Did you ever cook on your camino?

[Linni]

Would be nice to cook my own meals every now and then.. Any suggestions for "easy" camino cooking?

 

[Icacos]

A can of sardines con pan .... y vino

 

[nidarosa]

I have to admit I have never cooked anything other than pasta and salads on the camino, mainly because the kitchens aren't always very well equipped, and if they are, there will be lots of people wanting to cook at the same time, which can be nice or a bit stressful. (Also I am usually tired and lazy and prefer to go out ...) As Icacos said, the simplest food, which doesn't need actual cooking, is often the best: tinned tuna or sardines; bread or crackers with cheese, peppers, grapes; salads with whatever you like; a carton of gazpacho from the chilled cabinet in the tienda and bread to dunk in it ... If you know the kitchen will be well equipped, by all means buy something on your way there, if not, wait until you see what it is like and decide before you shop. A friend of mine was once refused the use of the kitchen when she wanted to cook fish because she was so tired of pork, and the fish had to be thrown away, so I would recommend shopping for things that will be okay on their own (or tomorrow).

 

[scruffy1]

Always nice to cook for yourself, depends where and what. Good sized towns and cities will have anything you can dream of, fruits, vegetables, seafood, meat anything at all. Smaller places and villages will have the fruit and vegetables, anything else will be frozen or come from a can. Communal meals are always fun and turn around carbohydrates, lots of them! Pasta and paella being great favorites. One caution, the albergue kitchens are usually pretty well supplied with most of the kitchen equipment you will need. Give the pots and the pans, the skillets and silverware a good scrub before use, you never know who washed the dishes last night or how much wine they had to drink before. Give the Teflon a good look, often more craters and furrows then Teflon, not good for cooking and not healthy! Knives will not be sharp – another reason to have a good pocketknife with you. Watch for little white vans disturbing the country quiet with loud prolonged use of the horn! It will be a supplier of fresh bread or seafood on crushed ice. Markets and fairs abound as well as larger vans with cheese, sausage, cured meats, and wine parked in the odd corner. ¡Buen provecho!

 

[evanlow]

For me it is just pasta. Cooking takes effort and one may be very tired after a day's walk and something simple is key.

I actually called it pilgrim pasta as the ingredients are quite easy to get not just at the supermarket but at any small provision shops all over Spain.

Pasta, small can of tuna, small can of peas (corn if you can find it), small can of red pimentos (red pepper), a small can/packet of olive, small paper box of tomato paste. This is assuming the kitchen has olive oil and salt (most of them have, sometime even leftover pasta). Oh don't forget the wine. Serves 2-4 depending on the size of cans.

What I do more in the kitchen more preparing lunch, usually before bedtime as doing it in the morning is a bit of rush. Sandwich. Not the usual baguette type of bread but more of the standard white square bread. I find the former too dry and to hard especially after one day.

Sandwich with tomatoes, hard boiled eggs, cold cut ham, cheese all joined together with mayo. The mayo squeeze tube is my only weight penalty. Would love lettuce but the portion are too big and they are too perishable. I wrapped the sandwich into the extra plastic bag I take from the veg/fruit section of the supermarket as the sandwich could be a bit wet. Put it in fridge overnight then remember to tranfer to backpack the next day. Again serves 2-4 so it is nice if I have other pilgrims to share the cost since it is really hard to just buy the mimimum for one. I never have the problem since most of them are tired of their dry and hard bread, oily day old cheese that is out of the fridge too long and the equally oily chorizo especially when this is nicely prepared for them by me. I even recommend to them to carry 1 can of their favorite beverage, a bag of crisp/chips so lunch stop in the open feels more like a picnic.

 

[peregrina2000]

Would be nice to cook my own meals every now and then.. Any suggestions for "easy" camino cooking?

Hi, Linni,
I had the same question a while ago and got some suggestions here:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...ike-koilife-in-the-kitchen.25231/#post-198093

In my experience, you should cross your fingers and hope that a group of firefighters shows up or a chef-in-disguise walking as a pilgrim. Then it's very easy to do your part and chop or stir!

