Picnics for all tastes and styles
Make them as fancy or simple as you like, writes Thomas Heaton.
A picnic doesn’t need to be laid out on a special blanket in an idyllic field; eating on the back of a ute at the closest beach or nestled under a tree will suffice.
Angela Clifford likes to make her picnics a reasonably spontaneous affair, often popping down to the nearest beach with husband Nick Gill and their three children.
The family use what’s in the fridge or their garden before they hit the road for the 20-minute drive from their home.
They have a dedicated spot for their picnic set which has everything they need, albeit ‘‘not particularly stylish’’ – a mix of plates, cutlery and cups, she says.
Clifford’s family lives on the Food Farm, a six hectare organic farm in North Canterbury’s Waipara Valley, so have vegetables and fruit on hand for their short-notice getaways.
Some of their harvest from the farm is made into cordials, such as strawberry or elderflower, and is combined with bottles of carbonated water they take with them on their trips.
They always have ‘‘lashings of ginger beer’’, which they make with their three children. There’s traditional beer for the parents too, she says.
‘‘It’s pretty casual. Just hardboiled eggs from our chickens, cheese – it’s definitely not a considered, long-term-thinking meal. It’s definitely a pool-what-we-have kind of meal.’’
When it comes to preparing a great picnic, Clifford says a sharp knife is crucial, wrapped in a tea towel, and a chopping board.
That means, if working on short-notice, there’s no real need to worry about preparing food at home. They take outdoor beanbags with them, and bug repellent to keep the sandflies at bay.
Chef Alan Brown likes his picnics to be about good bread, cheese and cold cuts or charcuterie, so agrees knives and chopping boards are important.
Brown reckons there is an element of organisation needed, because ‘‘no-one wants warm beers’’, and chilly bins are crucial.
If you’ve left it to the last minute, supermarkets’ deli sections make life easy and ice can be bought from petrol stations.
‘‘I like to make up my own sandwiches, so you need some cheese, some ham or pastrami and some salad,’’ he says.
Not just any salad leaf, though. Mesculun or delicate leaves will wilt under the sun, so Brown recommends hardier greens like cos or iceberg lettuce. He then takes either sealed mozzarella in its water, or hardier cheeses like cheddar, to add to the sandwiches.
Brown says he enjoys taking ‘‘slightly softer, smellier ones’’, such as camembert or Munster, however they have to be eaten quickly before they start melting.
He also packs mustard, pickles and relishes to go with the sandwiches, while vacuum-sealed charcuterie such as prosciutto or salami is a good option if there is no way to keep fresh cuts cold, he says.
Leftovers such as sausages or shredded roast chicken also make a great addition to a picnic offering.
‘‘My picnic lunches tend to be a little more like a buffet. Instead of making your sandwiches in advance, you make your own up,’’ Brown says.
‘‘Then, dessert-wise, you’re probably just looking at fruit. Strawberries or berries. If you’ve got a decent esky [chilly bin], I’d probably look at doing some buffalo yoghurt. It really depends how far you want to take it.’’