This is a copy of a post I made last week and wanted some feedback on it.
I have a contact in the USA that published a book and runs a website called http://www.roadcookin.com and he advises drivers how to cook and eat a healthy diet.
When I asked him if he could help the drivers over here in the UK he agreed to help with recipes etc, I just wanted some feedback and thoughts from you guys who are out on the road looking for food good enough to eat.
For most of us lorry drivers this is the closest we will get to home cooked food all week.
Forget your Bp wild bean cafe’s and your Motorwway services because they are nothing but highway robbery.
The spar franchise in the service stations can never justify the £3.25 I saw a packet of mcvities choclate biscuits priced at the other week so what can we do ?
The truck stops are mostly just as bad.
They pile the food on the plate as if that justifies it bring crap.
I went into a cafe the other day and after looking at an uninspired menu of pie and chips for £6.99 I chose a
£2.50 cheese burger and waited.
I was hungry and the cafe was busy so I was hopeful that I was going to enjoy my meal, what could go wrong with a burger?
I heard them calling the name I had given when I ordered it but I didn’t want to admit to being me because what I saw on the waitresss plate in no way resembled any burger I had ever seen.
It was flat as a pancake and had steam coming off it. A cheesy colored fluid oozed out of the sides. The thin brown slither in the middle that looked like old rubber was in fact meant to be the beef.
I looked into her eyes and tried to convey my disgust but she was about as subtle as a hammer and paid no attention to me as she skimmed the plate over towards my seat.
I had been chatting to another driver over his tea and he just stared at this new arrival in disbeleif. I’m off to M&S up the road he said and left me with it.
When it had cooled enough to touch I found out that it was impossible to pick up because it had been microwaved to death and was as limp as lettuce.
Other drivers were staring now and I tried to put some in my mouth.
I didn’t want to make a scene but I was annoyed that the one time I took a chance and put my faith in a food outlet I had been let down, and like a fool , I was feeling bad for them at not liking what they decided to serve me.
I had 45 minutes out of a very long and busy day and they had stolen my time and served me this garbage.
There are great food outlets out on the road no doubt, but where ? And how do we find them.
If we accept this crap, time after time, then things will never get better.
I want to take my own food out on the road but there are only so many times you can have a sandwich, bag of crisps and an apple.
It’s like being on a school trip every day.
We need to do what the foreign drivers do and cook our own food. It’s not as easy as it sounds though because I do 7-9 drops and collections a day it leaves little time to park up and get a stove out but even making a salad and using a flask to make some noodles can give you a satisfying meal in minutes.
I wrote about a book called roadcookin and a website roadcookin.com in my blog and I will be posting some of their techniques and recipies on a roadcookin page.
The problem of finding good healthy food out on the road is a difficult one and won’t be solved easily but with a little effort and a bit of knowledge we can help ourselves.
