Location:
The park, the beach, a shady spot, your favorite secret corner. Like in real estate, location is everything when scouting for a picnic site. Keep it simple, easy to reach and close to a storm shelter.
Henri Cartier-Bresson’s Sunday on the Banks of the Marne, 1938
Semantic:
Picnic, or pique-nique, is of French origin, formed from piquer, the French for “to pick at food”, and nique meaning something small of no value.
The word picnic has existed in English for a long time, with different meanings including a kind of hat and a morally suspect club started by lord Chesterfied in 1748 that was associated with card-playing and drinking. No matter. Picnicking is what you make of it. I call mine alfresco dining and I pack it as tasty and as fun as I can.
Thomas Cole’s A Pic-Nic Party, 1846
Style:
The art of the picnic should require resolute rejection of plastic when it comes to food packing. Plastic makes everything smell funky and it’s, in my opinion, unbecoming. Paper, glass, cloth, cardboard, wax paper, are all beautiful alternatives.
Alcohol:
Don’t forget the bottle opener for the booze. Or better forget it and stick to champagne.
Packing:
At the beginning of times a picnic was a way to take a whole meal outside. Originally servants and coaches used to come at 4am to pick up a picnic hamper. Well I have news for you. Times have changed. Keep you packing light and organized. Select fresh ingredients and recipes that are easily sharable with your tribe. On the other hand, if you have kids in the group, by all mean, load them up.
Food:
In the end, packing good food is what a picnic it’s all about. It doesn’t have to be fine dining or complicated but it has to be memorable and refreshing. Jars salads are a great idea. Dressing goes on the bottom, veggies and other goodies get piled on top. Everything stays separate and dressing-free until you toss the salad together, you’ll never eat another soggy salad.
A pressed sandwich is another fabulous idea. You can prepare it in advance, by cutting a good loaf of crusty bread, loading it with layers of greens, creamy cheese, salty cured meats, a good drizzle of strong olive oil and wrap it in lots of cellophane. Put it at the bottom of the picnic basket and weight it down with all the other goodies. Once you a get to your spot, ask the kids to sit on it. It will help you flatten the sandwich, and making sure all the flavors are properly combined while giving you the time you need to unpack in peace. Don’t forget scotched eggs and an aioli for dipping, I’m partial to my tarragon infused recipe, some pickled veggies for tanginess, and of course strawberries because it’s not a proper picnic with out sweet strawberries to stain your clothes.
All the recipes from my lecture at Olivette are now online.
The Art Of Picnics at Olivette
- 2 bunches arugola salad washed
- 2 cups puy lentils cooked
- 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes halved
- 1 whole avocado rubbed with half a lemon and diced
- 1/2 cup pistachio nuts unsalted
- 1/4 cup mint leaves chopped
- 1/4 cup cilantro leaves chopped
- 1/2 cup lemon infused olive oil substitute with olive oil and half a juice of a lemon
- 1/4 cup aged dark balsamic vinegar
- 3 tablespoons pistachio oil
- salt an pepper
- Combine all the dressing ingredients in a large bowl and whisk well.
- Add all the salad components and with a rubber spatula, mix all the ingredients making sure to coat well. Serve room temperature.
- 1 small shallot
- 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar pinot
- 3 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
- salt and pepper
- 1 loaf round bread focaccia or muffaletta
- 4/8 tablespoons olive oil
- 6/10 leaves lettuce
- 8 onces Brie cheese cut in slices
- 3/4 cup black olives pitted and roughly chopped
- 1 large tomato sliced
- 2 ounces anchovies in olive oil, drained. Optional.
- To make the vinaigrette, mix the shallot and vinegar in a small bowl, and gradually whisk in the oil with a fork. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut the bread horizontally into even top and bottom layers. Turn the top over, then drizzle olive oil all over the cut sides of both layers, using 2 or 3 Tbs of oil on each.
- Make layers of all the filling ingredients. First, completely cover the sandwich bottom with 5 or 6 lettuce leaves, then arrange the slices of Brie on top. Scatter the chopped olives and cover with the tomato slices in a single layer.
- Spoon about half the vinaigrette over the tomatoes, then separate the anchovy fillets and distribute evenly. Drizzle the remaining vinaigrette and the oil from the anchovy can all over the filling. Finally, replace the top layer of the bread to close the sandwich.
- Wrap the sandwich well with several layers of plastic wrap and place on a cookie sheet or pizza pan or tray. Lay another tray on top of the sandwich and center some heavy items to press and flatten the loaf (a heavy pan and a 5-lb bag of sugar, for example).
- Place the weighted sandwich in the refrigerator for at least a couple of hours or overnight. Before serving, remove the weight, unwrap the compressed sandwich, and let it come to room temperature. Cut into serving-size wedges or, as an hors d'oeuvre cut in thin parallel slices, and again into short, bite-size lengths. 1 large sandwich makes 8 large wedges or 24-hors-d'oeuvre-size pieces.
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