Buen camino, Laurie

 

[evanlow]

Hahaha.

That's a great strategy Laurie.

On the same line of thought, if one is a good chef, just by bringing along a couple of herbs and spices, there will be no shortage of other pilgrims willing to get any ingredients for you to cook provided the albergue has a kitchen.

 

[jbear]

Yes, I cooked several times. It is easier to do when it's a group effort. We made everything from pasta to paella to grilled cheese. In fact one of my biggest moments of pride was being complemented on my paella by a Spaniard.

If you are going to cook discuss it with your camino family while walking. That way you can coordinate shopping and prep work. One other thing- buy a kitchen knife at a hardware store (ferretería). Trust me on this, the knifes in the albergues are better thought of as flat spoons.

 

[SeaHorse]

Never even tried. Not when there is somebody willing to do it for me for just 10 euros a meal included cooking, ingredients and dishwashing. Pilgrims menus were really good, don't listen to those saying they are "bland". I don't understand - pilgrims menu is bland and communal meal isn't? Communal meals sometimes were inevitable. Had only one wonderful communal meal in "Casa Magica", all others sucked. Later if there was another option, I went to the bar or restaurant, even alone. I normally prefer to be alone than in a merry crowd, was ok for me.

 

[HeidiL]

I get horribly cranky if I'm not fed regularly. To keep my husband alive, I tend to carry some food with me, depending on weight and what we know about food availability in the next couple of days.

I've done a a bit of of camino cooking in towns where there isn't a restaurant or the bar serves drinks and potato chips only. If I know there won't be Food somewhere, I tend to buy stuff that can be eaten cooked or uncooked, things that can make a nice breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on availability. When we walk out of a town where there is a supermarket, I tend to carry a couple of good tomatoes, some cheese, the smallest bag of ready-washed lettuce, a plastic bag of olives (pour the water out if you know you'll be eating it soon!), bread and some canned tuna, a couple of miniature pots of jam, a couple of bananas and some yoghurt.

If there is a stove, a frying pan and some olive oil, this might end up as tuna salad with (stale bread) croutons, hot cheese sandwiches and fried banana with yoghurt and jam. If there are no cooking facilities, the salad is still OK, and everything else can be eaten cold.

I also have a couple of cup-a-soup packets and a couple of instant noodle bags along with a good, sturdy plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. If there's just a water heater we can have a hot drink with our sandwiches, and I have on occasion asked a bar-without-food to sell me a bottle of wine and give me a large cup of boiling water for noodles/soup.

A bit of the spice package from the noodles, a spoonful of the vinegary water from the olives plus some of the oil from the tuna = good salad dressing!

The last time (Camino de Madrid) I also had a couple of bags of instant oats porridge, which turned out to be a wonderful addition to the stale, sticky pastries that were the only kind of breakfast the hotel we stopped at somewhere along a road served.

 

[mikevasey]

I try always to carry cheese, dried sausage of some kind( it doesn't have to be chorizo), bread and tomatoes. The advantage of this is not only can you make snacks on the way but if you get to a place with a good kitchen and there is pasta or rice left over you can knock something up quite easily.

 

[peregrina2000]

My camino food discovery this summer was when LTfit introduced me to the joys of gazpacho in a box. It is extremely cheap (little more than a euro or two for a liter) and some of the brands are really tasty. Sold in most supermercados in the refrigerated foods section.

 

[mspath]

Generally I don't cook on the camino. However walking in late autumn/winter I always carry basic rations since the only shop or bar in town may NOT be open! There is NO reason it should be open especially out of season!
For me each camino is not only a walk of personal thanksgiving, but also a test of my tenacity and endurance. To pass any test one needs to BE PREPARED.

Hence my food basics include tea bags, packets which make a cup of soup (even including croutons), firm cheese, small sausage, simple cookies and some chocolate. Nothing heavy but enough to exist for 24 hours if need be. On past caminos especially during storms when I stopped in small and remote albergues far from any supply source novice pilgrims have often staggered in wet, cold and hungry. They may have had the best gear but carried no food.

