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So we have the table, the tablecloth and we have the sophisticated drinks.
Sadly these things are not appropriate in every situation.
Surprisingly a beach often turns out to be one of the most inhospitable places to try to eat.
Be warned, any attempt at sophistication or over sophistication here, generally results in dismal failure and is almost guaranteed to make you look like a ponse!
The problem is a combination of a stronger wind than anywhere else and all that lovely golden sand. There is nothing worse than sandy sandwiches.
Even burgers on a disposable barbecue can easily turn into a farce on a beach.
The best bet in this situation is a simple Pork pie and sandwiches that you just take with you, don’t mess about with the pre-packed rammel that you buy from the supermarket. Have a look at the recipe for Shooters Sandwich. This is proper traditional old English outdoor fayre. Accompany it with a simple festival style (i.e. straight from the bottle) drink. Sorry but posh glasses, indestructible or not, seldom work very well on a beach.
But what about a real sophisticated picnic?
Everyone secretly knows that the perfect picnic food is the Pork Pie.
This is a picnic fact, as absolute as gravity and the fact that the world is round.
It is a fact so absolutely correct that it can never be disproved.
The pork pie has all the right qualities; it is small, self-contained, travels well and can be eaten alone or with a salad accompaniment. It can be eaten properly with a knife and lots of mustard, or you can simply bite into it. Either way, it’s just right.
This doesn't mean that you all have to nip down to the supermarket & buy a couple of quids worth of Pork Farms rubbish, if you want the best pork pie that money can buy, you can make it yourself, there's a recipe on this site, it's not difficult, it just takes a bit of time and a couple of hours in the oven.
A classy picnic is really a very simple thing to achieve, but it needs to be properly executed to work well. You need to have the right weather to make it work well. Ideally glorious sunshine and just enough warm breezes to keep the insects away… Yeah right!
If you have a fridge or efficient cool-box, take a selection of the following items, and you will have a very classy but easy to manage and eat picnic. If you don’t have the facility to keep things cold, keep well away from cheese, butter and fish!
Crusty Bread,
A selection of cooked, dried or smoked meats & fish,
A selection of cheeses,
Pate.
Prepared salads – waldorf, coronation chicken, coleslaw or similar.
Butter, Mustard and Pickles.
And of course
A drink,
A Pork Pie,
And some Ready-made sandwiches.
Don’t forget your crockery, cutlery, serviettes and a mesh food cover.
Recipes
Picnic Sandwiches - coming soon...
Posh Picnics