Food in Cornwall – Camp, eat, drink, repeat

Food in Cornwall – Camp, eat, drink, repeat

I cannot tell you how long I’ve spent on Pinterest looking at easy camping recipes in the weeks running up to us going away for a sleepover in our tent. Food is a passion of ours, so wading through recipes for our few nights away is a good excuse to do what I love to do anyway “I’m doing research, John!” I say. Now technically I am, but I struggle to pinpoint what we’ll actually make when we’re relaxed and in holiday mode. With two little people (and their huge and constant appetites), sometimes simply ‘playing it by ear’ doesn’t fit the bill. John in particular loves a BBQ as much as the next person – the sausages, burgers, pork chops and a bit of salad, but a week of BBQs can get a bit same-y, even for the most excited coal-watcher. When it comes to staying down our way, food in Cornwall is a sure-fire hit and so for me, it’s less of an organisiational nightmare!

OVERKILL ALERT: When we first camped with our boys (they were just approaching 3 years old) to say that I thoroughly planned well, well in advance would be an understatement that being said, we never once went hungry! We didn’t have an electric hook-up pitch so all the work would be done on our Cadac. I cut up potatoes into wedges and tossed them in spices and oil (zip lock bags were amazing for this!), marinated raw chicken pieces, pre-made melting middle burgers and froze them so they defrosted ready for day 2 and acted as ice blocks for day 1, had packed lunches made for day 1 and 2 and even had all the salad sticks cut up! My idea was that I could just cook everything that had been prepared so I could enjoy the camping experience with the boys – and it did exactly that whilst saving lots of money on the food that would’ve gone to waste at home! Yes, it was laborious to do all the prep but we reaped the rewards as it was AWESOME.

Would I do that now? Probably not..! It’s nice now the boys are slightly older to be able to ‘live in the moment’ a bit more, but not every moment!

Lunches

We always have a large packed lunch for a long car journey – twice the amount we’d eat if we were sitting around the table at home as school trips and days out have always made me SUPER hungry!

When in a place with a speciality, our first lunch out and about on the first full day would always be the traditional lunch of that area. To us happy Cornish folk, this would have to be the mighty Cornish pasty. So, let’s get down to the nitty gritty. 1) A Cornish pasty has got to be crimped on the SIDE to be truly traditional – I’ll explain why in another blog post – I apologise in advance, 2) Shortcrust steak pasties are called ‘traditional’ but you can get many different flavours nowadays and different pastry too including gluten free, 3) If you’re out and about, it’s best to eat it wrapped up in the bag, with the flat side facing you, top down (crust towards your dominant hand).

I’ve made it my mission recently to try many, many pasties and I have to say, I love Prima Bakeries, Philp’s, Lavender’s and the Cornish Oven.  When it comes to our pasty crown, good food in Cornwall is never far away!

Evening meals

The first night now would be involving an exploration of the local area so a bite to eat in a pub with good grub or a restaurant– we have so many in Marazion to choose from!

The second night (and probably many more!) would definitely be a basic BBQ – just what’s in order after a long day of exploration and swimming in the sea! Sometimes there’s just nothing like the smell of slightly charred food in Cornwall on a sunny evening with a glass of white wine in your hand… I love salads and all the side dishes that come with it, so these would form the basis of a packed lunch for us the next day!

There are so many food options that are overlooked when camping. Guests give us great insight into their foodie favourites – chicken fajitas seem to be popular with families and cut down on the amount of washing up – what a bonus! Other successes we hear of are pizza pockets made with pitta bread (stuffed inside with yummy cheese, meats etc.), ham & cheese croissants, pasta & Bolognese sauce (leftovers can be stored in a fridge and used to make a chilli con carne the next night), chicken and Mediterranean veg foil parcels, breakfast parcels, one-pot jambalaya… wow, I could go on!

Whatever you decide to do, whether it’s eating out every night or having a BBQ for 7 days running, just enjoy being together! We feel so lucky to live in such a beautiful area and make the most of doing things as a family whenever we can – the fact that we can pick the boys up from school, go straight to the beach and have fish and chips for tea whist sitting on the shoreline is just too magic not to do. This is something we’d recommend if you fancy a night off cooking, and became our ‘Thursday night thing’ in the summer of 2019. Lush.

 

Overall, there is an abundance of places to eat, suiting a range of budgets and palates… just ask a member of our friendly team for recommendations on food in Cornwall!