Meet our featured vanlifers with a difference! Maria & Dominic don’t have a converted van yet! They love vanlife though and often hire a campervan and head out on adventure. The reason we have decided to feature them is because of their passion for outdoor cooking. They have a cookbook dedicated to this which you can purchase here.
Vanlife often allows park-ups in amazing locations, so why not make the most of it and cook outside! Their insta page Biwakkitchen showcases amazing ideas for cooking whilst on hikes, walks, etc.
Do you ever cook in a van?
Yes! We cook almost everywhere: in a van, on a mountain top, on a lonely beach, in the woods, or on a flower meadow.
What is the best thing about outdoor cooking?
That’s quite simple: food tastes better outdoors! Outdoor cooking is where you don’t need a fancy kitchen for great meals and where you don’t need to reserve any table for a sparkling candlelit dinner! That’s the difference and that’s what turns it into a special experience every time anew.
What is your cooking set-up?
Our basic cooking setup when hiking is a little gas stove and a collapsible camping pot. That saves a lot of space, it is not only compact but also lightweight. What we always carry along is a wooden spoon, a few dishes, a tea towel, a DIY biodegradable dish soap, trash bags, and what should never be missing is our set of spices. In order to save weight, we also started cooking with dehydrated vegetables and already pre-packed portions. What we suggest is that you never try to save weight by reducing your water supplies.
Do you have a favourite cooking accessory?
Our favourite cooking accessory is definitely our spice box. The thing is that most often it’s the spices that bring other ingredients to live. So we love to experiment with them and to explore new tastes. However, another accessory we’ve fallen in love with recently is the omnia oven. It opens up a new world to outdoor cooking or better baking possibilities.
What is your favourite meal to make?
Hard to say. It depends on the kind of adventure we’re up to. When we’re on a multi-day backpacking trip we prefer easy and simple one-pot-meals that are also energizing. Like a quinoa salad, an avocado sandwich, oat patties. Whereas in the van we prefer more fancy and creative recipes. Some of our favorites are: bulgur ananas, mushroom balls, or millet balls with coconut veggies… and for breakfast, we love the pink pancakes made with raw beetroot.
Where has been your favourite place to cook a meal?
Our favourite place for outdoor cooking the coast side. We love to hear the smooth sound of the waves while preparing a meal and looking at the endless ocean while eating lets us dive even further into a world of aromas. Seems like the sea gives our dishes an extra pinch of freshness.
Any cooking disasters?
Oh yes more than enough! You don’t want to know how often our cooking pot has already fallen over. You need a good dose of patience and of humor, because things don’t always go as planned when you’re out cooking in the great outdoors.
Cookbook!
Maria & Dominic have released a cookbook full of recipes for cooking outdoors. Their book Experience nature and good food is available on Amazon and was originally a KickStarter project, which shows the support they have had for the book. It is available in English and German and all recipes are vegetarian. We are currently running a competition with them where you could win a copy of their book, head to our Insta page for all the details (closes 1st November 2020)
Instagram: @biwakkitchen
You can catch up with Maria & Dominic through the social media links on their profile. Head to their profile to have a look at their favourite recipes to make in the great outdoors
Click here to see their profile
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