The new Toyota Prius ITech aka the Kitchen!
This was my second such brush with destiny. A Manifold Destiny to be exact. I first tried cooking on my car relatively early on my blog on a trip to the Blue Mountains and I was ambitious: I tried cooking prawns and sliced potatoes. Little did I know that the 1.5hr trip would barely cook the edges but the urge to cook on my car has never left me. I don’t mean frying an egg on the car roof as I’m not totally crazy (hmmm perhaps another idea though) but wrapping food in foil and placing it around the manifold of your car engine.
The cooktop ahem the engine
So when Mr NQN and I were planning a trip to Canberra to see the Vanity Fair Photographic Exhibition with Queen Viv and Miss America I knew I wanted to do it again. But with a twist of course. I decided to give it an enviromental theme and try cooking on a Prius. So summoning up my courage and anticipating a quick, sharp rejection, I asked the friendly peeps at Toyota expecting them to laugh and back away slowly thinking that I was a lunatic (”these damn food bloggers” they’d mutter). Amazingly they said yes. Not only could I borrow a Prius but they’d loan me the latest one to test drive and cook on the engine. Yes and they know I’m a Learner driver too!
A close up of the foil food parcels on the engine
We set about devising an environmentally friendly meal so keeping this in mind, vegetarian was the best option and also would probably give us less food poisoning that eating rawish meat as we’d all prefer not to die in the quest for a meal which I should think it would get us a listing in the Darwin Awards for Stupidest Ways to Die (although would I get a painting in the Food Blogger Hall of Fame for dying in the services of a food blog?). We set about buying locally grown produce to go with the environmental theme so we visited Alfalfa House in Enmore.
The meal pre cooking: Organic Swiss Brown mushrooms and cabbage flavoured with dill, lemon and garlic
We bought some Swiss Brown Mushrooms and Cabbage and flavoured it with fresh dill (ouch $4.50 a bunch!) and all were grown in NSW. I added some Hunter Valley grown Patrice Newell garlic and some slices of lemon from my friend The Second Wife’s lemon tree in a neighbouring suburb. The oil and pepper was Australian but less local and salt was Maldon which is from the UK so there were some concessions. We added a little homemade stock and wrapped everything up in foil and there were also wholemeal rolls that we packed up in the foil. We stashed it in various parts of the engine, hoping to find the best space to cook it. Make sure to pack it in tightly or you may risk “losing your lunch” on the road. The first time we did it, I spent much of the trip looking backwards for little packets of foil on the road behind us fearing that our meal had become roadkill.
Wholemeal roll
We started up the engine and drove and drove and drove while I was reading the Prius manual. I’d been to a Prius event a few weeks ago and tested the Self Park function that was my favourite feature and yes it really can park itself-I’m not joking. Now if only they would let me use it in a driving test although the fact that I wouldn’t be touching the wheel while it is turning and manoeuvring would probably give it away. I also loved the heads up display where the speed is illuminated on the windscreen so you don’t have to look down to see your speed which I constantly have to do as L and P drivers can’t go over a certain limit or they will crush you and your license. The seat warmers were also a god send considering how bitterly cold Canberra gets and Mr NQN loved the cruise control radar which controls your speed according to the distance between you and the car in front of you and helps you to brake if you get too close. He also liked the solar cooling and “moon roof” aka sun roof. Queen Viv and Miss America were rather impressed passengers and wondered if the car could float a la Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.
The Heads Up Display
Slightly cooked after 2.5 hours
We reached our destination 2.5 hours later and peeled back the foil. Not much had happened to our meal as expected as we knew that the engine was cooler than others as it is a Hybrid engine so we carefully repacked the foil and drove around with it completely forgetting about it until our return trip home. We didn’t have time to stop at any cool cafes and we try and avoid the fast food places that dot the highway drive home from Canberra to Sydney and we were halfway home when we both realised that we had a meal on the engine. But had it cooked? We stopped the car and peeled it back. Praise the food gods it had and it smelt wonderful! Had anyone driven past us they would’ve seen two freezing souls jumping about in joy. The bread rolls had dried out too much and had to be thrown out but the packets of vegetables were perfectly cooked and smelt inviting. Because we carry a fork at all times (yes a sign of a Food Bloggerus), we tucked in greedily. Of course it’s not haute cuisine and I’m sure a chef would probably pooh pooh it but given the choice of the overpriced fast food en route or the car I pick the car. And the fuel consumption? 4 litres per 100kms!
