Brendan Batty is the co-owner of Exploring Eden Media, an independent book publisher focussed on travel and lifestyle guides by writers who are experienced travellers and passionate explorers. As you start to prepare for your summer family camping trips, we interviewed Brendan to find out how you can master camping meal prep and get the kids involved in cooking these holidays.
What are the kitchen staples that you recommend for family camping trips?
I think the temptation is to go out and buy all the latest, greatest gear we've seen on social media (I'm very guilty – there's a campfire tripod unopened in my 4WD right now waiting for me to play with it), but camp kitchens don't need to be complicated. You won't need much more than a simple gas stove (the orange, two-burner ones from Bunnings are only $45 and they're excellent), an icebox (or fridge if you've got the power for it) and a table, plus a decent pan, pot, a sharp knife, some utensils, cutlery, plates, bowls and cups. I usually have a kettle (but a pot works just fine) a Moka pot for coffee (again, a pot works just fine). There's a couple of great camping cookbooks I can very biasedly recommend, too...
What are your go-to camping recipes for families?
Because we've got a lot of free time while camping, I'm notorious for getting way too ambitious with my camp cooking (my kids don't appreciate waiting until 9.30pm for spit-roasted chicken, apparently), but our favourite meals are the most simple ones, especially after working with some very talented authors on camping cookbooks.
Fire To Fork's cheeseburgers are on high rotation at camp for lunch or dinner because they're so quick and tasty, and the one-pot, slow-cooked Lamb Shanks from Ash Butler's book The Small Kitchen Cook are a firm favourite when we've got the time to sit around camp.
When we can convince the kids to eat something healthy, it's usually (a miracle) a pasta of some description. None of the kids have realised this one's got mushrooms in it when we chop them up really small and add a bit of diced, fried bacon (both look similar in a pasta sauce...).
How would you recommend getting your kids involved in cooking?
Start simple, even some marshmallows, bread on a stick over the fire or jaffle-iron desserts – this gives them experience managing heat and perfecting a technique. If you don't or can't have a fire, simple things like scrambled eggs or cutting up veggies for a cheese and dip board are simple, short meals with very quick gratification. Just expect a mess and let them taste everything along the way.
What skills can young kids learn in camp cooking?
Any time Angela, my wife, and I can give our kids an appreciation that things aren't quite as instantly gratifying as an online experience, I think that's really beneficial. Camp cooking teaches our kids that good things (and even sometimes, burnt things) are worth waiting for.
What are your best memories of camping with your family?
The first time the kids and I caught squid off a jetty on the Eyre Peninsula then raced back to camp to cook fresh calamari stands out. So does the aforementioned spit-roasted chicken we had late one night on a trip with all our friends and what seemed like hundreds of kids.