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A camping holiday is freedom on four wheels, but it also comes with some limitations. Because if you travel with a camper, you have relatively little space available there. Big kitchen? none. Instead, many mobile homes are only equipped with a gas cooker and the storage space is also rather limited.
Nevertheless, travelers do not have to do without delicious food. With practical cooking utensils, fresh herbs and the right recipes, gourmets will also get their money’s worth on the go. The Austrian top chef proves that Gabriele Kochlwho are responsible for the start-up “myvanture“ traveled through Croatian Istria in a VW Grand California.
These cooking utensils are essential
“For juicy meat and tender fish, I swear by a cast-iron griddle complete with tongs, and I would definitely pack a couple of extra wooden boards for setting down pots and pans,” reveals the gourmet expert, who works in this restaurant with her family year went camping for the first time in her life.
The campers are usually well equipped with crockery and cutlery – “for a little more style, however, shatterproof wine glasses and serving plates are also part of it for me”. After all, as is well known, the eye also eats.
If you like to cook, you should bring an extra table, advises Gabriele Köchl.
When chopping vegetables and herbs, it can also get pretty cramped in the camper kitchen. The chef therefore recommends taking a larger table with you for anyone who likes to cook a lot during their camping holiday.
Include Mother Nature in your diet
There is often no space in the camper for a large spice rack either. Salt, pepper, sugar and oil are part of the basic equipment, for more unusual seasoning campers can instead include nature on site in the menu.
Regions like the maquis – called Makija – in Croatia offer many opportunities for gathering wild herbs, including rosemary, laurel, wild fennel, asparagus, myrtle and lavender. Samphire also grows on the cliffs. “I put it in vinegar like the Croats and Greeks do,” reports gourmet chef Köchl.
Top chef Gabriele Köchl collects wild herbs in Croatia.
Herbs such as stinging nettle, sorrel or dandelion can not only refine dishes, but can also be processed into delicious wild herb salads. With a dressing of honey, balsamic vinegar and olive oil, the wild herbs you have picked yourself become a delicious side dish or a light main course.
Here you will find herbs and fruit along the way
You can learn about edible wild plants, for example, on a herb hike or through identification books.
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Gabriele Köchl advises hobby collectors: “You shouldn’t pick herbs on campsites, a lot grows there, but there are also many dogs. And of course not all wild plants are edible, so you have to be 100% sure.”
With laurel and rosemary, however, herb collectors cannot do much wrong – simply rub the leaves between your fingers and the characteristic scent fills your nose.
If the holiday falls during harvest season, fresh fruit or nuts from trees and shrubs along the way can spice up the meal as well. On the website “mundraub.org“ you will find a map with fruit-bearing trees and shrubs on public land in your area – maybe it’s even worth taking a little detour?
Three camping recipes: fish, meat or salad
Here you will find three quick and easy camping recipe ideas from Gabriele Köchl – guaranteed with gourmet refinements:
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Whole fish from the cast iron plate with potatoes, wild fennel, rosemary and wild garlic blossoms
Ingredients:
- A large, fresh fish (red bream, sea bream or sea bass)
- Wild fennel, rosemary, lemon, salt
- 1 kilo fresh, small potatoes
Preparation:
Boil the potatoes on the gas flame for about 20 minutes and then peel them. Just salt the gutted and scaled fish and cut along the bone to allow the heat to penetrate. Then fill herbs according to taste, lemon slices and garlic into the abdominal cavity.
Fry the sliced potatoes in a pan until crisp and brown and place the pan on a wooden board. Now place a cast iron griddle over both gas burners and heat up for about five minutes. Depending on its size, do not grill the fish all the way through, remove the plate with the fish and also place it on a wooden board.
Let the fish continue to sizzle for about ten minutes, turning once in between. Meanwhile, heat the potatoes in the pan again, sprinkle with rosemary and place on the table. Serve with tomato salad or green salad. Fillet the fish, sprinkle with fresh wild fennel flowers and serve with olive oil and lemon.
Fish with potatoes, wild fennel, rosemary and wild garlic blossoms – a camping recipe for gourmets.
Beef and veal fillet on laurel with salad and ajvar
Ingredients:
- Fillet steak (beef or veal)
- branch of laurel
- Lettuce, potatoes, fresh chili, red onion
- Ajvar
Preparation:
Season the steak with salt only and place on a whole bay leaf after grilling. Serve with plenty of fresh salad as a side dish, along with a few potatoes, a fresh chili pepper and a red onion. A little tip: Ajvar, a mixture of peppers and aubergines with flavors ranging from mild to hot, is a specialty of the kitchen on the balcony and goes perfectly with the steak.
Tomato and peach salad with Croatian fresh goat cheese
Ingredients:
- Assorted tomatoes (small, large, red and yellow)
- peaches or nectarines
- Wild rocket, lemon, olive oil, basil
- Goat cheese or feta
Preparation:
Cut different tomatoes directly from the region into different sizes. Then dice peaches or nectarines that are already ripe and put everything together on a plate. Mix in a handful of wild arugula.
Squeeze half a lemon, salt everything generously, pour over the lemon juice and good olive oil. It is best to simply crumble the goat cheese or feta over it. Finally cover everything with plucked basil leaves, grind coarse pepper on top and serve.
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