Eating Well on Your Camping Holiday in Burgundy

Many people I meet are convinced that camping holidays are still hosted in rainy fields, where food is hard to cook as portable stoves fail to light in the damp weather. It's a horrible image, but thankfully something that is now a thing of the past as many of Europe's quality campsites boasts all kind of hotel style features from restaurants to bakeries to quality supermarkets on site. Nonetheless, if you're still left worried about the quality of the food on your trip, then why not consider one of Burgundy's campsites? This area of France is renowned for its high living and gourmet eating, so you are sure to be in for a culinary treat. Here are some of the appetising treats you can expect while camping in Burgundy.

The Meat

The main meat in the region is the Carollais beef cattle, and as such meat eaters are guaranteed large rich portions. Often this can be mixed with fine wines, like in the eponymous boeuf bourguignon, a traditional recipe of the region combining these two fine elements with baby onions, bacon and carrots. Coq au Vin follows a similar formula, only with chicken instead of beef. This style is repeated with many other dishes, and if your French isn't that good, look out for the phrase "a la Bourguignonne". There are bound to be some restaurants near your campsite in Burgundy serving this kind of food, given it's such a popular local fare.

There are plenty of other meats if you're not a chicken or beef eater, various hams, hare, calf head and even some river fish - usually poached in white wine, with bacon, onions, garlic and butter. Finally of course, there are the snails, and although many people will turn their noses up at them, the humble 'escargots' are delicious, served as they are stewed with Chablis, carrots, onions and shallots, then stuffed with garlic and parsley butter. If you consider yourself a connoisseur, you may wish to consider the black snails (the best of which are raised on grape leaves) which are considered amongst the best in France!

The Cheese

The cheeses are another fine part of the region's cuisine, and a very nice gift to bring back from your holiday spent camping in Burgundy. The best ones are Chaource (creamy and white), St-Florentin, the orange skinned ...poisses and various types of goat's cheese from Morvan.

The Sauces & Condiments

The region's most famous condiment is the mustard. As well as being the birthplace of the Dijon variety, there are hundreds of other types available, ranging from the blisteringly hot to the pleasantly mild. The ingredients in each variety vary, and can include the likes of tarragon and honey. You may well end up looking to take these back as souvenirs from your time spent camping in Burgundy!

As well as the wine based ones mentioned above, cream based sauces are also common, sometimes mixed with the mustard like in andouillette de Macon, for example.

The Wine

The region's wines are celebrated the world over for their high quality and delicate flavours, and it would be a crime not to enjoy a bottle or two over your time spent camping in Burgundy. As a general rule of thumb, the farther north the vineyard, the richer the flavour of the Burgundy wine. Here, the pinot noir grape gives a delicate combination of velvet textures and complex flavours. Towards the south of the red Burgundy region is Beaujolais where gamay grapes are used providing a more dry, fruity flavour, allowing them to compliment all kinds of food.

So worry not - your holiday spent camping in Burgundy should not involve trying to light a portable stove and open cans of beans. With many fine restaurants across the region, it's all too easy to be having some truly outstanding gourmet food prepared for you by experts - you may want to "accidentally" leave the can opener at home...