Of course I shared; hot soup, a chunk of cheese and wedge of sausage can be ambrosia in such a setting. A smile returned by a new friend over a simple meal is one of the Camino's many joys. Next morning after the tea, cookies and chocolate for our common breakfast we would set out together. At the first open shop I would re-stock those basics and usually the other pilgrim would buy necessary provisions.

MM

 

[evanlow]

Thanks for the tip Laurie,

I will be continuing my Camino Levante from where I left off starting next week. I will look out for gazpacho in a box. Sounds wonderful. With all that walking any nourishment that is not dry and more liquid sounds really appealing.

Cheers.

 

[mspath]

Laurie's delight discovering gazpacho in a box is similar to mine half a lifetime ago hiking in Japan. Knowing no Japanese I could only order and eat what I saw. Sweets were almost impossible to find but containers of chocolate milk were often sold from small self-service kiosks which resembled post boxes. Thus I happily 'had a few too many' chocolate milks every day!

 

[sempervivum]

The cooking depends on the albergue's kitchen, the people being there before your arrival, and also on the people you are with, not only on your willingness to cook. At times, there are too many people in the kitchen and no equipment or none available (in my case, the most frequent situation because I have always chosen to take a shower and wash my clothes as the first things to be done).
It helps being in a group, when someone goes for shopping while another takes a shower. It is easier not only because you are helping each other, but mainly because you share the meal you cooked. Otherwise, you'll find it harder to cook only for yourself...
Remember, many times you'll not be in the mood for cooking as you arrive to the albergue, so do not carry any supplies to be cooked, only a few dried fruits, biscuits or cheese, as mspath well suggested. If you still think you are in the mood , buy them after you have seen the kitchen and what's already there.
Also, keep in mind that you will want to take a shower, to wash your clothes (or give them to be washed), and to have some rest, besides eating.
You will also need to choose when to cook - in the afternoon (after your arrival) or in the evening. Nine times out of ten, your hunger will choose for you (whether to cook or to go out for lunch/dinner) Most of the pilgrims choose to eat only one full meal after their stage is completed (the pilgrim's menu or their own meal) and eat some snacks as for the rest of the day.
You will see what works best for you after the first few days.

 

[palmah]

If you don't already know how to make a Spanish Tortilla, you may want to learn. It can have as few ingredients (eggs, potatoes, onions) or as many as you'd like to toss in. You only need a bowl to beat the eggs, a knife to slice the onions and potatoes, and of course a frying pan.

 

[simply B]

All good suggestions here and on the revitalized thread by @peregrina2000.

My two cents:

For myself only -
1) fried eggs at night with hard cheese shaved onto salad. Excess eggs can be hard-boiled for the next day.
2) A can of seasoned white beans brought to a simmer with some diced chorizo was fast and easy.
Dessert was either fresh sliced fruit or a yogurt.

On Camino #1 I did cook for groups perhaps 6-7 times. My standard rule was to make one big pot of either pasta sauce or soup with just the vegetable base then split it into 2 batches.

One of the batches would receive whatever meat or seafood looked good in the market and which was quickly browned before simmering in this "non-vegan" version.

I did not get involved with preparing communal meals on #2 but for a few times. Other responsibilities kept me busy but I did help with shopping and chopping at those few occasions.

I really did not miss it from having suffered circumstances as pictured in the attached. (People can be funny.)

B

 

[Anniesantiago]

Here is a blog about lunch on the Camino:
http://caminosantiago2.blogspot.com/2011/08/lunch-on-camino-santiago.html

We often cook along the Way.
One time, we got into a village on the VDLP and had no food.
We checked the cupboards in the albergue.
There was half a bag of pasta, two mayonaisse packets, an onion, and a can of mussels.

Using the mayo as oil to fry the onion in, I made the best pasta dinner!

