You go for the landscape first. The Pyrenees in the north, sharp and quiet, where tracks disappear into forests and the air feels cleaner with every kilometre. Then, the land softens as it rolls south through vineyards, olive groves, dry stone walls, before finally breaking open along the Mediterranean, where light, salt, and history sit side by side.

But it’s the people who make it stick.

Catalonia has a strong sense of identity. Not loud, not performative—just present. You feel it in small conversations in a bar de poble (village bar), in the way food is prepared without fuss, in the quiet pride behind local traditions. This isn’t a place built for tourists. It’s a place that lets you in slowly, if you pay attention.

For someone who travels to understand, not just to see, it works.

You can follow old trading routes into the mountains, park up beside a forgotten monastery, or sit with a winemaker who’s been working the same land for generations.

There’s space to move, but also depth if you stop.

Catalonia offers both: distance and detail. And that combination is rare.

Is it then surprising that after a day exploring backcountry trails, we rolled into Capmany to find a restaurant and let the day’s events settle into something we could actually hold onto?

The tracks had led us down out of the Albera foothills, tyres dusted white, the heat still shimmering off the bonnet. Capmany didn’t announce itself. It simply appeared. Stone walls, a church tower, the low hum of a place that had been here long before anyone thought to write about it.

We parked without much thought and walked in, following instinct rather than a map, until we found Cal Ferrer. A restaurant built into arched foundations. Five tables outside on the pavement, a few more inside a bare-bricked room.

Modern, yes. But no theatrics. No menu engineered for passing trade. Just honest food that belonged to the land we’d been driving through and wine that hadn’t travelled far at all. The kind of place where conversation sits low, where time loosens its grip, and where the day, dust, distance, small discoveries start to make sense.

This is where we found it. A simple, remarkable dessert. Creamy cheesecake, served with a spoonful of jam. Luscious. And, to my surprise, crustless… a quiet win for anyone with gluten intolerance.

That detail stayed with me. Because it meant this wasn’t adapted. It wasn’t reinvented. It had always been this way.

And that’s the thing about places like this. Recipes don’t change much.

To put the icing on the cake, so to speak, if you have a GROVE or Omnia oven and are prepared to sacrifice a little gas, you can pull this five-ingredient dessert together wherever your wheels stop turning for the day.

Treat the recipe below as a practice run at home. Then downsize the ingredients for travel and the oven you use.

Tristan Brailey has made this more than a few times. It never misses.

Serves 8-10
Cook time 25-30 min
Equipment Large bowl, whisk, springform or round baking pan (or Omnia silicone baking mould, as in the photo)

Ingredients:

1 kg Philadelphia (or any other cream cheese)
360 g sugar
7-8 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
some brown cane sugar (for a slightly caramelised crust)

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Using a whisk, combine all the ingredients in a large bowl until smooth and creamy.

Line a 10-inch (26 cm) springform pan or round baking pan with butter, oil, or enough parchment paper that it extends past the edges of the pan. This will help you remove the cheesecake from the pan later on, and will prevent it from sticking. (You can use a smaller pan for a higher cheesecake but may need to bake longer so that the center isn’t too runny.)

Bake on the centre rack for about 25-30 minutes (in the Omnia: for about 30 minutes at medium-low heat.

Note Because of the smaller size of the mould, I used a lesser amount of the cream cheese mixture). The cake will rise quite a bit but don’t worry, it will settle when it’s out of the oven.

Let it start to cool gradually by leaving it out on the counter. After an hour or so, move the cake to the fridge to cool completely. Let the cake cool fully before taking it out of the cake tin. After a few hours in the refrigerator, your cheesecake should be chilled enough to cut. (I recommend making this the day before you want to eat it, as it really benefits from a night in the fridge.)

Enjoy with a glass of sherry!

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This Hot Prawn Madras Curry is composed of a spicy tomato & coconut milk based curry sauce, studded with cooling juicy prawns, and is a total delight. The rich and creamy sauce will smell just incredible whilst it’s cooking. And with it being on the table in just 20 minutes, it makes the perfect speedy one-pot camping dish.

Whilst you can absolutely pick up a Madras spice blend from the supermarket, it is so quick and easy to make your own with a more pungent taste. When making this spice blend at home, I first toast the whole spices to bring out their aromatics. And then I grind them in my electric coffee mill. However, if you are camping, or don’t have a coffee grinder, I use pestle and mortar to grind them when I’m off grid in Myrtle the campervan. Any leftover spices can be stored in a small glass jar or Ziploc bag for the next time you fancy making a madras.

