The Guide to Gourmet Holidays
Enjoying good meals without too much effort during the holidays is easier than you might think. By focusing on versatile foods that are easy to carry and a few preparations adapted to outdoor life, you can cook gourmet, varied dishes throughout your stay.
Few ingredients, lots of taste
Few ingredients, lots of taste
At the campsite, the most successful meals are often the simplest. The idea is not to reproduce what you would do at home, but rather to focus on a few versatile ingredients capable of reinventing themselves over the course of your stay. With a minimum of planning, you can vary the menu without over-purchasing or overloading the cooler.
The trick? Use the same bases from one meal to the next. Topped with cheese and leftover veggies, tortillas become makeshift quesadillas. The same tortillas rolled with scrambled eggs and sausage make up a satisfying breakfast burrito. Sausages also find a place at dinner, served with vegetables cooked over the fire, while pre-cooked potatoes easily transition from dinner to breakfast the next day.
Try these recipes, including quesadillas to make with leftover trout:
Fire does almost all the work
Fire does almost all the work
Cooking over the fire gives character to food, and papillotes are among the camper’s best allies. Vegetables, potatoes, protein or a little cheese are slipped in, then the heat does its work. The result: even cooking, almost no supervision and very few dishes.
Cooking directly on the grill is just as convenient. Corn on the cob, zucchini, peppers, mushrooms or sausages quickly develop grilled notes that add a lot of flavour.
Skewers are another winning solution. All cooked together, portions are easy to manage, and serving is uncomplicated.
Try these recipes:
Add freshness without complicating your life
Add freshness without complicating your life
Even when camping, it’s easy to bring a little colour to the plate. Some vegetables keep particularly well for several days. Peppers, zucchini, carrots or corn on the cob are easy to transport and require little preparation.
On the fruit side, apples remain unbeatable. Berries, when eaten quickly, also add a welcome summer touch to breakfast or dessert.
A few fresh herbs, a lemon wedge or a ready-made vinaigrette can also transform a meal in seconds.
Try these recipes:
The real luxury: Eating outside
The real luxury: Eating outside
Part of the fun of camping isn’t just in what you eat, but how you eat it. Share the dishes in the centre of the table, use your hands if it makes sense, improvise with what’s left in the cooler and forget about perfect presentations and overly strict schedules.
Meals take on a different rhythm. Slower. More spontaneous. Enjoying a simple sandwich by the lake or a plate of grilled vegetables around the fire often provides more satisfaction than a more elaborate meal served indoors.
Desserts that smell like summer holidays
Desserts that smell like summer holidays
It is impossible to talk about camping without mentioning desserts around the fire. Toasted marshmallows remain a must. S’mores, with their cookies, melting chocolate and runny inside appeal to children and adults alike.
For variety, you can also toast split banana halves topped with chocolate, cook apples en papillote with a little brown sugar or heat some berries in a cast iron skillet. Simple desserts, certainly, but ones that taste like summer holidays.
Try these recipes: