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After a long day in the sun paddling the Missouri River, I hopped off the canoe, walked along the sandbar, and began to set up my tent. <\/strong>As I unfolded the poles, I began to hear the clinking and clanking of knives chopping vegetables and metal spoons hitting the side of a mixing bowl. Soon, the crackle and smoke of fire began to spread over the campsite, and I got my first inkling that something tasty for dinner was on the way.<\/p>\n I walked over to the fire with my camp chair in hand, and took a seat to watch the show unfold. River guides, working double duty as chefs, deftly mashed avocados, tossed in lime juice and cilantro, and served up a guacamole that rivaled any I\u2019d tried. As guests snacked, they began to work on the main course. They cut open sous vide bags full of marinated pork chops with a quick slice of a knife. Once the fire was roaring, they began to grill the pork chops, which sizzled as soon as they hit the grill. <\/p>\n Even though this meal was out on a sandbar in the middle of rural Missouri, the food could\u2019ve earned a place at any upscale city restaurant. This is Big Muddy Adventures (BMA), a culinary and outdoor experience unlike any other.<\/p>\n (Photo\/BMA)<\/p>\n Mike Clark, aka \u201cBig Muddy Mike,\u201d founded the company in St. Louis in 2002. BMA takes guests on guided paddles of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers on fiberglass canoes that measure up to 29 feet long. <\/p>\n Trip options range from afternoon explorations of the Mississippi near the city\u2019s iconic Gateway Arch to multiday overnight trips through remote river areas, with prices from $35 to $500. Some trips travel through small, charming river towns like Hermann, Mo., while others follow sections of the Mississippi Flyway, a major bird migration route. Almost all day trips, except the quick afternoon paddles, include dinner.<\/p>\n Trips generally run from spring through fall and are available to book online. Different trips meet at different starting locations, all within the city of St. Louis. BMA provides all the necessary paddling and safety gear. If you\u2019re going on an overnight trip and don\u2019t have any camping gear, you can rent everything you\u2019ll need (tent, sleeping bags, sleeping pad, etc.) from BMA for two people for $60.<\/p>\n One of the company\u2019s most popular offerings is the Rivertime Supper Club, which frequently sells out. Guests gather in the afternoon, paddle for a few hours on the Missouri, and then disembark at a small island for a gourmet meal. At $115 per person, a couple can spend $230 on a special date night that\u2019s far more memorable (and maybe even cheaper) than just a dinner at a fancy restaurant.<\/p>\n Guests relax and enjoy their meal; (photo\/BMA)<\/p>\n For years, BMA has partnered with Farm Spirit, a local restaurant run by chef Ryan McDonald. It operates a farmers\u2019 market breakfast stand and runs the food service inside a local brewery. McDonald focuses on live-fire cooking, which is, of course, a natural fit for the outdoors. As guests set up lawn chairs and begin to relax, they\u2019ll start to hear the sizzle of a hot pan and smell the smoke of bacon in the air.<\/p>\n The menu always includes some kind of fresh, herby salad; (photo\/BMA)<\/p>\n Farm Spirit also sources local ingredients as much as possible and has a major focus on preserving and pickling them, making its own chili crisp, black garlic, and pickles. The menu for a supper club might include Pimento cheese dip, a pork bulgogi bowl, or a tomato burrata salad. Guests can count on two things: The food will be fresh, and it for sure as hell won\u2019t be bland. <\/p>\n The truest expression of BMA\u2019s ethos of connecting food to the landscape as an educational tool is the French Corridor Expedition. Run just once a year in September, this overnight trip follows \u201ca historic route through the French settlements of Illinois Territory. Along this scenic path, you\u2019ll explore the historic sites and river islands that were once home to French explorers and settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries,\u201d BMA explains on its site. \u201cGuests will learn about the pivotal role of river travel, food, and cultural exchange in shaping this region\u2019s rich heritage.\u201d <\/p>\n BMA has partnered for years with renowned chef Josh Galliano, who worked for years in some of the city\u2019s premier restaurants, eventually becoming a finalist for a James Beard Award for Best Chef: Midwest. Galliano currently works as the executive chef at Racquet Club St. Louis, and comes along on the trip every year to make magic happen.