COOKING IN YOUR ’VAN

With a bit of planning, cooking in your motorhome is a brilliant way to enjoy great food and local produce on the road, says Marcus Leach

Eating and travel are very closely intertwined. It is impossible to set out on a trip without food playing a major part, from the meals we eat on the road, to the people and stories associated with all of the delicious local produce that we might discover along the way.

I would argue that the ability to sample foods and regional delicacies that would not be easily available to us in everyday life is one of the greatest pleasures of travel, particularly motorcaravanning.

I have lost count of the number of times we have been driving through a village or past a little roadside market, and pulled over on seeing purveyors of local produce that we would otherwise have very little opportunity to cook and enjoy. Sampling their goods and hearing the stories behind them 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.

A taste of something new

For us, that’s one of the great advantages of travelling in a motorhome and staying in different locations – the ability to buy and cook the foods that help to give the region we are exploring its identity.

From the UK’s great cheeses, Murcia’s paprika and Portugal’s piri piri sauce, to olives in Provence, chorizo on the Iberian Peninsula and an abundance of fish along the Mediterranean coast, there’s an endless supply of wonderful ingredients that we can use when we’re on the road.

There’s a common misconception that cooking in a motorhome is something of an inconvenience, given that you have fewer facilities than you might do at home. 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, no matter where you are.

Just as it is at home for us, cooking is an integral part of the day when we are on the road and we look forward to it.

Yes, there are nights when we arrive at a campsite later than expected, or turn up to find it has a brilliant restaurant (our own weakness is wood-oven pizza, preferably with a local beer!), but we always take great pleasure in cooking on tour.