Black Pots, Gusseisenpfannen, Lagerfeuerküche -

Back to the roots: campfire cooking

Today, almost everything in our lives is determined and controlled by technology. At work, in our free time - we switch from one technical device to another. Even grilling is increasingly dominated by it. From lighting the charcoal to monitoring the temperature and perfectly controlling the entire cooking process, we can now leave many steps to electronic helpers. It's a completely different story when cooking by a campfire, when the nearest power socket is miles away, you go back to the essentials and rely on the simplest basics: fire and iron for cooking, roasting, baking and grilling - and, if possible, a guitar and voice for good sound.

Cast iron and open fire - these are the classics when it comes to preparing something tasty outdoors, far away from the home environment. This way of cooking is simply cozy and offers plenty of space for shared experiences. The most commonly used for this are the so-called black pots. You can prepare almost anything in them: from soups and stews to pizza, bread, tarts and cakes, to roasts and casseroles. But there are also other "tools" with which you can always have a hot iron in the fire and thus ensure culinary variety.

Equipment for the campfire kitchen:

Recipe for fish stew from the Dutch oven

Ingredients (for 4 people) :
• 300 g cod
• 200 g mussels in the shell
• 50 g peeled shrimp
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 30 g flour
• 50 g butter
• 200 ml cream
• 150 ml fish stock
• 2 sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 100 g peas
• 100 g broad beans
• 1 red pepper, diced
• Salt
• pepper

Preparation :
Heat the Dutch oven only with bottom heat, either over a campfire or with glowing briquettes under the bottom of the pot.

Wash the mussels carefully under cold running water. Melt the butter in a pan, add the onion and fry until translucent. Add the flour and stir well, making sure it doesn't brown. Gradually add the cream and fish stock, stirring constantly, and simmer for a few minutes until you have a nice, light sauce without lumps.

Add the broad beans, dill, bay leaf and a little pepper and simmer gently for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the peas, fish meat and mussels and cook, stirring, until the mussels open. Finally, add the peppers and shrimp and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and remove the bay leaf before eating. Serve with boiled rice or boiled potatoes.

Recipe for Philosopher from the Cast Iron Pan

"Traditionally, the 'philosopher' is a dish for processing leftover meat. So it doesn't matter what kind of meat you use. Whether it's leftover chicken, pork or beef, anything goes. In our recipe we use minced meat."

Ingredients (for 4 people) :
• 500 g minced meat
• 50 g butter (alternatively: leftover gravy)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, cut into cubes
• 150 ml beef broth
• 1 tablespoon mustard
• 1 bay leaf, studded with 2 cloves
• breadcrumbs
• if necessary: ​​1 apple, cut into thin slices
• Applesauce

For the puree:
• 500 g floury potatoes
• 500 g parsnips
• 150 ml warm milk
• nutmeg
• breadcrumbs
• Salt
• pepper

Preparation :
Peel the potatoes and parsnips and cut into pieces. Heat the pan, add the butter (or the leftover sauce) and brown the onions and minced meat. Add the paprika, beef stock, mustard and bay leaf. Simmer for about 20 minutes, the liquid should have partially evaporated. Then remove the bay leaf and cloves.
In the meantime, cook the potatoes and parsnips until tender and drain. Mash them into a smooth puree, adding milk and seasoning with salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Take the pan off the heat and spread the puree over the minced meat mixture. If you like, you can cover the puree with apple slices. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Put the lid on the pan and spread 8 briquettes on top. There should be 2 or 3 briquettes under the pan to keep everything warm. Bake for 10 minutes until a nice crust has formed. Serve with apple sauce.