I've also bought bacalhau (dried codfish) and cooked it in a sauce of tomato and onion and garlic.
I've cooked pesto pasta.
I've cooked many versions of spaghetti.
I've cooked caldo verde.
All the ingredients of ensalada con atun are usually available.

Sometimes you just have to use your imagination.

 

[HeidiL]

I've also come across wild herbs growing right outside the albergues - often chives and thyme. This kind of foraging is only recommended if you know what you're doing.

And nobody here pinches fruit and vegetables from the fields we're walking though, right? That's the OTHER pilgrims, shame on them!

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for the tip Laurie,

I will be continuing my Camino Levante from where I left off starting next week. I will look out for gazpacho in a box. Sounds wonderful. With all that walking any nourishment that is not dry and more liquid sounds really appealing.

Cheers.

Evan, wow that's great. I forget where you stopped your Levante but I remember it was quite a serendipitous start with you having a work trip and then someone who wanted to walk with you or something like that. I look forward to hearing all about it - will you be posting here and/or on your blog? Buen camino Laurie

 

[Caneadea]

Thank you all for sharing ... I am excited to learn all I can ... I can't stop reading n researching ...
Is there camping sites along the trails? N whats the best way of paying for groceries ect? Via bank card, credit card, cash, ect...
Thanks,
Buen Camino,
Caneadea

 

[mspath]

Thank you all for sharing ... I am excited to learn all I can ... I can't stop reading n researching ...
Is there camping sites along the trails? N whats the best way of paying for groceries ect? Via bank card, credit card, cash, ect...
Thanks,
Buen Camino,
Caneadea

Caneadea,

Welcome to the Forum!

Cash is the common method of payment along the camino. However most pilgrims use a credit or debit card to obtain their cash. Read more about such cards here in this recent link.

Enjoy your research and Buen camino!
MM

 

[Deleted member 43985]

During my winter camino I always carried some chicken bouillon cubes and dried soup noodles in my pack so in the worst case (and it was worst case a couple of times!) I could make a chicken noodle soup and a cup of tea. During group dinners I would go to a local store and supplement my soup with a couple of chicken thighs, a frozen bag of veg and a couple cloves of garlic. In the winter this soup was nice for the stomach and good for the soul (( ))

 

[Caneadea]

Caneadea,

Welcome to the Forum!

Cash is the common method of payment along the camino. However most pilgrims use a credit or debit card to obtain their cash. Read more about such cards here in this recent link.

Enjoy your research and Buen camino!
MM

Thank you mspath
Buen Camino

 

[evanlow]

van, wow that's great. I forget where you stopped your Levante but I remember it was quite a serendipitous start with you having a work trip and then someone who wanted to walk with you or something like that. I look forward to hearing all about it - will you be posting here and/or on your blog? Buen camino Laurie

Hi Laurie,

I will be posting it via my blog, coming back alive after a year. It was a 2 days reunion with global colleagues from my first job and 12 days of Camino Levante before that. I was lucky to have someone I met on my Camino via de la plata in 2008 also walking with me (another reunion). I wanted to walk the Tunnel Route, he wanted the Levante instead. I am easy either way. He's from UK, semi-retired and spends a few months a year in his second home in Andalucia so it's easy to plan for the return to finish the route.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi Laurie,

I will be posting it via my blog, coming back alive after a year. It was a 2 days reunion with global colleagues from my first job and 12 days of Camino Levante before that. I was lucky to have someone I met on my Camino via de la plata in 2008 also walking with me (another reunion). I wanted to walk the Tunnel Route, he wanted the Levante instead. I am easy either way. He's from UK, semi-retired and spends a few months a year in his second home in Andalucia so it's easy to plan for the return to finish the route.

So are you saying you will have company? So happy to hear that -- I have no doubt that my enthusiasm for the Levante was colored in no small part by the fact that I met two French companions on day 3 or 4 and we walked into Santiago together. Over the next five or six weeks, we met maybe two or three others. And I was walking in HIGH season! Remind me where you are starting. (and sorry to hijack the thread). Buen camino, Laurie

 

[evanlow]

Laurie.