<\/p>\n GearJunkie spoke with Galliano via email about the trip, and it is clear that Galliano takes a high degree of thought and care in planning the menu. He aims to use local ingredients that people in the past would\u2019ve cooked with, while also balancing seasonality and availability.<\/p>\n (Photo\/Big Muddy Adventures)<\/p>\n Preparation begins almost a year in advance. \u201cDuring the winter time, I\u2019ll start saving food that I want to have around for the French Corridor Trip \u2026 I\u2019ll cryovac and freeze game meat (I\u2019m not a hunter, but friends and family will gift me meat if I help to butcher and portion their harvests) or I\u2019ll process muscadines from our vines or pick persimmons when they finally start dropping from the trees,\u201d Galliano said. As much as he possibly can, he uses local ingredients; even the cornbread is made with cornmeal produced from a nearby mill. <\/p>\n Lewis and Clark began their famous expedition nearby in Wood River, Ill., and Galliano reads more and more every year to attempt to try to recreate dishes or use ingredients they would\u2019ve had access to. He\u2019ll take an element of their journey and modify it to fit today\u2019s tastes.<\/p>\n A classic dish on the trip is \u201cpepper and tomato-braised venison on top of a suet dumpling. This was a modernization of comments in the Lewis & Clark journals since the soldiers were prodigious hunters and Lewis said that Drouillard made the best suet dumplings he\u2019s ever had after they harvested a buffalo,\u201d Galliano explained.<\/p>\n Another all-star local ingredient Galliano loves to use is paw paws. This local fruit, which Indigenous peoples have eaten for thousands of years, has a distinct flavor that is a cross between banana, mango, and cantaloupe. He forages paw paws from local trees and uses them to make pancakes for breakfast. Last year, he also used them to make a rum-spiked lassi for a dessert-and-tipple combo.<\/p>\n Galliano cooks up his signature paw paw pancakes; (photo\/BMA)<\/p>\n Galliano realizes that for some folks, this trip might be the first time they\u2019ve tried a paw paw or venison. \u201cThe food becomes a conversation starter more than just sustenance,\u201d he explained. \u201cThe French Corridor can connect to many culinary traditions, and it gets related back to the different immigrant groups who settled the area and how they learned to adapt their foods to the area with the help and know-how of the Native Americans.\u201d<\/p>\n Cahokia Mounds is a large Native American site just over the border in Illinois, and Galliano attempts to bring in Indigenous traditions as well into the menu, even when written records don\u2019t exist. \u201cThe historical and culinary record for the native foods is scant, so extrapolations are used that are respectful while probably inauthentic. To help bridge the gaps, I rely on different sources like Sean Sherman\u2019s Sioux Chef<\/em> cookbook,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n The trip also recognizes the historical identity of St. Louis as a French city. For lunch in the past, he\u2019s made mini muffelata sandwiches (a New Orleans staple), or\u00a0smoked andouille with pimento cheese on crackers. The sausage is a nod to LaPlace, La., the andouille capital of the world and the town where Galliano grew up.<\/p>\n Two of the trip\u2019s most iconic dishes; (photos\/BMA)<\/p>\n There\u2019s one dish that Big Muddy Mike has asked Galliano to recreate from the Lewis & Clark Expedition, but he hasn\u2019t figured out how to add it to the menu yet. Apparently, the men back then were quite fond of beaver tail.<\/p>\n Every element of BMA is tied to the land and gives guests a true sense of place, from the water they swim in to the food on their plate. Most of the people who go on Big Muddy\u2019s trips are area locals, and the experiences allow them to explore and more fully appreciate their own backyard.<\/p>\n In recent decades, the outdoor tourism and food industries have both become corporatized, generic, and bland. They meet the assignment \u2014 get people outside or fulfill someone\u2019s hunger \u2014 but they don\u2019t feed the soul or expand the mind. Big Muddy\u2019s partnerships with local chefs and deep connections to the land mean its trips nourish both the body and the spirit.<\/p>\nWhat Is Big Muddy Adventures?<\/h2>\n
The French Corridor Expedition<\/h2>\n