Beat This Bobby Flay: Inka Chef is my idea for the ultimate adventure cooking competition!

Chef Leo of Alpaca Expeditions presented us with a cake for dessert on the fourth and final day of our Inka Trail trek.  It was one of several baked items that Leo presented to us, even though he did not have anything that resembled an oven on the trip. 

One of the things that was most impressive about our Inka Trail trek was the quality of the food that we were served and the primitive conditions that it was prepared in.  This off the beaten path gourmet experience led me to come up with the idea for a cooking show that would showcase just how incredible the chefs of the Inka Trail are and how difficult the circumstances that they work under can be.  The whole concept is intended to be a venue to not only showcase the Inka Trail and the incredible talent that the chefs their posses, but also to educate Americans about the life and living conditions of the Quechua people.

The Challenge
The chefs must complete a five day Inka Trail Trek in the same conditions that the chefs who regularly work on the Inka Trail and will be judged on the food that they prepare for their celebrity judge trekkers at every stop.  The chef who receives the highest scores at the end of the trip, wins the Inka Chef Challenge.  

Here is a picture of Chef Leo's kitchen.  From this station, he created gourmet food for us through our Inka Trail trek. 

The Conditions
Each chef must carry a full porter pack, limited by Peruvian law to 25 kilograms, throughout the days hike.  The chef must complete the hike early enough ahead of the celebrity judges so that the meals can be prepared in a timely manner after their trekking.  The chef must use only the kitchen equipment that is usually used by Inka Trail chefs.  

Chefs on the Inka Trail have to carry their fair share of the load as part of the porter team as well. 

Chef Leo did not have the luxury of having running water near his cook station.  At some stops, there was water a few feet away, at others, chefs and their assistants had to walk quite a ways to fill their water vessels and bring them back to the kitchen area. 

The Food

Chefs will be able to bring three special ingredients with them.  All food must be transported by the team to each camp site.  There is little or no refrigeration throughout the trip and weight has to be a consideration.  In addition to the three indredients that each chef brings, they will have one hour to shop for everything that they need to complete their meals at the Main Market in Cusco, Peru the day before the trek begins.  

This Peruvian "Sushi" dish was served by Chef Leo towards the end of our trip.  His ability to transform simple veggies and potatoes into a dish that we would not soon forget was a big part of what made our trip to Machu Picchu so amazing. 

The Judging

Chefs will be judged at each meal that they prepare.  They will be judged on taste, creativity and quality.  In addition, chefs must ensure that Lunch is ready no later then 20 minutes after their trekkers arrive at camp, Happy Hour is no later than 30 minutes after the trekkers finish their day and dinner is no more than 2 hours after the trekkers have finished their day.  The chefs will receive a total score for all of their meals and the chef with the most points at the end of the trek will be the Inka Chef Champion!  

Leo's fried rice was easily one of my favorite dishes.  Simple and tasty fuel to get me over the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu. 

Dear Food Network,
Please make this show a reality.  This would be not only a great experience for the chefs and judges, but also an amazing showcase of how people with very little can produce great things.  The talent that we saw from Chef Leo was exceptional and it would be awesome to see how his talents compare to celebrity chefs if you put the celebrity chefs into his environment.  I do not seek any financial compensation for this idea, but would like to have some small recognition when you make it happen.  I would gladly accept a position as a celebrity trekker judge as well if you were so gracious as to offer one.  I am happy to help get the ball rolling from the logistic side.  Thanks,  Mati

The Secret to Surviving Dead Woman's Pass on the Inka Trail, Even if Your Conditioning for Your Trek Didn't Go Exactly as You Planned

In February of 2015, my wife and her best friend decided that we were all going to trek over the Inka Trail to Machu Picchu.  A trip to Peru had long been on my wife's friends bucket list and now we had our reservation and were all set to visit Machu Picchu in style.  It wasn't until after the reservations were made and the deposits paid that I actually found out that this is a formidable trek complete with two mountain passes that top 13,000 feet and thousands of stone steps that accent both the assent and the decent.

