Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Specifically for cycle touring subjects & questions
nmnm
Posts: 470
Joined: 14 Nov 2010, 6:03pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by nmnm »

If I were you, I'd do the picnic thing, with an optional cafe/ bistro stop in the evening rather than at lunchtime.

I bought cooking gear before heading off to France for a month trip last year but decided against taking the cooking stuff and didn't regret that choice. I did get a big whim for corn flakes at one point, and bought a plastic bowl for that.

If I were cycling fewer hours I might've thought to spend end-of-day time cooking, but for me it was a matter of stop, sleep. Your trip sounds more sociable but I'd tend to spend the cookware cash on a few more bottles of wine myself.

If picnicking isn't hitting the spot, you can always buy a cheap version Trangia or other stove / pots and stuff in the big supermarkets you'll cycle past every few hours, a fine cookware French souvenir when you bring it home!
theenglishman
Posts: 106
Joined: 10 Jun 2012, 5:01pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by theenglishman »

The last time I did anything like that it was a bakery for breakfast, stop around 11am (before everything closes for lunch) to buy a picnic lunch then cycle a bit further to find a nice place to stop and actually have lunch. Dinner was in a restaurant or more usually the others in the campsites felt sorry for the lone cyclist with the tiny tent and invited me to their dinner/BBQ.

I have to say it was a fantastic 2 weeks doing that. Looking tired and a bit knackered, along with a touch of patheticness worked wonders :D And I met a lot of very nice, kind people.

Oh - and do a bit of fettling on your bike before you shower etc - You're bound to get a few bored husbands wander over to chew the fat and reminisce about the good old days. And they nearly always have a spare cold beer. :D
User avatar
NUKe
Posts: 4161
Joined: 23 Apr 2007, 11:07pm
Location: Suffolk

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by NUKe »

if your only taking one burner French do large tins/Jars casoulet, a bean stew with various meats , in the Supermarkets dead easy one pot meal.
Their small supermarkets like Champion are wonderful places for meat, cheeses pastries, quiche and frech vegetables and just like us over the years they have adopted things like Pasta and rice, You won't starve, but be prepared to try the local food otherwise you will miss out. Certainly in rural France, there are still cafe bars that serve simple fayre at very reasonable prices,
NUKe
_____________________________________
User avatar
al_yrpal
Posts: 11537
Joined: 25 Jul 2007, 9:47pm
Location: Think Cheddar and Cider
Contact:

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by al_yrpal »

Oh! ...and I forgot the lunchtime plat de jour. Available everywhere and roughly 10 euros. Evening eating has become very expensive in France over the last three years. The supermarkets don't come up to local shops IMO, but if you want cheaper they do it.

Al
Reuse, recycle, thus do your bit to save the planet.... Get stuff at auctions, Dump, Charity Shops, Facebook Marketplace, Ebay, Car Boots. Choose an Old House, and a Banger ..... And cycle as often as you can......
User avatar
Alex L
Posts: 625
Joined: 13 Sep 2011, 12:31am
Location: Staffordshire

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by Alex L »

A tip from me. Ensure you have enough fuel or you'll be eating rice with cold curry :oops:
User avatar
Penfold
Posts: 223
Joined: 30 Jan 2007, 3:07pm
Location: Black Country in the heart of England (Gods country)
Contact:

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by Penfold »

theenglishman wrote:The last time I did anything like that it was a bakery for breakfast, stop around 11am (before everything closes for lunch) to buy a picnic lunch then cycle a bit further to find a nice place to stop and actually have lunch. Dinner was in a restaurant or more usually the others in the campsites felt sorry for the lone cyclist with the tiny tent and invited me to their dinner/BBQ.

I have to say it was a fantastic 2 weeks doing that. Looking tired and a bit knackered, along with a touch of patheticness worked wonders :D And I met a lot of very nice, kind people.

Oh - and do a bit of fettling on your bike before you shower etc - You're bound to get a few bored husbands wander over to chew the fat and reminisce about the good old days. And they nearly always have a spare cold beer. :D


I agree with 'theenglishman' spot on advice there....Worked for 'us' while camping, finished up with a decent bottle of schnappes. Most welcome.
Seemed to me that if you were not living it up in a twin axle caravan, a motorhome or a 22 berth super tent the locals deemed you a charity case. May invest in a Labrador next time who knows what I'll be offered for free :evil: ( I can say that cos son has the need for such an animal)

I do own a Trangia 27/2 thats rather a good bit of kit (imho)

Just keep an eye on those Supermarket opening times, they do like their lunch hour (an a bit)

