The Armageddon Cookbook and Doomsday Kitchen by Marcus Harrison.

It’s no secret that we at Green-Craft know Marcus. It was however a bit of a surprise when Marcus let me know there was a little something coming in the post.

A good few years ago at the Wilderness Gathering Marcus was chatting to us about a work in progress, it was quite a large undertaking to say the least, he wanted to cover aspects of wild food and cooking in a survival situation / environment, however it was not going to be just plant identification and a few recipes. It was to be a work covering many different aspects of food and cookery.

Well three months ago the book actually popped through the door. It didn’t take very long before I picked up the book for a “quick read”, however the book seemed to have a different idea and a quick read turned into a much longer and more in depth read. Marcus has gone far beyond any work that he has ever undertaken before.
Infact I believe that Marcus has covered more in this book than pretty much any other “in the field” cookery book. This book covers the psychological aspect of survival (which is both a good read and very honest), acquisition of food, plant identification, food prep, cooking methods and recipes.

Normally we find that wild food books cover straight forward weeds that we can eat, but Marcus has added in bits to do with trees and the use of some for food and some for making infusions for teas. We are all familiar with the normal sources of protien, but this book has covered insects, molluscs, fish, crustaceons, birds, mammals and he’s covered the seasonal availablity and environment that some of the food can be acquired. Some food will need to be stored and storage away from animals has also been covered. Preservation of food has also been a consideration.
Marcus has also addressed one other aspect that’s normally forgotten in books like this and that’s Water. He has covered water sources, harvesting, filtering and sterilisation. Improvised utensils have been included, cooking methods, jigs and ovens. You’ll find that Marcus has placed in a number of recipes, some of the names will make you chuckle and they’re meant to.

In Summary, The Armageddon Cookbook and Doomsday Kitchen is well written, it covers a lot of different aspects of wild food that aren’t normally covered. As a personal opinion I think that this book lends itself towards disaster relief, the psychological apsect and the decision making process are very relevant specifically to these situations. For people that have lost most everything, having to improvise the basics, this book contains the knowledge and ideas that you need.