Tada!
Manifold Destiny reached I feel satisfied that it can be done. And thankyou to Toyota for allowing me to loan their precious Prius for my crazy experiments! Do I have to give it back now? 
So tell me Dear Reader, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve cooked or the weirdest way you’ve cooked food?
I’ve also uploaded my interview with the charming Stephie and Ellie on 99.3FM. It’s about 10 minutes long and was a lot of fun to do (although I always cringe at the sound of my own voice). You can listen to it here!
And if you’re not already sick of me, Sneh from the lovely blog Gel’s Kitchen interviewed me here!
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58 Comments | Add your own
What a great story Lorraine! I absolutely adore the Toyota Prius. We rented it on a trip to Las Vegas and I told my husband that, when we get back from our world trip, we are going to buy that car. We are going to be doing a good bit of driving in Australia so maybe we will try this too!
Hey Lorraine
For some reason the interview I clicked on wasn’t even a minute long… not sure if it’s my computer or the download??
love the look of the prius. Tried to listen to the interview through the link you pasted but only has about a 20 sec grab?
That is HILARIOUS! I cannot believe they gave you the car
AWESOME! Hahahaha!!! Fantastic post.
Now that’s a post topic you don’t see every day! Loving the idea of cooking on your car engine (saw it once done with a fish by one of those television fishing dudes. Caught it, and cooked it on the way home). I’ve never tried it myself, but could be a fun experiment for our next road trip. And kudos to Toyota for lending you the car! .
Hi Lorrainre, I had heard about this car engine cooing from a blogger called Browners who was fascinated by it – prior to that, not something I would have even contemplated!! I’d eat your car engine feast – it looks delish! The weirdest way I have cooked food is not that weird – wrapping meat around a stick and covering with foil to cook in a campfire.
Haha what a randomly brilliant thing to think of! I would have been expecting it to have some sort of weird car odour infused into it, but it looks surprisingly good! I think I would eat that. Good idea going with the safe vegetarian option thought
that’s one totally awesome meal. wow the toyota prius looks so user-friendly!
Hehe. I think you’d definitely get into the food bloggers hall of fame if anything had happened! You carry a fork around?! Hehe. Might start doing that myself
I don’t think I’m in your league for cooking, weird or not! Sounds like a fun adventure!
Really cool interview!
Btw I will have to let you know how my mom’s Beef Rendang turns out when I get my hands on the recipe!
Oh! It worked! I spent the whole post trying not to scroll down to the end to see the conclusion.
(And congrats on the interview!)
Hilarious Lorraine. Before my food blogging days I have used the dishwasher to cook fish. Maybe I should review one! Recently I met an Italian woman who prepared olives in a washing machine.
Quite brilliant really. Although the man in me says that a Prius engine isn’t the place to cook a meal the environmentalist in me says that it is the perfect vehicle (excuse the pun) to cook a meal on. Bravo to Toyota for coming to the party too and loaning you the car.
Oh I love it, all my favourite things at once! Cooking + science + environment. (I am food blogging environmental engineer, after all!). Well done, I give you an A for experimental design and execution
Also, I want one of those cars!!
How fantastic are all those extras on the Prius, they should become standard on all cars , that way everyone will be executing perfect reverse parking.lol
I got to hand it to you Lorraine, you are one keen FoodBlogerist!!
Nice one Toyota! Good on you for asking!
Can’t say I’ve ever cooked in or on my car before. Although I have been tempted to cook cupcakes on my dashboard on those SUPER hot days! this year i might just do it!
This whole story is hilarious! I’ve never heard of anything like this before… And amazing they lent you the car! LOL
I absolutely love this blog Lorraine ~ always so creative and so much fun! So cool that Toyota would lend you the car too ~ wonder if they would give in if all of your readers all requested a go at the Prius??
