Malaga's 'campero' goes to France

In Saint-Michel-De-Maurienne, a small village near some of the most famous ski resorts in the French Alps, a Malagueño makes a living selling camperos (flat breads lightly toasted and with a variety of fillings) from his food truck.

Daniel Rojas emigrated to France with his family when he was little and is now promoting his homeland with his business Paco Campero. Despite being in competition with croissants and crêpes, shawarmas and burgers, his camperos have become the star product in the whole valley he boasts.

Besides the camperos he also offers the Antequera mollete and the Malaga fritura, although they have not been as successful with customers. He promotes the camperos with an illustrated poster explaining the origins of the Malaga speciality.

Although he emigrated over thrity years ago, Malaga is still close to his heart and he travels home two or three times a year to catch up with family and friends.

Daniel says that the most popular are the chicken, and the ham and cheese camperos. He has recently introduced a spicy filling he calls Ardiente (fiery). The beef Americano with mayonnaise and chips is also a new introduction.

He admits that he uses a secret ingredient, garlic mayonnaise that he buys from Makro wholesalers in Malaga, and he has a baker who makes the bread to an authentic Malaga recipe.

The success of this venture has encouraged Daniel to open up a restaurant in the town where he is going to offer another of Malagas favourite foods, its own version of the jacket potato, the papa asada.

He also has plans to develop a franchise throughout the country called simply Camperos.