Eating well in a campervan: markets, recipes and the best roadside stops in Chile

One of the great pleasures of campervan travel is cooking your own food in extraordinary locations. Breakfast with a view of the Torres. Dinner beside a Patagonian river. A late lunch parked on a beach in Chiloé. Here's how to eat well on the road in Chile.

The mercados

Every Chilean town of any size has a covered market (mercado) selling fresh produce, meat and cheese at prices far below supermarkets. These are the places to stock up. Look for the fish stalls in coastal towns (the merluza and congrio are exceptional), the lamb at markets in Patagonia, and the fresh bread (marraqueta) everywhere.

Ingredients worth seeking out

• Pebre — Chile's version of salsa, made with coriander, tomato, onion and chilli. Buy it ready-made at any market.
• Merkén — a smoky, spicy seasoning made from dried goat's chilli and coriander seeds. Available in most supermarkets. Transforms grilled meat.
• Manjar — the Chilean version of dulce de leche. On toast for breakfast. Non-negotiable.
• Congrio — a Chilean sea eel that tastes nothing like eel. Dense, white flesh that works beautifully grilled over charcoal.
• Chirimoya — a custard apple native to the Andes. Eat it cold, straight from the fridge.

The one-pan dinner

Our most-used campervan recipe: chop an onion and fry it in olive oil. Add garlic, then diced chorizo or longaniza (local sausage). Add a tin of chickpeas, a tin of chopped tomatoes, a teaspoon of merkén and a handful of whatever vegetables are in the fridge. Simmer 15 minutes. Eat with bread. Takes 20 minutes, uses one pan, works at altitude.

Roadside stops worth knowing

Keep an eye out for hand-painted signs saying 'empanadas caseras' (homemade empanadas) on residential gates. These are always better than anything you'll find in a restaurant and cost almost nothing. Similarly, look for 'kuchen' signs in the Lake District German towns — the fruit cakes are extraordinary.