Love to have a go heheh!
xx
you are funny
How nice of those people at Toyota! An a self park option…wow! I could use one of those
those mushrooms look lovely even if they’re not a high class gourmet meal…hee hee…
Btw…just heard your radio interview
Nice to know what you sound like!
You are too much! My Toyota would need an engine wash before cooking on it or maybe road soot might lend an exotic flavour to the food. Hmm bitumen flavoured food??? I haven’t tried it yet but while on holiday in the British Virgin Islands I came across a recipe that bakes bread using the rim of an old tire.
I have to say…that title alone totally blew me over. And then to find out that you cooked your meal in your car through a leisurely drive! Oh my! How freaking COOOOL!!!
WOW that is so cool! i totally want to try that! it looks delicious too
nicely done. that’s great you got to use the car. awesome!
Great story!
And I must tell you that you have a lovely voice
I do wonder though if everybody dislike hearing their own voice … I sure do too which is rather complicated since my job is to do recorded interviews and subsequently analyse them!
Fabulous article! Love your innovative style
) Clicked on & listened to your interview too, well done. Good old Toyota to let you borrow the car…now I want one too 
) Cheers!
While I was at uni I worked at a duty free shop on Pitt Street and one day I met my friend for lunch at Circular Quay. She brought in her little camp stove and we made fried green tomatoes which we ate with corn bread. A camp stove may not be weird in itself but we got a lot of funny looks from all the business people walking past.
wow what a wicked idea!!
although i’m actually tempted to fry an egg on my mum’s car top. might b an interesting experiment. anyway, have left you a blog award on mine. go check it out when u can 
xx
How awesome that it worked! Looks like the car was fun to drive too. Parking itself sounds like a very saleable feature.
Hahaha I love this idea!! You’re definitely going into the Food Bloggers Hall of Fame!
Awesome post! And how generous of Toyota to lend you a new Prius! I would love that heads up display of the speed and I can totally empathise with you about having to check down at the speed all the time since I’m still a P-plater. LOL at always having a fork with you – I think I might start doing that too!
LOL. That is such a crazy idea. I didn’t think people actually cooked food IN their cars.
But this is coming from someone who actually cooked an egg on the sidewalk. It cooked all the way as it was THAT hot, but i never did eat it. haha
You are the best! How clever – I would have never thought to cook my lunch in my engine. What a great idea for a road trip.
I am in the process of planning a very long road trip. This will definitely be something that I try!
REad about cooking in a car before but not tried it. Going on a long road trip end of the year. I wonder if I can bake potatoes if we drove long enough?
hahaha I had a friend who tried this too and his fish tasted like petrol so props to your new car!
mMMm yummy! (both the food & the car!!) haha. love the concept!
and just to go off on a tangent, i’m not sure if you’ve tried those new grain waves chips, but they’re so addicted that i think i’ve eaten the vending machine dry of them at work! eeek!
Your portrait is going straight into the Poolroom! Brilliant experiment and a thumbs up to Toyota for letting you try it. Didn’t know about the heads up display, what a fantastic feature!
first of all, awesome car. secondly, even more incredible eats! this is an amazing idea and i’m so impressed…as usual, but in a different way.
HAHA vat a great idea NQN!! i shud giv a try vile m going on a long trip!! its good that u chose a vegetarian dish! looks awesome!!
This is such a great idea! A couple of years ago, a friend and I were on our way for a day trip to go skiing. At the outset of the trip we stopped for sandwiches to have later. We put the sandwiches on the dashboard of the car and cranked up the heat (since it was the dead of winter). We didn’t give our sandwiches another thought until we started to smell what could only be described as roast chicken and herbs. We realized the lovely smells were coming from our sandwiches! Our sandwiches weren’t hot, but they were slightly warm and smelled delicious!
Hahaha you crazy, crazy woman! But this is something I’ve been wanting to do as well so heck, I’m crazy too! The veggie parcels look absolutely delicious and I think it’s such a great idea using environmentally & organic everything – car, ingredients and all! I say good on ya Lorraine!
