Cooking and Camping: 2 outdoor cookbook favourites

‘Back to basic never tasted so good’

Niklas Ekstedt - food from fire

martin dorey - camper van cookbook

I’m sorry guys. I know Niklas Ekstedt’s Food from Fire is Scandinavian based cooking – not Scottish. But let’s face it: the Scottish cuisine is not your #1 reason to come out here. Niklas Ekstedt is not just any chef. The Swedish super chef writes in such a passionate style, that my mouth started watering at the book’s introduction alone. Niklas takes you back to the olden Nordic days when cooking without electricity was the norm, using local ingredients only. His strong desire to go back to basic resulted in a magnificent book with creative dishes. The graphic design of the book makes me want to get cooking every time I open it.

What most blew my mind is that – even though all recipes are unbelievably basic and open fire prepared – Niklas Ekstedt used his passion to open a restaurant in Stockholm...and was awarded a Michelin star for it! Who knew Michelin worthy cooking could be possible using just an open fire and a cast iron pan. And lucky us: most Swedish local ingredients are pretty much the same as here in Scotland.

Martin Dorey, with his Camper Van Cookbook, is not exactly the ‘world-famous-in-Sweden’ kind of chef. But he is without a doubt one of the most dedicated camper van enthusiasts in the whole of the UK! Martin has taken his vintage VW camper van all around the UK and Ireland and has written this awesome book about cooking and camper van life. His book is full of easy to make dishes, but also comes packed with tips and ideas for going out in a camper van.

All essential gear, like basic camper van gear and cooking equipmentare listed, but also the very important ‘how-to-be-nice to your camper van’, how to behave when wild camping and what to look for when going berry-picking. And oh yes – it also shows the basic guitar accords for some camp fire songs. Even I can now manage to play a bit! The recipes are actually real nice, and the combination with all the outdoor-life wisdom throughout the book makes it a great travel companion on your trip.