Thanks.

My blog's url is right below my posts here (just below my name).

We stopped at Las Pedroñeras last year (we couldn't make it to El Toboso where the frictional love interest of Don Quixote lives). Challenge now is find the bus services to get back there again.

 

[Rambler]

We cooked a couple of times on our first Camino. If I recall, the allergies in Ponferada had a well equipped kitchen and it was there we met a group we finished with.
We made pasta puttanesca and paella, mostly from remembered recipes. There was a frozen seafood mix we found in Portomarin that made the paella very easy.
I don't know that you could cook everyday, but it is a good alternative.
Rambler

 

[Susan G.]

Would be nice to cook my own meals every now and then.. Any suggestions for "easy" camino cooking?

Camino 2014 and 2015- The SJPP handouts were good to list those towns which had grocery stores and Albergues which had decent kitchens. I would plan a few days walks around this information. As soon as I checked in at the Albergue, I would immediately ask around if anyone would like to share a group meal. There would always be interest. One of us would buy the food (pasta/rice, vegies, cheese, fish/meat, etc. ) while another few people would get the baguette, wine and dessert. We would share the costs as a group. Instead of 9 Euros for a Pilgrim's meal, it would be around 4 Euros a person. We would split the preparation and cleanup chores. It was always terrific to share a meal with people, there was never a shortage of interest, did this at least 2 or 3 times a week.!! Nice time to share stories and information as well, some of my best memories are around these group meals. Hope this helps. Buen Camino!

 

[Pathfinder075]

I will be doing this for my entire camino next year, through necessity. Im not a fan of pasta, so its going to be rice and anything im not allergic to, but mostly veg and meat (nothing processed). It should make lunchtimes interesting, when i whip out the rocket stove and get a pan of rice going.

 

[VNwalking]

...or a chef-in-disguise walking as a pilgrim

I got to walk for a while in a group that included a 20-something chef from a Michelin-starred restaurant in London, and later in the same year an Aussie chef. Highly recommended! (Wonder what it would have been like to have had both of them in the kitchen at the same time but that never happened, perhaps fortunately.)
But what they made was actually usually very simple, often some kind of pasta--the flavor came from fresh ingredients and herbs. Anyone can do that--it just takes imagination and a bit of adventurousness.

 

[kelleymac]

We walked last Spring, before Easter during Santa Semana, so many/shops were closed. Our lunches were picnics of bread, cheese, dried meat, oranges and chocolates and water. (Once we stopped at a restaurant, and had a sandwich of bread cheese and ham. ) We cooked our own dinners about half of the time. Something quick. There are easy pasta dishes in a bag available in the shops. We'd add an onion or a leek or broccoli to it, and then have bread too. Did I mention chocolate? We ate a lot of chocolate, especially at about 3 pm so we wouldn't get grumpy with each other.

 

[alexwalker]

I frequently cook my own meals in well-equipped albergues (most of them are). Easy & cheap cooking, like a dried bag of veg.soup, adding( a can of tuna in olive oil + a can of spicy mussels), or chopped choriso, with bread and wine as side orders. 4-6 Euros for a complete dinner for 2 persons.

One afternoon, I was alone in the kitchen, except from a BIG Spanish skinhead with lots of tattoos everywhere, just feeding on some dried bread. I couldn't possibly eat up all my soup & bread/wine, so I invited him to share with me the soup and bread/wine for free, which he very happily accepted.

The next day, as I was heading towards Bar Elvis, I heard a shout "Alex! Come in here!" from a cafe I was passing. Yep, the skinhead, with 7 other skinhead Spaniards, all eager to buy me a big cold beer, which made it a perfect pit stop for a beer lover. I couldn't possibly have met better goodguys. Should also say: They were all +30 years younger than this old man.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not judge by the surface
2. Give, and you will receive. Often more than what you give- In my case, both an ice cold beer and unexpected friendship from many nice people, despite their frightening looks...

Great lessons, and great Spanish people.

