TRACC Food and Drink Guide

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about the food and drink situation here, so I wanted to map out my guide for eating and drinking your way through camp. We have two Malaysian women who cook our lunches and dinners each day on the island, while breakfast is up to us. After two and a half weeks here, I feel equipped to give my expert recommendations of the the islands cuisine.

Breakfast: My go to is a skillet scramble with eggs, potatoes, onion and of course, sambal. I just figured out how to make a coffee today, as my first few days I screwed up so badly that I’ve avoided it since. The coffee is instant, the milk is powdered, and the only other available add in is sugar. I think I perfected the proportions today with a half scoop of coffee, two scoops of powdered milk and probably too much sugar, but it was the best I’ve had. Other breakfast options include toast, peanut butter and jelly, oatmeal, and some kind of pancakes that I have also not figured out how to make.

Lunch: Always vegetarian, lunch options usually include white rice, lo mein noodles, some stir fried vegetables, a salad, fruit, tofu, or some form of egg. The lo mein noodles are amazing but I’m assuming they’re made with a can of oil or butter (especially clutch if you’ve had a few too many the night before and need something greasy). White rice is my new best friend and I think I’ve eaten it every day since being here. Once again, hit the sambal on everything. I typically bypass the tofu and egg at lunch, not a huge fan of tofu and don’t particularly enjoy eggs outside of breakfast hours (what a diva am I right?) To sum up lunch, if you looked at my plate you would assume I was carb loading to run the New York City Marathon, but nope just crushing a plate of noodles and rice at 11:30am after a morning of failing to correctly identify any fish.

Snacks: Options include bananas, peanut butter and jelly, more eggs, instant noodles, and whatever American snacks you’ve managed to ration since being here. There is a resort down the beach with a snack stand that we are able to purchase food from, and those options include some Asian form of Cheese Doodles, Pringles, Chips Ahoy, Magnum Ice Cream Bars, and ice pops. I think they’re starting to know me down there, as they see the only white girl within 50 feet approaching with bills in her hand and they unlock the ice cream freezer.

Dinner: Dinner meals are also vegetarian with a chicken dish being offered every other night. I’ve actually eaten almost completely vegetarian since being here since I’m not too fond of chicken on the bone, which is how it is always served (once again, island diva). Popular dinner dishes include potatoes, lentils, veggie burgers (which are amazing), salad, veggies, my best friend white rice, and my new favorite, tempeh. Tempeh is an Indonesian dish made from soybeans, usually chopped up and sautéed in sauce to be eaten over rice.

Drinks: Soft drinks, beer, and whiskey are available to purchase at camp. Soft drink offerings include Coke, Sprite, iced tea, iced coffee, 100 Plus (an isotonic carbonated sports drink), and Milo (a chocolate malt drink).

Beer consists of one option- a smooth, light, watery, refreshing, Keystone Light-esque lager that I think is called Snow? If you can tell from the description, it is comparable to your favorite beer from college that cost you $12 for a 30 rack. Pro- one can is $2. Con- you’ll probably need to drink 37 of them to catch a buzz.

Whiskey is an unknown brand with a red label that reads “+ or – 40% proof”. I am told this is because of the inconsistency in the distillation process, where people claim to try one bottle that tastes like a watery 20 proof, and then next time have another that knocks them out after a few sips. A game of whiskey roulette if you will. Pro: one bottle is $4.50. Con: you’ll either need a few sips or one and a half bottles, but you gotta drink to find out. I can’t say they don’t keep it interesting around here.

Well that’s the basic run down of food and drinks at camp. I haven’t had a meal I didn’t like, but I can say that my first few days back in the states will consist of pizza, ravioli, nachos… ya know all the American foods.