Cooking in your van
One of the many great things about touring is being able to enjoy the local produce, wherever you travel. Marcus Leach has some brilliant tips and recipes for caravan cuisine
Caravan cuisine Marcus Leach and family share some of their favourite recipes and tips for eating well on tour
EATING AND TRAVEL are very closely intertwined.
It is impossible to set out on a journey without food playing a major part in the experience, from the meals we eat on the road, to the people and stories associated with the delicious produce we might encounter.
The ability to sample foods and regional delicacies that are not available to us in everyday life is one of the greatest pleasures of caravanning. I have lost count of the number of times we have been driving through a village or past a roadside market, and pulled over on seeing purveyors of local produce that we would otherwise have little opportunity to cook with.
Sampling their goods and hearing their stories adds to the experience, not just of our trip, but also of the meal we eat as a family at the end of the day.
For us, that’s one of the really great advantages of travelling in a caravan, rather than staying in hotels or B&BS – the ability to buy and cook the foods that help to give the region we are exploring its identity. From fine cheeses found in the Alps, Murcia’s paprika and Portugal’s piri piri sauce, to olives in Provence, chorizo from the Iberian Peninsula and an abundance of fish on the Mediterranean coast, there’s an endless supply of wonderful ingredients that we can use on the road.
A taste of something new
It’s also an opportunity for us to introduce our children to all manner of different foods, some of which they love – others not so much. I will never forget the look on our son Harrison’s face when, aged two, he insisted on tasting a very spicy chorizo in Spain, despite being warned that it might be a bit hot for him!
On the other hand, it’s no surprise that croissants fresh from the boulangerie in France are a firm favourite for Harrison and his little sister Dorothy. The leftovers (which are admittedly something of a rarity) are also great the next day for making French toast.
There’s a common misconception that cooking in a van is difficult, especially when you’re catering for a family. But it really doesn’t have to be. With a bit of planning and organisation before your trip, you can be well equipped to rustle up all manner of tasty dishes and snacks every day, no matter where you are.
Just as it is at home for us, cooking when we are on the road is an integral part of the day and we look forward to it. Yes, there are nights when we arrive at a campsite late, or turn up to find the site has a good restaurant (our weakness is wood-oven pizza, preferably with a cold local beer!), but on the whole, we take great pleasure in cooking on tour.
Freedom to eat where you wish
What’s more, with our van, we have the freedom to cook and eat almost anywhere we please. It’s as if we have our own roaming restaurant and we can set up wherever we like, which is ideal when we need to feed two small children at short notice. On more than one occasion we have found ourselves rustling up a meal in some bizarre location, often stopped beside the road in a safe and convenient spot, simply to keep the kids happy.
We always look forward to family meals in the van. As Luciano Pavarotti once said, ‘One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating.’ But first we cook, and there is just as much pleasure in that as there is in the eating. So, over the next few pages, we’re sharing some of our favourite recipes and tips for enjoyable caravan cooking.