 

[MTtoCamino]

If I can cook it in water in my canteen cup, eggs pasta, sausage, just add spice..ketchup. Rinse your ready for breakfast oatmeal

 

[AlanB]

I love eating I restaurants, but in 2012 I was lucky enough to walk with a famous TV chef ( I didn't know at the time) he cooked at places where there was a good kitchen. Other than that we looked for the places where the locals were eating

 

[Icacos]

I frequently cook my own meals in well-equipped albergues (most of them are). Easy & cheap cooking, like a dried bag of veg.soup, adding( a can of tuna in olive oil + a can of spicy mussels), or chopped choriso, with bread and wine as side orders. 4-6 Euros for a complete dinner for 2 persons.

One afternoon, I was alone in the kitchen, except from a BIG Spanish skinhead with lots of tattoos everywhere, just feeding on some dried bread. I couldn't possibly eat up all my soup & bread/wine, so I invited him to share with me the soup and bread/wine for free, which he very happily accepted.

The next day, as I was heading towards Bar Elvis, I heard a shout "Alex! Come in here!" from a cafe I was passing. Yep, the skinhead, with 7 other skinhead Spaniards, all eager to buy me a big cold beer, which made it a perfect pit stop for a beer lover. I couldn't possibly have met better goodguys. Should also say: They were all +30 years younger than this old man.

Lessons learned:

1. Do not judge by the surface
2. Give, and you will receive. Often more than what you give- In my case, both an ice cold beer and unexpected friendship from many nice people, despite their frightening looks...

Great lessons, and great Spanish people.

This is a lovely story, Alex. And what you say, "Do not judge by the surface" is so true. I well remember, and regret, the morning my companion and I walked into Grañón, looking for desayuno. There was not a sign of life anywhere, when all of a sudden a dreadlocked individual, wearing what appeared to be pajama pants, emerged from an albergue and crossed the street. Although he gave us a wonderfully warm smile, we were skeptical of his appearance and continued on. It was only on our way out of the town, still not having had any breakfast, that we learned from a young German pilgrim of the warm hospitality, and good breakfast, he had received at that albergue that very morning. It was our great loss.

 

[mspath]

On the camino one never knows when, where or from whom gracious help may arrive. Once in November after slogging 20 km or so from Hornillos del Camino to Castrojeriz along the top of the hills through wind, rain and a bit of sleet I finally arrived at the municipal albergue San Esteban at dusk soaked, cold and VERY tired. After climbing the steps and pushing open the door the young Spanish ad hoc hospitalero said "Margaret! How about a tea?" Steaming hot, sugared and immediately served in a jam jar the tea was offered with true caritas. His gracious smile and welcome gesture of sincere simple hospitality were symbolic of the true camino spirit. We had met earlier when pilgrim floor mates at Granon. Such shared serendipity is so very precious.

MM

 

[Stephanie M]

Would be nice to cook my own meals every now and then.. Any suggestions for "easy" camino cooking?

We cooked as much as possible... Tended to be cheaper and healthier! We did egg scrambles with tons of veggies and ham, a large salad with grilled chicken, veggies and beans! We made chicken Alfredo and stir fry!! It was some of my favorite moments cooking together and sitting down for family meals!!

 

[debigetsout]

Picnics whenever possible! Pan, queso, tomate, and vino, once the boots are off for the day. The flavours of Spain.

Mixed nuts for energy while walking, and of course chocolate.

 

[Pathfinder075]

On the one I did in 2023 I carried my stove, cooking pot and a can of gas. My main meal of choice was oxo, spaghetti, chorizo and whatever vegetables I had available. The other was boiled eggs, since you can source eggs anywhere. Often I would set out in the morning at 6-7am and walk for a couple of hours then find one of those recreation areas they have in every village and cook up some improvised spag bol.

In general I only cooked once a day. But on occasion, I cooked in the evening if I couldn't source food I could safely eat. Carrying my cooking pack kept me going while I was out and about and for several days on my walk it was the only food I had available, due to fiestas or shops not being open.