Juergen making spinach and Feta empanadas on our RV table
All of our recipes are vegetarian dishes we find easy and relatively quick to prepare on the road, overlanding through Latin America. Supplies in many regions, away from major cities, can be rather limited. We try to stock up on essentials when in capital cities, but otherwise we use what we find at local markets or roadside stalls. In some regions the best fresh produce can be bought straight from the back of a truck, driving through the suburbs. In parts of Central America (Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua) all we encountered for weeks, apart from black beans, were capsicums [bell peppers in US English], carrots, potatoes, and onions. This got really boring after a while, so we tried to create new variations of the same old, same old…
Juergen has a serious allergy to garlic, so you won’t find it included in any of our recipes. That doesn’t mean you can’t add it to your liking – it should fit with most dishes.
We have both been vegetarians for around 30 years, so we really don’t use any meat or poultry, not even chicken stock. But we have both started, during the last 10 years, to eat fish occasionally (that would make us pescetarians); a couple of recipes contain canned tuna, but most of the time we prepare the same dish without the added fish (so you can have it vegetarian).
As mentioned in the introduction: all recipes should be easy to prepare in a camper van on the road, made mostly from ingredients found in small shops along the way. So, apart from some spices and other easy-to-carry base ingredients, you won’t find anything fancy in our recipes. Leftovers don’t travel very well, so you also won’t find any recipe calling for half a can of whatsoever (where you don’t know what to do with the other half).
Please don’t expect professionally created, mouth-watering photos with our recipes – all cooking was done in the confinement of our small camper ‘Berta‘ and photographed by the cook with a hand-held camera.
We’ve published a post called What to Include in an Overlander’s Kitchen , where we listed some cooking equipment and aids we carry, plus a list of core ingredients we love to use and try to re-stock every chance we get.
Other than that: try to eat healthily, vary your diet as much as limited supplies permit, and enjoy your overland trip! Of course: you can cook every one of our meals as easily at home! Most dishes are quick to prepare and don’t require much skill or many ingredients, so they should be a good and quick alternative to “home delivery” for any busy person.
