Whats cooking?

[chillax]

Whats folks do for eating? Do you cook or buy?

1st timer (camping) and was looking for suggestions of meals, thinkin bout buying camping stove to cook ....much cheapness?

Aye or Nae?

[TheNewUnion]

pretty much everyone suggests eating on site. You can find a huge range of food and if you avoid the burger/bacon butty places a lot of it is REALLY good. Hunt around a bit and there's plenty of meals that can be had for less than a fiver.

There's a thread somewhere with photo's of food purchased on site, Mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[idledown]

I always eat on site and share with my gf... only I don't have a gf to go with this year *sniff*

[maninkilt]

By all accounts there is enough of a variety of food to keep any one happy but, for myself, I like cooking at fests, getting up and watching the campsite sights while drinking many cups of coffee and making breakfast for my beloved and anticipating the incredible day ahead is a joy.

Good things to cook include; Tinned breakfasts(set you up for the day), Porrige (just mix with water excellent), tinned curry/chilli/stew (wonderfull for midnight feasts).

All of this means carrying and doing against spending. What you prefer really.

[ukslim]

Disadvantages of cooking, in my personal order, worst first:

- carrying food - food is heavy and bulky - you could possibly solve this with dried camping meals

- carrying camping equipment - small gas stoves take 30 mins to boil a cup of water, while bigger ones are heavy to carry

- opportunity cost - time - at breakfast time you don't miss much, but for other meals you're cooking when you could be seeing awesome stuff.

- opportunity cost - eating - the variety and quality of food available on site is amazing. Every meal you cook for yourself, you miss out on one of these.

On the upside, self-cooking is much cheaper, and you might decide that this trumps all other considerations.

[ampersand]

we'll be cooking mostly this year. after food poisoning last year, i dont really trust the stalls much this time round.

im sure i'll have something from a stall if we're miles away from the tent and got something to see, but otherwise, itll be supernoodles, haggis, sausages, pasta etc on the stove

and then crisps and jaffa cakes and such on the go.

[ukslim]

haggis, sausages,

[ampersand]

yeah sausages will be a wednesday, thursday treat. then on to supernoodles and pasta and soup and such for the weekend.

haggis on the other hand comes in tinned form and can last for months

[TheNewUnion]

If you do want to cook for yourself I have found that

Bacon - freeze it and chuck in a cool bag, should be OK until Friday Morn, Sausages, you can get those Hotdog types in tins or shrinkwrapped in plastic, nice in supernoodles (as are cambells meat balls) or just chucked on a BBQ (the big shrinkwrapped ones are nice BBQ'd).

Supernoodles and Cous Cous(just add water), Microwave Rice (wam in a pan)

Stew/Chili make at home and freeze, should last until Friday in a decen cool box/bag. Veggie curry is even better.

Stew make on site with good quality tinned steak, tinned veg and tin of potatoes (one of my camping staples)- NICE!

Multipack cereal is good and the milk man heads round in a morningfor your all your fresh milk needs. Brioche lasts ages, cereal/elevenses bars and fruit for brekky - Mmmmmm

Cannot think of anything else off the top of my head, though all day breakfast in a tin and the like are pretty grim, they do hit the spot!

I've also had some sort of chips, omlette and beans in a tin, but that was really grim.

Have to say, I prefer to eat on site but last year a tent neighbour had a proper, full monty breakfast on the go and it looked and smelled REALLY good! (Sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, sauted potato - looked awesome!)

Edited May 6, 2009 by TheNewUnion

[ampersand]

Bacon - freeze it and chuck in a cool bag, should be OK until Friday Morn,

[Moonlight]

I did once take a stove to a festival, but ended up hardly using it cos it just took so long! Besides, the food at Glasto is amazing.

I do, however, always take some snacks - biscuits and nuts always go down well.

[LumpyCustard]

last year i spent too much time waiting in a cue for a swetty cheese and ham baguette for £4.50! People might thinks thats cheap but being from the north evrything seems expensive.

This year, stagg chili, baked beans and thomas the tank engine spaghetti shapes. mmuah, c'est magnifique!

£3.50 for cider aswell? going have t'lug a crate of boddingtons dlwn also methinks.

Edited May 6, 2009 by LumpyCustard

[ukslim]

last year i spent too much time waiting in a cue for a swetty cheese and ham baguette for £4.50! People might thinks thats cheap but being from the north evrything seems expensive.

[Monkey for festivals]

back from italy on the monday, then glasto on the wednesday, it an expensive month for me!! so gonna try and cook for at least some of my eatings... Taking me white van up, so will put wheel barrow in back to transport things. Going for lots of pot noodles as they light, cheap and quick to cook... Maybe some smash (mnnnn lol will eat it if i get that hungry¬!) plus some tinned type stuff... prob take some bread and eggs etc to use on 1st couple of days before it goes off.... taking boxed wine to cut down on weight with booze.... undoubtably will end up buying some food, but hopefuly make some saving by not eating at stall ALL the time.....

[ampersand]

the food at Glasto is amazing.

