Robert Mullen: Cookin' in the Camboose

You don't have to cook fancy or complicated masterpieces - just good food from fresh ingredients.
Julia Child (1912 - )

Robert Mullen, Herb's grandfather worked as a cook at the logging camp in his early days circa 1869. Robert was responsible for keeping the work team of approximately 25 men nourished; the main diet at the time was pork, baked beans, lard, bread and raisin pie. These commodities were often supplied and purchased from the surrounding Ottawa Valley pioneers.

These camps had a "camboose" that was the name for the cabin made from round logs. Every 3 or 4 years the the "camboose" was moved when the last giant red and white pines had been cut down in the area.

The men would sleep in the camboose outfitted with bunk beds and a large table with chairs for the meals. In the middle, there was a fire that burned constantly in an open sandpit in the center of the room that kept the men warm, A hole in the roof of the cabin was used to let the smoke escape. The firepit was also used to cook the meals.