Surf food, cookbooks and recipes

This surf food guide will help you choose the best food for surfing. You’ll also discover incredible cookbooks by surfers and enjoy delicious recipes from around the surfing world.

So if you’re looking to lively up your next surf fuel feast, read on…

Surf food

Personally I’ve lasted many a day surfing on a banana for breakfast, a Cornish pasty for lunch and a bottle of water. However, with a little extra effort you can potentially eat better and surf longer. Here’s some surf food advice from professional sports dieticians.

Pre-surf fuel

Carbohydrates are good for energy and an important part of a surfer’s diet. Whole grain carbohydrates such as breads, cereals, quinoa and pasta are best. They contain lots of fibre which is slowly processed by the body, giving you longer lasting energy for surfing.

Whole grains take a while to work, so eat these foods 2-4 hours before surfing.

For a pre-surf energy boost e.g. less than an hour before surf, try fruit, yoghurt or a granola bar. Try these quick and tasty ideas:

Breakfast
• porridge
• muesli and yoghurt
• hot cross buns (or fruit loaf)
• scrambled egg on toast
• whole grain cereal with milk e.g Shredded Wheat

Lunch
• Beans on toast
• Jacket potatoes, beans and cheese
• Simple sandwich e.g. cheese, tuna
• Sushi

Post-surf fuel

Ideally you’ll refuel on carbohydrates to replenish energy, protein for muscle repair and water to replace fluid lost through sweat. Here’s some post-surf suggestions:

Evening meal
• Grilled fish, potatoes and salad
• Beef burgers, ideally homemade.
• Pasta dishes
• Fruit smoothies

Inspirational surfing cookbooks

These cookbooks make the perfect gift for surfers. Written by surfers, they include everything surfers love: surf travel stories, surf photos and of course surf food.

First we surf then we eat

Possibly the world champ of surfing cookbooks. Packed with pro surfers, exotic surf spots, inspirational surf travel stories and authentic recipes from around the globe. Few people could create this book from personal experience, but the author Jim Kempton is extraordinary. Jim’s jobs have included restaurant owner, Surfer magazine editor, Quiksilver consultant and California Surf Museum President.

It’s difficult to describe this book any better than Jim already has, so here’s what he says about it:

In every chapter you’ll find places worth visiting, people worth knowing, and surf worth traveling to enjoy. You’ll be introduced to a few great restaurants where surfers hang out. And, most of all, you’ll discover a lot of great recipes that perfectly suit a beach-lover’s life, from smoothies to stir-fries, cocktails to crab bisque, Balinese beef satay to barracuda Caribbean-style, Peruvian quinoa-honey shrimp to Palauan papaya upside-down cake. You’ll read about narrow escapes, legendary surf stars, crazy capers, perfect waves, and healthy eating.

The only downside is that many of the authentic recipes contain specific ingredients from the region of origin, making them potentially difficult to find. However, most can be substituted or found online now. Even better, use the recipes to plan your next surf trip. You’ll not only be able to track down the wave, restaurant and delicious dish described but you can grab some ingredients while you’re there.

Salt & Silver: Travel, Surf, Cook

Salt & Silver is about traveling, surfing, cooking and enjoying the culture of Central and South America.

This cookbook shares the adventures of two young German men: Johannes Riffelmacher (Jo) and Thomas Kosikowski (Cosy). Originally they planned to complete a world tour, but quickly realised that was beyond their budget. Based on the ‘thousands of miles of surfable Pacific coastline, innumerable tropical paradises, and cuisine that until now has been underrepresented in Europe’ they settled on Central and South America.

Salt & Silver reports on all the best surf spots, local surfers, restaurants, and recipes from each country they passed through. Jo and Cozy travel through Mexico, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Ecuador, Peru and Chile. Kicking off in Cuba with traditional black bean and rice dishes from Mama Patios. There’s a great mix of recipes including fast food, slow food, easy, cheap and all are very tasty.

From their incredible trip this book is blessed with more than 90 authentic recipes, from taco recipes to a mouthwatering Portobello-shrimp burger. Once your tummy is satisfied, you can feed the mind with over 250 fantastic photographs and an indispensable collection of surf travel tips. To learn more about Jo and Cosy, plus recent adventures, visit the Salt and Silver website.

Finn’s World

Finn Ní Fhaoláin is a surfer, marine scientist, chef and food writer. As her name suggests, Finn is an Irish lass who lives, surfs and cooks in Bundoran. During her student life, Finn’s diet consisted of cereal, toasties and pizza. This caused low energy, tiredness and uncontrollable stomach cramps. After worrying about the possible cause from abdominal migraines to Crohn’s disease, Finn finally found out what was wrong. In her words ‘oh, bollox, I’m a coeliac’.