This sauce also lends itself well to other ingredients such as chicken or lamb.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon black peppercorns
• 3 cloves
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 tablespoon chilli flakes (or hot chilli powder)
• 2 inches fresh turmeric (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 2 inches fresh ginger, grated
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 6 banana shallots or 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon of your favourite fat or oil
• 1 carton passata or chopped tinned tomatoes
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• 450 g prawns, defrosted
• salt

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat a heavy saucepan and dry fry (i.e., with no oil) the coriander seeds, peppercorns, fennel seeds, and cloves for 1-2 minutes or until they release their spicy aroma. Remove from the hot pan, add the chilli flakes and grind together into a powder in a pestle & mortar (or coffee grinder). Put to one side.

As far as heat goes, obviously set the spiciness to your personal preference. I used a tablespoon of chilli flakes in my curry. If my hot is your version of a korma, go pump it up.

Heat the oil in the saucepan and fry the ginger and garlic for a few minutes (do not let it burn). Add in the peppers and onions, and continue to cook for several minutes until the veggies have softened. Add in the spice blend, the chilli powder and the dried turmeric (if not using fresh). Stir and cook for 2 more minutes. Finally pour in the passata, prawns and coconut milk, stir well and simmer for 5 minutes with the lid off until the sauce has thickened a little.

Serve as is (paleo), or with rice. If you are serving with rice, scatter the sachet of pre-cooked rice over the top, pop on the lid and let simmer for 3 or 4 minutes, or until the rice has steamed through. If you can lay your hands on some, top with the shredded coriander. Devour with gusto!

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Considering this is an expensive cut of meat, it’s worthwhile paying a little more attention to preparation and cooking. Often more than five centimetres thick, it’s all too easy to end up with a piece of meat overcooked on the outside, cold and raw in the centre.

To begin with, take the tomahawk out of the fridge around two hours before you want to start cooking so it can come up to room temperature. If the tomahawk was deep frozen, begin thawing it out slowly in the fridge at least two days before you need it.

SERVES 4
PREP TIME 5 Min.
COOK TIME 50 Min.
EQUIPMENT Charcoal grill, meat thermometer, tinfoil

INGREDIENTS
Tomahawk steak, approx. 1 kg
Sea salt
Melted butter

Pat the meat dry with a paper towel and generously grind some sea salt over all its surfaces, patting it down with your hands. Personally, I prefer a simple and slightly salty crust to compliment the natural flavours, but feel free to use your favourite rub or spices as well.

Next, get a good portion of briquettes in the barbecue up to full heat. When they are grey and covered with an even coat of ash, you’re good to go. Now push them all to one side of the barbecue to create a two-zone cooking area and lay the tomahawk on the grate above the area free of coals. The idea here is to gently heat the meat and cook it until it is almost ready. Turn the meat over every four or five minutes and rotate its position so that all areas are treated to the heat evenly and watch out for hotspots.

This part of cooking can easily take up to 30 minutes depending on the temperature of your coals. Just don’t rush it. After about fifteen minutes, check the temperature with a thermo-meter. As a guide, when the meat is ready to be served the core temperature should be approx. rare 50°C (125°F) / medium 60°C (140°F) / well done +68°C (+155°F).

However, you want to stop the slow cook at 45°C / 55°C / 63°C, wrap the meat in foil and leave it to calm for about ten to fifteen minutes. In the meantime, bring the briquettes up to full heat and spread them across the grill in preparation for a full-on sear. You can lower the grate as well if you like.

Open the foil and brush melted butter on the surface of the meat. Place over the coals butter side down and sear for one minute. Brush the top side with butter, turn over, and sear for another minute. Finally, hold the tomahawk on its side to sear the fatty side of the meat too. Adjust the sear time to create the look of the meat that you want…but don’t overdo it.

Transfer the meat to a board and start carving (not too) thin slices. Enjoy!

Overland Chef: Mike Brailey
Photography: Tristan Brailey

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Traditional waffle irons seem to have lost their appeal over the years, even though (with a little bit of imagination) they can be used for more than just the common or garden waffle. For example, how about falafel with homemade hummus? We used to fry falafel in olive oil until we discovered they could be baked too.

If you don’t yet own a waffle iron, you can still have the option to fry or bake this recipe until the balls are golden brown.

A FEW NOTES BEFORE WE START

• Fresh herbs like parsley, mint or cilantro accompany this dish perfectly, but dried herbs work too.
• Chickpea flour makes the batter thicker, but feel free to substitute with any other type of flour in your cupboard.
• These waffles freeze well, so don’t be afraid to make a big batch of them.