I have seen this ‘cooking a meal on the engine’ a couple of times before, so I had a sinking feeling when I started to read. I should have had faith in you. When I have seen it before, it was always some guy trying to cook meat on the engine, and they didn’t even think it was any good themselves. Your version looks lovely (and edible) in comparision those I have seen previously.
I don’t think I have ever tried to cook anything wierd, partly because I don’t think I have a very good sense of what is ‘normal’. But when I was younger, a friend and I would read up about herbs and native plants and often stop on a footpath to snack on edible plants. I remember standing outside a rented house one day and we were both drinking the nectar from hibiscus flowers. And we also considered ‘found’ nasturtiums as a good ingredient for salads. Of course I was very young now and tend to buy ingredients in a shop.
Fascinating – what a great novel idea for a story! Glad you tried it on a new hybrid vehicle and didn’t have petrol fume flavoured food!
Oh wow! Good on Toyota to lend you a Prius on a learners! I had a Honda Civic hybrid back in New Zealand and I don’t think that the fuel economy was as high (mind you it was a 2003 model so things would have changed by now). Great post! This one and the freeranging one are my faves
once again.. a prius 0_o… you should approach lambo
!
Yay it worked! And it looks appetising too. Well done
that is fantastic – I don’t know what a manifold is but I would love to cook in one – I could just smell that parcel of mushrooms and cabbage at the end of your trip – now I know why I should take a fork with me at all times (which I currently don’t do)
Ummm… weirdest thing is definitely Prairie Oysters cooked over an open fire. Do I need to explain? OK. Bovine (eh) testicles. Yar. Nope, don’t really want to talk about it.
Car-cooked Fish looks interesting. Did it taste fuel-y??
BB
Looks good – in the summer I sometime roast joints of beef using nothing but sunlight!
I have a big, black covered roasting pan – if left in the ozzie summer sun for the day, then the beef is usually perfect medium rare. What could be more environmentally friendly?
My mind is opened. Something I would never even think of. Love the spirit of adventure.
Ohh my god, this is hilarious!! I’ve heard about the stories people cooked meals on their car engines, but never seen anyone with proof LOL
I have cooked bacon and eggs on my engine. My partner used to live a good 3 1/2 hours away and I had a little nana beige ‘84 Corolla which used to over heat. Every weekend I would get up early and drive to visit him. Once parked I would lay al’foil over the engine and with the engine off and the hood up it was hot enough to cook our breakfast!
Awesome, awesome, awesome, I love it! I think UK’s Top Gear did something like this once, they always make me laugh…
My mum always poaches her salmon in the dishwasher! xxx
Hi Akila-Thankyou!
I know, I loved the little details. Hehe oh yes do! You might be able to get some good meals done!
Hi Trissa-It worked for me, could you please try again?
Hi sandra-Hmm that’s strange, you and Trissa seem to have that issue but I tried it and it was ok?
Hi Rose-They’re great aren’t they! Thankyou!
Hi MrsDesperate-I know!
Oh I’d love to do a fish but I suspevct I’d need a bigger car and a longer drive! 
Hi Cakelaw-I was fascinated from the first time I’d heard of it. It sounded like so much fun (and it is!).Ahh that sounds nice-did it have a nice BBQ taste to it?
Hi Steph-Thankyou! Yes thaknfully not, I don’t think we would have eaten it then!
Thanks! Yes dying for a meal is not fun 
Hi Jess-Thankyou so much!
Hi Betty-Haha I hope so if I died!
Yep we do, is that strange? Perhaps!
Hi Barbara-Oh you so are!
It was lots of fun 
Hi Einna-Thankyou so much! Oh yes please!
I can’t get into your blog though 
Hi shez-It sure did-twas very exciting indeed. Thankyou!
Hi Ed-Thanks! Ahh yes I’ve heard of that-I must do that with our new dishwasher!
Olives in a washing machine? Do tell me more! 
Hi Mike-Thankyou! Yes Toyota were great about it I should add-you couldn’t have asked for a more accomodating company!
