First Night Food is quite different from Storecupboard Standbys.  The essence of an emergency standby meal is that it can sit in the back of a cupboard or locker, or languish in a bag in an unobtrusive corner for an almost unlimited time, and won’t go off.   It also has to be amenable to being dug out at no notice when the commissariat has a breakdown, providing something that is quick and easy to cook, and comfortable and comforting to eat: whatever caused the commissariat break down is quite like also to have produced a need for comfort, be it torrential rain, a puncture or a sprained ankle, or finding that the shops you expected to go to just aren’t there.

First night food is a world away from this.

Yes, it still needs to be minimal effort to cook – after all that settling in, all I want to do is sink down with a cup, mug or glass of something.  There also has to be no shopping required, because there may not be any shops, and even if there are I may not yet know where they are.  Even if I do know, and it isn’t far, I don’t want to add the time and work of shopping to the time and work needed to set up in my new home, be it tent, motorhome, caravan, campervan, boat or holiday cottage.

The key thing is that the first night’s is a meal that can be planned for – indeed part of the fun of going away is planning that first night meal and being able to visualise, as you grind through those last few days before a holiday, exactly what you hope to be doing 48, then 36, then 24 hours ahead.  This is a meal where there is a lot of savour in the anticipation!

Mostly these recipes assume you can take something chilled with you, in a cold bag with a freezer block or two, if nothing more.  But they also assume that you won’t have wanted to lavish time on complex meal preparation during the last minute packing frenzy.

Think [example] or [example].

Do share with us all any recipes you have that fit this description – the more the merrier!  I’ll certainly acknowledge your contribution if I blog the recipe, so contact me at …..

And do sign up for my twice weekly blog for inspiration.

It comes out on Fridays, to encourage you to forget the chores you think you ought to be spending the weekend doing and to get out instead; and on Tuesdays to get you into the mood to plan next weekend’s jaunt.

Happy, quick, and easy cooking, and – bon appétit!

Anna