Although these falafel waffles are delicious, they can become dry so the five minutes it takes to stir together the ingredients for the following amazing oil-free vegan yogurt sauce, is well spent.

FOR THE FALAFEL

• 2/3 cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (120 g)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 red onion
• 1 handful of fresh cilantro
• 1 cup fresh spinach (30 g)
• 2 tsp cumin powder
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 cup chickpea flour (90 g)

FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE

• 1 cup vegan yogurt (250 g)
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp dried mint (or a handful of fresh mint)
• 1 tsp garlic powder (or a clove of fresh garlic)
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• Black pepper to taste

Soak the chickpeas in water overnight.

Add chickpeas to a food processor or blender, and blend for a few seconds (or, if a blender is not available, chop them up). Add the rest of the ingredients (except the flour) and mix to combine. Don’t overblend, you want a chunky texture.

Add the flour and mix with the rest of the ingredients in a bowl, cover and let stand in the fridge for at least one hour.

Preheat the waffle maker, generously coat with non-stick spray or some extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil. Form balls with your hands and place them in the waffle iron. Bake according to manufacturer’s instructions; my falafel waffles were ready in just under five minutes. Serve with some hummus, yogurt sauce, and maybe a small salad.

Bon appétit!

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This dish came together with a group of friends before running up three peaks in the San Juan Mountains of Colorado. Suddenly, our leftover chips and salsa became a power breakfast to fuel us on an all-day mission in the 14,000-foot range. The three of us hunkered down over a cast-iron pan behind the rig, and in dirtbag ritual, took turns devouring the meal with one shared fork.

This adaptation on the classic Mexican breakfast dish is every peak bagger’s dream. A few eggs, salsa, and the remains of a bag of smashed tortilla chips are all you need to stoke your fire with a zesty morning meal. Of course, you can class it up with cheese and avocado too.

SERVES 2-3
COOK TIME Varies, dependent upon heat/type of pan
ASSEMBLY TIME 5 minutes
EQUIPMENT Propane stove or cooking fire, pan, spatula

2 tablespoons fat
3 large handfuls tortilla chips
2 cups red or green salsa
4 eggs
Shredded cheese, avocado, cilantro (optional)

Heat the fat in the pan over a medium temperature. If the chips aren’t already smashed, break them up into bite-size pieces. Add chips to the pan and toss in the fat until golden.

Pour in the salsa and bring to a simmer. Once the salsa begins to be absorbed into the chips, crack the eggs into the mixture. Using a spatula, scramble the eggs until they are fully cooked.

Remove the pan from the heat. Divide between two or three plates, sprinkle with cheese, sliced avocado, and cilantro if you have them, and devour immediately.

OVERLAND CHEF | Morgan Sjogren
Photography: Jay Kolsch

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French Toast is a treat usually reserved for home, but I’ve concocted an easier way to bring this little extravagance to the road, and it does not disappoint. It’s a breakfast casserole I have made for years now for family, friends, and clients alike. And it is vegetarian, so it hits the mark for almost anyone.

We like to indulge on our camping excursions, and while this breakfast is nice and sweet on its own, my family likes just a little bit of maple syrup on top. Crispy bacon or sausages add a savoury addition, and fresh fruit such as a mixture of fresh pineapple, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries complement the blueberries. You can also use the pineapple juice as a sweetener over the fruit.

With some easy prep, you can let your Dutch oven do most of the work and enjoy the morning.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup whipping cream
• 2 cups whole milk (there is too much water in skim and 2-percent milk)
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen berries add too much moisture to the bread)
• A loaf of French or challah bread, cubed
• Syrup (optional)

Prep ahead at home or the night before as needed. Mix whipping cream, whole milk, eggs, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla; store in a container labeled for the day and meal.

Put the cubed bread in a large bowl, pour the liquid egg and milk mixture over the bread pieces, stir to cover thoroughly. Don’t over-stir, or the bread pieces will dissolve or turn to mush. Let the bread soak up most of the remaining mixture. Take a square of foil and coat it with nonstick spray. Make eight foil pieces for individual servings. By doing this, each person will have a packet to eat directly from, cutting down on the cooking time and cleanup.

Spoon the soaked bread mixture into the center of the foil, drop in 1/4 cup of blueberries in each serving, and carefully fold each one with the seam on top. Seal the seams tightly to prevent all of your deliciousness from leaking out. Leave a little bit of room for the foil to expand. Place the packets on the stove or campfire in your Dutch oven. Monitor your heat, as too much will cause the bottoms of the packets to burn. Let each serving cook for 25-35 minutes. You don’t have to flip them as long as you maintain a good seal in the foil. The heat within the foil cooks the egg mixture all the way through. You will know when they are almost done cooking because the foil packets will begin to expand. Remove from the Dutch oven with tongs and serve—voilà.

