My friend Debs always laughs at me when she comes inside our tiny caravan and looks in the cupboard. Theres not a super noodle in sight! The lovely Mr H always does all of the packing for trips away in the van, and when he’s done with all the clothes, chairs, bats and balls he says “ just your kitchen to do!”

I love cooking and camping cooking is no exception. I think lots of people get freaked out about cooking on a tiny stove with not much equipment but I don’t mind at all. I have a little tiny pantry of staples which I always take with me in the caravan.

zatar - a lovely middle eastern spice blend which includes, thyme, sumac, sesame seeds and salt which is fabulous liberally sprinkled over the skin of mackerel before bbq and when mixed with a dash of olive oil and a squeeze of lemon makes a flattened out chicken breast sing on the grill.

harissa paste - a moroccan spicy chilli and garlic paste which when mixed with mayonnaise and a squeeze of lemon makes a wonderful dip for prawns (its good with all sorts of seafood or even grilled chicken) . This is also my go to dressing for if I am making crostini's with crab, a little dollop of this is delicious.

balsamic glaze - can perk up even the dullest tomato salad when splashed liberally with some olive oil and seasalt and a whisper of garlic.

a pot of basil - I know this is ridiculous, it lives in the bathroom sink (which makes the bathroom always smell of basil!!) but it is lovely to have a big pot of fresh basil to top a bowl of pasta or a tomato salad.

crab, tomato and avocado crostini with harissa mayo

chargrilled grilled bream with zatar and seasalt

Fennel seeds, chilli flakes and extra virgin olive oil. Crushed together fennel seeds, and chilli flakes add zing to a marinade for bass or mackerel and will add a delicious layer of flavour to a bowl of hearty bean and tomato and pasta soup.

I usually always take a ziplock bag of fresh herbs from the garden as well, including thyme, rosemary, parsley and fennel, but I often forage these from the hedgerows too - just make sure you don’t pick from any popular dog walking areas!!!

choco Leibniz biscuits and marshmallows - to make the best s’mores you’ve ever tasted.

This year we took our little weber travel bbq with us on all of our trips and used it lots for cooking fish , meat and vegetables. I’ve learned that it is really important to buy good quality sustainable charcoal (lots of supermarket charcoal is derived from unsustainable sources adn is contributing to appalling deforestation) for the absolute best results. we buy ours from the Jolly nice farm shop who source it from a local charcoal burner. Whittle and flame also come highly recommended.

So if you have a camping trip planned this year, be a little more adventurous and pack some interesting spices to make your campfire cooking sing! my favourite places for spices are Bristol Sweetmart - an absolute treasure trove of a store well worth a visit if you are in the Bristol area. Spice mountain - online and in Borough market and Souschef online.