Hi Conor-Thanks!
Ahhh thankyou so much and from a food blogging environmental engineer no less! 
Hi Matilda-I know! They’re amazing and I wish I could do my driving test on it
Thankyou!
Hi Iron Chef Shellie-Hehe thanks! Haha I wonder if you could cook them on a dashboard? YOu should try!
Hi Zam-Thankyou!
I know, good on them I say!
Hi Eve-Thanks so much! That’s so sweet of you to say
Haha you’d love the features I’m sure! xxx
Hi Big M-Why thankyou!
Hi Alexandra-I know, they’re great aren’t they! Ahh well that’s perhaps the next challenge!
Thanks! Did I sound different to what you thought? 
Hi Wizzy-Ahh yes thqankfully this was clean but I think if it’s in foil it’s ok. Oh wow, that sounds brilliant!
Hi Sophia-Hehe thankyou so much!
Hi DessertObsessed-Thankyou very much! Definitely should if you go for a long drive
Hi Simon-I know, they’re great aren’t they!
Hi Lisbeth-Thanks! Aww you are too kind-I hate listening to my voice
Oh really? Your job sounds fanscinating. What do you analyse them on? *intrigued*
Hi Elaine-Thankyou!
I know, I didn’t want to give it back 
Hi Amy-Oh wow, how cool is that? I’venever had a camp stove but it sounds rather handy. You did it on the street? :O
Hi diva-Thankyou! Haha yes now that would be fun!
Thankyou so much Diva! xxx
Hi Arwen-I know! I wasn’t sure if it would!
I know, I thought they were joking at first! 
Hi Avanika-Thankyou!
Hehe I hope so! 
Hi Jacq-They were great
I know, and it’s so hard if you’re a Learner and trying to concentrate! Haha I have to 
Hi ArtemisIII-Thanks! Of course they do-I think it’s done in the US where people drive between states. Haha I hope not!
Hi Meg-Aww thankyou! It was lots of fun and something I’d love to do more often. Cool!
Hi penny-Oooh perhaps but it’s quite slow so if you cut them up and parboil them a bit?
Hi Lex -Hehe oh no! Did they wrap it in foil though? This was a nice, new and clean car so that helped!
Hi julie-Thankyou!
I haven’t tried them yet but they sound good! I’ll look out for them-thanks! 
Hi Moya-Aww thankyou! That’s the ultimate compliment isn’t it!
Thankyou and thanks to Toyota too 
I know, isn’t it brilliant?
Hi grace-Thanks! Yes I didn’t know it was that well equipped and featured!
Hi nora-Thankyou! Yes it’s safer that way I think!
Hi Faith-Thanks so much!
Oh how fantastic! What a great idea-I love how it smelt good and how it warmed it up nicely! 
Hi Trisha-Yes that’s me
Thankyou so much! I had to go the whole theme I think! 
Hi Theresa-Haha! Thankyou so much
Oh what amazing memories! I’ve never had hibiscus nectar before! 
Hi Forager-Thankyou! I know, wouldn’t that be so disappointing after all that time?
Hi clekitty_They’re great-I have to say they were a dream company to deal with! Thankyou so much!
Hi FFichiban-Haha I don’t think they’d be as creative
Hi Brenda-I know-I was so overjoyed! Thankyou!
Hi Johanna-Thankyou! It’s a part of the car-don’t worry I didn’t know either
I always have to have a fork-Nigella carries a whisk, I carry a fork 
Hi Bush Babe-hehe cool!
I’ve never tried those! Hehe ok no problems 
Nope it was wrapped quite well and I don’t thinkit really goes near the petrol 
Hi Wayfarer-Oh wow! That’s very cool! I must try that too! That’s brilliant! :O
Hi Angela-Thankyou so much!
Hi Yas-Thankyou! Haha you know me, always willing to do something weird in the name of blogging
Hi Kylie-Oh cool! Ahh that’s great! And it could cook bacon? :O I can see eggs cooking easily but bacon is great!
Hi Angela-Thankyou! Haha I wouldn’t be surprised if they did
I really must try that! 
xxx
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