Sveriges mest populära poddar

Ancestral Kitchen

#32 - Cooking Ancestrally in a Van

71 min • 23 maj 2022

A tiny kitchen. No oven. A miniscule fridge. No electric power. A small two-burner hob. Prep space the size of a chopping board.

Lots of us think we have small kitchens, but imagine cooking nutrient-dense food in these circumstances.

That is exactly what our guest, Charlie Burton did - for her, her husband and their two young children...for two years! And all whilst travelling around Europe in a van.

Listen into this episode to hear:

  • How Charlie cooked three meals a day and lived in a six-and-a-half metre long van and what advice she'd pass on to all of us with limited space.
  • How she managed to find really good food on the move, despite the cultural and linguist challenges.
  • The beautiful food highlights of her trip, including an amazing ancestral-style heaven in Slovenia.
  • How she regularly made pizza without an oven!
  • The constraints and restrictions she experienced on the way and how both of these things can actually support us to live and cook the way we really want to.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Get more news from Alison & Andrea by signing up to their newsletter at the top of the page here.

For more tips, inspiration and recipes plus a free 30-page guide to Baking with Ancient Grains sign up for Alison's newsletter here!

Get our two podcast cookbooks:

Meals at the Ancestral Hearth

Spelt Sourdough Every Day

Alison's course, Rye Sourdough Bread: Mastering The Basics is here, with a 10% discount applied!

Alison's Sowans oat fermentation course is here, with a 10% discount applied!

Get 10% off any course at The Fermentation School: click here and use code AKP at checkout.

Get 10% off US/Canada Bokashi supplies: click here and use code AKP.

Get 10% off UK Bokashi supplies.

Visit our (non-Amazon!) bookshop for a vast selection of ancestral cookbooks: US link here and UK link here.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Our podcast is supported by Patrons in ancestral kitchens around the world!

Come join our community! You can choose to simply sponsor the podcast, or select from a variety of levels with benefits including monthly live Zoom calls, a private podcast feed stuffed with bonus content from Alison and Andrea, and a Discord discussion group.

To read more about becoming a patron and explore the various levels, click here!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"We had a tiny kitchen with a two-burner hob and a tiny fridge...we only had cold water in a tank under the van...I adored my kitchen in that van and I still miss it"

The Run Down:

0:00-17:00:

Intro to Charlie and what she last ate

Charlie's family trip - why and where

The van and its tiny kitchen

17:00-30:00

How she got good ingredients despite the language and culture barriers

Highlights of food

"Bread was baked freshly every day, they made their own charcuterie and liquors and then had apples pressed to cider and then they would make vinegar from them; they had tray of wild sliced mushrooms drying in the sun...Not long ago that's how we were all living"

What she brought home

30:00-45:00

How often she cooked and how did she do it in the tiny space

Home made pizza!

Fermenting in the van and disasters

45:00 onwards:

What Charlie learnt in and out of the kitchen

"Our travels changed our perspective on life"

Charlie's advice for those who have a small space and want to eat well

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5* reviews on Apple Podcasts, mean the world to us!

Here's how you can leave one:

  1. Open the Apple Podcast app
  2. Find Ancestral Kitchen Podcast in your library
  3. Scroll down to 'ratings and reviews'
  4. Click on 'write a review', give us 5*s and then tell us why you love listening in the box below

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Resources:

Charlie's Blog, Baby Bus Adventures

This is the amazing experience Charlie had in Slovenia.

Charlie's favourite French markets

The Italian Agriturismo where Charlie had the delicious rabbit meal

Charlie's business, The Natural Wedding Company (there's so much inspiration for eco-friendly weddings on the site)

If you would like to be added to the WAPF UK parents facebook group that we mentioned, please contact Charlie via her Baby Bus social media and she'll sort it for you!

"I really miss the limitations that were put on us by living in a van"

Do you have memories, documents, recipes or stories of those who cooked ancestrally? If so, we would love to hear from you! Visit our website here for how to share.

Thank you for listening - we'd love to connect more:

The podcast has a website here!

Andrea is on Instagram at Farm and Hearth

Alison is taking a break from Instagram. You can stay in touch with her via her newsletter at Ancestral Kitchen

The podcast is on Instagram at Ancestral Kitchen Podcast

The podcast is mixed and the music is written and recorded by Alison's husband, Rob. Find him here: Robert Michael Kay

00:00 -00:00