[jameshunt]

but is it really?

i dont remember ever being blown away with anything ive bought. had steak baguettes, proper take away pizza, hog roasts, bacon and egg roll and none of its been great.

actually, the cafe next to the avalon was okay with the pizza that we got but it was a bit cold.

only place that i can say the food is amazin, is the guardian lounge. great food there for breakfast. but on the whole, id say glastonbury food is pretty average.

[chillax]

last year i spent too much time waiting in a cue for a swetty cheese and ham baguette for £4.50! People might thinks thats cheap but being from the north evrything seems expensive.

This year, stagg chili, baked beans and thomas the tank engine spaghetti shapes. mmuah, c'est magnifique!

£3.50 for cider aswell? going have t'lug a crate of boddingtons dlwn also methinks.

[chillax]

If you do want to cook for yourself I have found that

Bacon - freeze it and chuck in a cool bag, should be OK until Friday Morn, Sausages, you can get those Hotdog types in tins or shrinkwrapped in plastic, nice in supernoodles (as are cambells meat balls) or just chucked on a BBQ (the big shrinkwrapped ones are nice BBQ'd).

Supernoodles and Cous Cous(just add water), Microwave Rice (wam in a pan)

Stew/Chili make at home and freeze, should last until Friday in a decen cool box/bag. Veggie curry is even better.

Stew make on site with good quality tinned steak, tinned veg and tin of potatoes (one of my camping staples)- NICE!

Multipack cereal is good and the milk man heads round in a morningfor your all your fresh milk needs. Brioche lasts ages, cereal/elevenses bars and fruit for brekky - Mmmmmm

Cannot think of anything else off the top of my head, though all day breakfast in a tin and the like are pretty grim, they do hit the spot!

I've also had some sort of chips, omlette and beans in a tin, but that was really grim.

Have to say, I prefer to eat on site but last year a tent neighbour had a proper, full monty breakfast on the go and it looked and smelled REALLY good! (Sausage, bacon, eggs, mushrooms, tomato, sauted potato - looked awesome!)

[ukslim]

i dont remember ever being blown away with anything ive bought. had steak baguettes, proper take away pizza, hog roasts, bacon and egg roll and none of its been great.

actually, the cafe next to the avalon was okay with the pizza that we got but it was a bit cold.

[ampersand]

I wouldn't expect to be blown away by any of those kinds of food. Hog roasts are generally reliable, but it takes a lot to make them exciting. A good pizza is a tall order from a van.

There's some brilliant Mexican stalls. Stir fry noodles. Curries (Indian and Caribbean, veggie and meaty). I remember one year there was someone grilling fresh fish to order over charcoal. Falafels, YUM!

Hmm, you know a proper pizza place might just work. It'd have to be a green fields effort - build a great big wood-fired pizza oven out of earth, then dismantle it at the end of the festival.

[port]

Igloo coolbox, with 4ltr ice block (ice cream tub) all food vacuum packed ........breakfast, dinner and tea. first two days , didnt spend a cent. Fri, sat, and Sun is just cooked breafast and soup or burgers at night.

Its not all about saving money, its eating quality food that you know is cooked properly.

its easy to cook pasta/rice stir fry some chicken and add a sauce

[mynameisearl]

I usually get some tempura with noodles from the Japanese stall at the Jazz World Stage Ben and it's always been very good. Also the Carribean place at the top of Kidney Mead/Big Ground does some cracking food, especially the lentil soup which is great in the wee small hours.

[ampersand]

I usually get some tempura with noodles from the Japanese stall at the Jazz World Stage Ben and it's always been very good. Also the Carribean place at the top of Kidney Mead/Big Ground does some cracking food, especially the lentil soup which is great in the wee small hours.

[TheNewUnion]

also, there's the Goan Fish Curry place at JazzWorld and there's a really nice organic jacket potato place in Jazzworld too, I had a vegan Chilli jacket potato and it was wonderful!

On the self cooking lark, there's a company that do organic Chilli and the like, it's in a bag and doesn't need freezing. Well nice, will try and find the link

[HurrahBrother]

All that lovely food on site! No way am I cooking

I don't function without a morning cuppa, so I only pack what can only be called a 'meths' powered travel kettle (does just under a pint)

Packs small.

In comparison, all packed up with a handy pack of tissues

The tin and the 'stand' are a recycled greenheat backpackers stove. I just cleaned it out, stuffed it with cotton wool and soaked the cotton wool with meths (250ml will be plenty for 3 days, a 500ml for a 5 day event like Glastonbury will cover needs with plenty to spare).

It will just bring about 500ml to the boil in about 7-8 minutes, a cylinder stove should to the same in about half that.

Have cuppa and morning fag while boiling up a 2nd load for a strip wash (poured with some cold into a small metal bowl, then take out half a small mug full just enough for brushing the teeth).

I also pack cuppa soups and smash for an emergency (soup and mash is a comfort food!). I have a smaller bowl for that.

Other than that, brioche rolls (they keep for several days, go Ok with the soup), small packets of biscuits (short breads or milk biscuits) for morning dunkies.

The rest of the time, I eat out.

Edited May 6, 2009 by HurrahBrother