At that point, Finn put her scientist goggles on, turned her kitchen into a laboratory, borrowed some kitchen gadgets from her aunty and set about creating coeliac friendly cake and other culinary concoctions. As Finn says some experiments were a hit, like the Coconut Banana Muffins with a Molten Dark Chocolate Core. Others were very forgettable, like her Hemp Protein Muffins! Her challenge to cook tasty, healthy and gluten-free food that could be bought on a student budget, plus a stint at St Angela’s culinary college, resulted in this jolly cookbook.

With 100+ recipes including Disco Barbie Beetroot Soup, I Can’t Believe it’s Not Cardboard Thick Crust Pizza, Sod of Turf Brownies and Popeye Protein Pancakes, you know Finn recipes are gonna make you smile. Learn more about Finn’s latest projects on her website Saltwater Stories.

Surfer recipes

Breakfast – Buckwheat Date Chocolate Heaven Granola

This simple granola recipe can be found in Finn’s World.

Makes one 2 litre jar of tasty, relatively healthy granola. It’s much better for you and the planet than the sugary supermarket stuff.

• Ingredients
½ cup (120ml) coconut or sunflower oil
½ cup (120ml) date syrup
3 cups (500g) toasted buckwheat
1 cup (100g) gluten free oats
(If you can’t have oats, add an extra cup of buckwheat instead)
1 cup (140g) sunflower seeds
½ cup (70g) hazelnuts
3 tbsp cocoa powder
½ cup (80g) raisins

• Method
Preheat your oven to 160°C.

Mix the coconut oil and date syrup in a small jug. Put all the dry ingredients into a bowl except the raisins, as they go all weird and burnt in the oven.

Pour the oil and syrup over the dry mix.

Line a baking tray with baking parchment and spread the granola mix out evenly on it.

Bake for up to 25 minutes, mixing every 10 minutes to ensure even browning. The longer you cook it, the crunchier it will be. Some people like it extra crunchy, but I prefer the chewiness when taken out after around 15–20 minutes.

Add the raisins, stir through and allow to cool before storing.

• To serve
Delicious by the handful. Also perfect over stewed fruit and Greek yogurt or with milk as a cereal.

Lunch – Sashimi Française (French Polynesian-style)

You can find this recipe in Jim Kempton’s First We Surf, Then We Eat and it will serve up to 6 people. The story that goes with this recipe is gory!

• Ingredients
1 1⁄2 pounds sushi-grade yellowtail tuna, sliced 1⁄4 inch thick
1⁄4 cup lime juice, fresh if possible
1⁄4 cup orange juice, fresh if possible
1⁄4 cup coconut milk
1 cucumber, diced into 1⁄2-inch pieces
1 large tomato, diced into 1⁄2-inch pieces
1⁄2 teaspoon sea salt (preferably Tahitian vanilla fleur de sel)
2 pinches black pepper (Tellicherry if available)
2 green onions (spring onions), green parts only, sliced thin 1 pinch brown sugar

• Method
Mix tuna, lime juice, orange juice, coconut milk, cucumber, tomato, sea salt, and pepper in a glass bowl. Set aside to marinate for at least 20 minutes, or up to 2 hours. Sprinkle with green onions and brown sugar and dig in.

Evening meal – Pasta Carbonara

Another recipe from Jim Kempton’s cookbook to serve six people. Apparently this is John John Florence’s favourite dish. Disappointingly, Jim adds a disclaimer saying ‘eating this dish will not make you surf like John John.’

• Ingredients
1 pound dried fettuccine
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
6 slices bacon
5 eggs, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons slivered garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1⁄2 teaspoon Italian spice blend
1⁄2 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 cup chopped fresh parsley (optional)

• Method
In a large stockpot, bring 2 quarts water to a boil. Add pasta and oil and cook until just tender, about 8 minutes. Once pasta is done, transfer to colander and drain.

Place bacon in a skillet and cook over low heat until just crisp, 10 to 12 minutes. Remove bacon from skillet and drain all but 1 tablespoon of bacon fat. Crumble bacon once it’s cool enough to handle.

Over medium-low heat, add eggs to skillet and cook, scrambling, until eggs are just cooked but still slightly runny. Return pasta to skillet, tossing to let eggs coat pasta, about 2 minutes. Add garlic, chives, red pepper flakes, and spice blend. Gradually stir in crumbled bacon and cream. Toss all ingredients until eggs are cooked through and cream is absorbed into pasta, about 3 minutes.

Serve directly from skillet or on individual plates, and top with parsley if you like.

If you have any surf food tips, cookbooks or recipes you’d like to recommend, please share in the comments below.