This recipe first appeared in the Winter 2021 issue of Overland Journal

Recipe: Jennie Kopf / Photography: Ashley Giordano

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Mediterranean food culture runs in our blood, lending a passion toward rich ingredients and full flavors. So, it should come as no surprise that we devised a camping version of the Persian classic khoresh bādemjān.

Blending fresh veggies typical of Mediterranean cuisine along with a touch of Arabic spices results in a delicious savory dish. This stew is an ideal hot and filling supper for cold nights, or after a long day on the trail. It can be served with a variety of sides, too: rice, couscous, French fries, mashed potatoes, or even just a loaf of sourdough bread. And it pairs particularly well when served with a good red Argentinian wine. This meal is easily modified for vegans and vegetarians; skip the meat and add all of the spices to the veggies.

SERVES 2-3
PREP TIME 20 minutes
COOK TIME 1 hour, 20 minutes
EQUIPMENT Nonstick deep frying pan or pot with lid, knife, cutting board, wooden spatula, two bowls (medium and big)

INGREDIENTS
3/4 pound beef (preferably tenderloin), cut into 1.5-inch-thick cubes
1 medium-size eggplant, cut into 1.5-inch-thick segments
16-ounce can whole tomatoes
1 medium red bell pepper (deseeded and sliced)
1 medium yellow onion (sliced)
2 garlic cloves (minced)
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon sugar

In the medium-sized bowl, mix the beef with the salt, ground cumin, black pepper, and cinnamon. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and stir. Set aside. In the big bowl, combine the eggplant and red bell pepper with the oregano, thyme, paprika, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.

Heat the pan over high heat and add the beef, sautéing until brown, approximately 3 minutes for each side. Remove the meat from the pan. Reduce the heat to medium, add the onions, and sauté until brown (about 10 minutes), stirring frequently. Remove the onion and add it to the beef. In the hot pan, over medium heat, add the eggplant and red bell pepper, followed by the garlic. Sauté for 10 minutes and stir frequently. Cover with the lid and reduce the heat to low. Cook for 5 minutes more. Add the beef and onions, canned tomatoes, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and the sugar. With the help of your spatula, break the tomatoes apart. Stir well to combine, put the lid back on, reduce the heat, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. If there is still excess liquid, simmer uncovered for 10 minutes more. Let the dish cool for 10 minutes and drizzle with olive oil before serving

Overland Chefs: Nikos Dimitriou & Georgia MichelI

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Planning meals for travel can be as much fun as it is a challenge. Changing scenery and local ingredients can inspire us to cook in entirely new ways, but we have to toe the line between that inspiration and our limitations of space and time. At a minimum, cooking on the road can help us add a little flavour from our travels to our favourite recipes, especially with the right equipment.

I use my Omnia stovetop oven for making everything from sweet-tooth cravings like brownies and cinnamon rolls to pizza and nachos, and it works with a single-burner stove or a contained open flame. I recently decided to step up my game and give lasagne a shot with a recipe provided by Omnia.

Having the right ingredients on hand can be a tricky task in the backcountry, and if you find milk and butter are two commodities too hard to come by, you can substitute powdered milk and oil instead. Either way, this meal is a snap, and the resulting hearty deliciousness is perfect for those crisp fall evenings around the campfire.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 14 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 10 lasagna noodles (dry)
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (parmesan, mozzarella, or any hard cheese you prefer)
• 1 1/4 cups bechamel sauce (see recipe below or buy ready-made)

BECHAMEL SAUCE

• 1 tablespoon butter (or 2 tablespoons olive or canola oil)
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 1/4 cup milk (or 4 1/2 tablespoons powdered milk combined with 1 1/4 cups water)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (optional)

Mince the onion and garlic and sauté until the onion is translucent. Add the ground beef, breaking it up with a fork, and brown, stirring constantly. Add tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, bouillon cubes, and basil. Cover and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Make the bechamel sauce by melting the butter in a saucepan. Whisk in the flour, adding in the milk gradually (while still whisking). Cook over low heat for about 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper, and add grated cheese if desired.

Spread the bechamel sauce to cover the bottom of the baking form. Cover with lasagne noodles (tearing the noodles into small pieces to fit), meat sauce, and bechamel sauce in three layers. Finish with the last of the bechamel sauce. Top with grated cheese and bake on medium heat for about 35 minutes.

Delicious served with a tomato and fresh basil salad.

Recipe: Chris Cordes

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