of how one might eat well "when the power goes out." "Apocalypse Chow" provides much useful information, in the event that natural disasters like hurricanes or pandemic flu knock out power, water supplies, and so on.

Concrete suggestions abound, such as the need to acquire some sort of cooking system (camping stove, gas grills, and so on), the need to stow away adequate water, check lists of kitchen tools needed in case the power goes off, what to buy for one's pantry. Neat side items: a five-day menu (pages 61-64), as a part of what they call the "five day wine box" (the authors argue that you can put a set of five days worth of meals for 4 people in a wine box).

For whom they refer to as "the truly lazy" (page 68), they note the availability of MREs (Meals Ready to Eat), and provide places where one can purchase these (akin to the military's chow for combat conditions), freeze dried meals (and, again, places where one can order these), "Supermarket Ready to Eats" (food in cardboard boxes, like macaroni and cheese, that store well and are easy to make). In addition, they encourage canned foods that last a long time.

This brief, easy to read, and witty volume is a useful resource for those concerned about disasters (whether natural or manmade) that might disrupt normal access to food and water, power, and so on.

[Brandi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jon and Robin Robertson's "Apocalypse Chow: How to Eat Well When the Power Goes Out" is a nifty book full of useful advice and/or recipes that are great when dealing with power outages and problems with other modern appliances, such as broken ranges or microwaves. A lot of the recipes and information are also useful to use while camping and or travelling abroad, where stoves and such may not be readily available.

The book is light-hearted and useful, and most of the recipes are vegetarian (or vegan) so there is something most people can use in this book and I would recommend it to travelers, hikers, campers, and people who may have power outages regularly for one reason or another.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who knew a book about preparing for disaster could be so urbanely conversational? They admit to packing wine in their emergency food stash and say they won't compromise on quality when the lights go out. This book is not for serious peppers, but it fits the bill for people like me who are setting up emergency supplies for the first time and want to make sure to remember to include the chocolate in the food box.

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very amusing and informative!

[Dana · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can a vegan eat during a power outage? Pretty much anything, as long as you have water and a cooking source. This book recommends using an indoor single burner butane stove and filling the bathtub in preparation for something like a hurricane. Since "nine times out of ten when the lights go out, it isn't the actual apocalypse", the authors explain, with a good touch of humor, how to prepare for a variety of disaster situations that could leave you home with no power for a while like hurricanes, ice storms, or terrorist attacks.
Whether you chose to make "Duck and Cover" Tortilla Bake, Tournedos of Tabbouleh Salad, or Red Rum Chili, you will be using lots of cans of beans. The recipes look pretty good and the book is very funny. I highly recommend it.

[Grape · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't use this cookbook very much due to the nature of it, but it has great ideas for using shelf-ready products for days when you have no power to cook with. I don't think there's a book like this out there for the vegan crowd. Good to have for an emergency!

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by a chef with disaster in mind. Timely tips that will help your family make it through anything loss of electricity or water shortage. The whole idea about how to store your wine made it all worthwhile.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

How to keep your sense of humor in a disaster situation. A must read for all Floridians. I especially like the idea of a wine and olives emergency kit.

[Crystal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book to have, especially if you live in an area that has alot of bad weather. It had so many helpful hints about how to handle disasters, as well as some tasty sounding recipes.

[Amy M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't tried any of the recipes, but I plan to. I like the idea of having a well thought out stash of food stuff for emergencies.

[Sandra]

Husband said he'd not read it again, so off it goes to someone else. He reads faster than I do and I trust his judgement.

[Raygina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall a good book. Mostly vegetarian and vegan if I recall correctly but has some good advice pieces.

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apocalypse Chow was designed by an actual chef who kept nutritional requirements during a stressful period in mind. She and her husband are vegetarians, so the recipes cross cuisines around the world. I'm looking forward to trying some of them out. Unfortunately for my disaster preparedness kitchen, she expects that you will have at least one burner at your disposal, so avoids the instant pasta in The Storm Gourmet. We have a gas stove, but it has electric ignition. Not so useful when the power is out.

The best advice from either disaster cookbook was to buy a couple of extra cans each time you go shopping, rather than dropping the cash to stock the whole box at once. I'm all over that.

[Schnaucl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I was expecting more of a survivalist style book about how one really would survive if civilization collapsed. Instead, this book was really designed for the reality after something that would cause an extended power outage (there was special focus on hurricanes, since that was the natural disaster the authors were most likely to encounter). More than that it was clearly designed for gourmets who would shudder at the very idea of eating or using ingredients from a box or can and I just don't fit into that category.

I think this could be a very useful book for some people, I just happen to not be one of them.

[Fishface · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was OK, but not what I expected. The authors are vegetarian and the delicious-sounding recipes reflect that. However, they are NOT proceeding on the assumption that you'll actually be without water, power or some familiar means of cooking. I was hoping for a really innovative way of making cold lima beans in the dark more, you know, appealing. The message is more than a bit confused here -- they gravely warn you never to use a candle for indoor lighting because it's much too dangerous, but they also say you can go ahead and cook a meal using one of those kitchen blowtorches. Seriously, guys???

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I can't wait to try the delicious recipes. On the other hand, 95% of the recipes require a cooking source which sort of negates the whole "apocalpyse" cooking experience. When hurricanes hit the Gulf Coast, cooking outside (or even inside) in 85-100 degree heat is pretty near impossible. Still, I am going to try out some of the recipes.

[Cristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engaging and so fun to read! Good points about keeping high quality ingredients in stock all the time.

[Jennifer Darci · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't write reviews. But Mary Jo if you are looking at this...It was ok. A bit uppity-chef for me. No pictures. I mean, its older. But definitely needs pictures. Of recipes actually made under apocalyptic cooking conditions. Make sure to chuckle at page 245, what's included on the list of emergency numbers. Ultimate question - how many recipes from this book will I actually try? Meh, not enough that I'd want to buy it. I only took a couple pictures.