Enjoy
I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything,
I still believe that people are really good at heart.
- Anne Frank

There is a forgotten, nay almost forbidden word, which means more to me than any other. That word is England.
- Winston Churchill
nmnm
Posts: 470
Joined: 14 Nov 2010, 6:03pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by nmnm »

Penfold wrote:
theenglishman wrote:Just keep an eye on those Supermarket opening times

Good point! It doesn't hurt to google their public holidays too!
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by willem jongman »

In France, fresh ingredients are superb. Therefore, I like cooking my own meals, and it is a lot cheaper. I have a Thermos that I fill with hot water in the evening, so I do not have to get the stove out for coffee or tea in the morning. En route, it keeps at least some of my water cold. For lunch, I take bread and cheese and/or cold sausages. For dinner, there is the Trangia (an UL HA without kettle), a 27 for solo trips, and a 25 for two people. For three I take the multifuel burner for the Trangia. Dinner is either pasta with a sauce and some salad, or fried or boiled vegetables, with a steak, a piece of chicken or fish, and French bread for the carbohydrates. If you boil the vegetables, take them off the stove just before they are ready, and keep them in the warm water (with a plate for a lid), while you are frying your steak. If I am very lazy, cold ham and a salad or a cold quiche suit me fine. Take some herbs to spruce up the taste of your meal - they weigh next to nothing. For emergency food, I always take some decent quality macaroni (macaroni packs more compact than many other shapes of pasta, and the boil time is shorter), flavoured by some bottled pesto and grated parmezan. It is light, compact, and I can always restock in any supermarket. Talking about supermarkets. The French countryside has degraded badly by the advent of these large supermarkets outside towns and vilages. As a cyclist, it is often next to impossible to find them.
Willem
ericonabike
Posts: 362
Joined: 24 Apr 2008, 4:05pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by ericonabike »

Enjoyed reading the replies - have decided to go without cooking kit and, as suggested, maybe buy cheap stove etc there if I feel the need. Also impressed by the idea of subtly encouraging caravanners/motorhomers to come to our aid. As I own one, shall happily accept any offers of liquid/edible assistance on the basis that I'll return the favour to others at some point! Son owns an I-piddle thingy that will constantly need charging if he is to stay sane, and so his looking pathetic with a mains charger in his paw should do the trick...
Motorists' mantra: Cyclists must obey the law and the Highway Code AT ALL TIMES. Unless their doing so would HOLD ME UP.
iandriver
Posts: 2521
Joined: 10 Jun 2009, 2:09pm
Location: Cambridge.

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by iandriver »

Grown up Son sounds like you'll need a ton of food (if it's anything like my house :D ). +1 for the warm a tin of something up and eat with bread, lots of bread, to pad it all out. Volumes of food could be a problem on a small stove for more than one.

I usually take an emergency bag of penne pasta and a stir in sauce just in case camping gets a little wild.
Supporter of the A10 corridor cycling campaign serving Royston to Cambridge http://a10corridorcycle.com. Never knew gardening secateurs were an essential part of the on bike tool kit until I took up campaigning.....
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by willem jongman »

So how did it go?
ericonabike
Posts: 362
Joined: 24 Apr 2008, 4:05pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by ericonabike »

From an enjoyment point of view - excellent! The weather was fantastic, up in high 20s/low 30s all the time. Son and I got on well, but fair to say a week was probably long enough...we mixed camping and 2 star hotels in the end, as sometimes campsites weren't where we wanted to be, and on one occasion the municipal looked like a set from Deliverance. From a moneysaving point of view - I ended up spending around 100 Euros a day on the two of us. I don't regret not taking camping kit though - seemed hard enough work setting up camp in the end, and I was towing nearly 4 stones of kit as it was! So - no regrets, but next time I'd probably work a route out more precisely and book in advance now I know what kind of mileage son can do.
Motorists' mantra: Cyclists must obey the law and the Highway Code AT ALL TIMES. Unless their doing so would HOLD ME UP.
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by willem jongman »

How old is sonny boy?
Willem
ericonabike
Posts: 362
Joined: 24 Apr 2008, 4:05pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by ericonabike »

24 - a recent convert to cycling...
Motorists' mantra: Cyclists must obey the law and the Highway Code AT ALL TIMES. Unless their doing so would HOLD ME UP.
willem jongman
Posts: 2750
Joined: 7 Jan 2008, 4:16pm

Re: Dumbo camper seeks cooking kit tips

Post by willem jongman »

So 'what mileage my son can do' strikes me as odd. He should beat you hands down. Anyway, glad you enjoyed it.
Willem
Post Reply