PICNIC PARADISE
Savour local ingredients
I don’t know about you, but after all these weeks of being cooped up at home, I plan to spend every moment possible outdoors this summer, with friends and family and a picnic basket full of local goodies.
After all, the pandemic has changed a lot of things this year, but it hasn’t changed our fundamental need to gather people around a table and share food and wine and love, even if there are going to be fewer of us and we’ll be sitting farther apart.
Whether it means heading to the backyard for a barbecue or the neighbourhood park for a picnic, dining al fresco should be easy and relaxed. Food should be uncomplicated and easy to carry. Drinks should be thirst-quenching and low (or no) proof. Sunscreen and bug spray are a good idea. So are comfy shoes and light layers for when night sneaks softly over the horizon.
All of that is true every year. But this pandemic year, there are other things to consider, too.
For one thing, events are likely to be much smaller. Shannon Boudreau, events and sales director for The Lazy Gourmet, anticipates that gatherings will be no more than 20 to 30 people maximum — even weddings. “The government says 50, but no one is going to do 50,” she says.
For another thing, the share plate is over. So is the buffet. And while cheese and charcuterie are still a host’s best friend, how we serve them is going to look a whole lot different because no one wants to touch a serving utensil someone else has handled.
“You really don’t know how comfortable people are. As host, I want everyone to feel comfortable and everyone is at a different level of comfort,” Boudreau says.
“If I was a host, I would do miniboards for people,” she adds. “Each little plate would have the same meat and cheese and I would put them on a long board. I think that’s going to be more popular than those big grazing boards that we’re used to.”
Chef stations are going to be popular, too, she says. “People love chef stations. People love watching a chef cook.”
By necessity, service is likely to be more attentive, whether at sitdown plated dinners or standup events where servers circulate in pairs, one to hand out canapés (which will all be individually plated) and the other to gather used plates, utensils and napkins.
As for what people will be enjoying on those plates, think light, fresh, comforting and easy fare.
For cocktail hour, that might mean something crisp and savoury, such as gougères, spiced nuts, cocktail crackers or even, as the Spanish do, potato chips. Olives are nice, too, especially if you make them into tapenade and serve them on crostini.
For lunch or dinner, think easy hand-helds or foods that can be enjoyed with just a fork, spoon or chopsticks.
Lobster, shrimp or crab rolls on buttered brioche are a summertime classic. With the spot prawn season delayed this year, plus fewer international customers, we might even be able to get our hands on the West Coast’s most prized seafood.
Fried chicken is always popular because it is good both hot and cold, plus it travels well. And besides, who doesn’t love fried chicken? Serve it with coleslaw, which gets better if it sits for a while — just be sure to keep it well chilled, especially if you use a mayonnaise-based dressing.
Planning to light your barbecue? Marinated flank, skirt or flat iron steak, grilled, sliced and paired with individual potato or hearty grain salads, is a simple and stylish main. We’re also loving tuna poke bowls, lettuce cups, tacos, and noodle or rice bowls. And our Fraser Valley farmers might need some help consuming all they’re growing this year. Make the quintessential summertime berries into cocktails (strawberry margarita, anyone?), ice cream or jam, tuck them inside buttery shortcakes, or simply enjoy them on their own, their sweet juices staining your fingers pink.