Here is a quick peak at the stairs leading to Dead Woman's Pass.  The pass is just below 14,000 feet and you climb about 4,000 to the summit on day two of your trek.  We decided along the way that the hike might be much more enjoyable if the pass was renamed "Dancing Unicorn Pass," or something less macabre than its current name.  Photo: Mati Bishop

Upon realizing the magnitude of the challenge that we were facing, I began gathering up Ace the dog for somewhat regular, ok somewhat irregular runs, around our neighborhood.  These runs included some hills and were the best training that I could carve out time for.  My wife found some time in her schedule to take a couple of hikes through the course of the early summer before our August trek.  By the time that we arrived in Cusco and felt the effects of the altitude on our bodies, our preparation, or lack their of, for our trek became a source of stress and trepidation about our upcoming "Trek of a Lifetime."

On day three of our Inka Trail Trek, we learned the meaning of the term "Inka flat."  This term does not appear to have any relationship to the angle of assent or decent on a particular trail.  Instead, this term seems to indicate only that a trail is below 12,000ft. in elevation.  Needless to say, we were looking forward to day 3 and it's "Inka Flat" after climbing Dead Women's (Read Dancing Rainbow Pass if you prefer) on day 2.  Then we learned what the words actually mean.  I am certain that there is not a word for flat in the Quechua language of the Inkas.  If there is, nobody happened to have cause to mumble it to us on our trek. 

On our first day on the Inka Trail, the effects of the altitude felt by our group ranged from blue fingers, to strange feelings of someone strangling us from behind.  These symptoms did little to rest our minds fears of what awaited the next day.  Our conversation around dinner was light and fun.  No one was ready to come out and admit that they were afraid that they may suffer permanent brain damage from lack of oxygen the next day.  I secretly spent a few moments arranging all of my different varieties of coca products to make sure they were easily accessible in my pack before going to sleep that night.  At one point, as I looked at my array of coca leaves, coca candy, coca gum, coca chocolate and coca energy bars, I wondered if surviving Dead Woman's Pass would be worth the months of rehab that I was bound for back in the states to kick the wicked coca leaf habit that I was about to develop.

Amoroso, our guide for the Inka Trail Trek, taught us the secret to surviving a high altitude climb.  In exchange, we supplied him with a daily supply of Drip Drop while we were there.  He loved the stuff!  I overhead him at the Sungate, while we were all gawking at Machu Picchu, telling another guide about the stuff and how much he liked it.  Hey Drip Drop, if you are reading this, we need to get some product in the mail and heading towards Amoroso.  He will likely be one of your top spokesman in South America!

Tranquillo is my new favorite word in any language.  I am not allowed to say this word again to my wife until after I have finished composing a funny and witty obituary for myself, because she will kill me.  The Inka Trail can have that effect on people.  Regardless, Tranquillo essentially means mellow or chill out or be cool.  Or all of those things at the same or different times, which is why I like the word so much.  It is also the word that my brain assigned to the key concept in our Inka Trail survival.  The key to surviving Dead Woman's Pass (or Dancing Unicorn Pass if you prefer) is to only move as quickly as you can without losing your breath.  For me, this was incredibly slow, especially compared to the teams of porters who were running past us with over 50lbs of gear on their back.  We did not set any land speed records on our way up the pass, but much to our surprise, by barely moving, we were able to make our check points in about the same amount of time that the brochure said we should make them in.  Never have I celebrated so much my ability to go so slowly, but when climbing Dead Woman's Pass, that is what you do.  And we did it.  And we made it.  And we all thought that much of our nervousness and fear of the trek might have been a bit overblown.

Our Machina Verde waiting at the top of the pass for us to finish the final 100 feet.  At the top, they served us coca tea, gave us high fives and then humbled us further by running with their full packs down the stairs on the other side. 

Special Thanks to Alpa Expeditions for Making Our 5 Day Inka Trail Trek an Amazing Experience.  If you are considering the Inka Trail or any other trek in Peru, you need to use Alpaca Expeditions.  They treat their porters well, which not all companies do, and they provide a level of teamwork and service that was clearly a cut above the competition.  Throughout our trip, we remarked how thankful we were for our team and the professionalism that they exuded.