Country fare: Felicity Davies, Elly Young, Edwina Thomson, and Lofty, 20 months, sample a picnic spread from Ed Dixon Food Design.
Whether you're heading to the races or just soaking in the sun, Elizabeth Meryment shares the secrets of a good picnic.Celebrity chef Pete Evans is not being lazy when he suggests that when it comes to a picnic, he off-loads much of the hard work to his guests.
"I try to get my guests involved in plating up,'' the chef and cookbook author says. "People can have a spread of ingredients in front of them, and they can choose and have a bit of fun with ingredients. It creates a bit of atmosphere for the guests and takes a lot of pressure off the cook.
"I like that, it's an interactive experience.''
Pete, whose new cookbook, My Party, is full of finger-food ideas, isn't suggesting guests spend their whole time slicing, chopping and cooking their food. Rather, he says that with some thought, a picnic can be semi-prepared at home, with guests sharing the workload.
"I'm a big fan of things like san choi bau, where you prepare the mixture at home and just take along a lettuce so people can make their own san choi bau cups while they're at the picnic,'' he says.
"Or you can do Peking duck rolls where you buy the duck at Chinatown, take the meat off the bone and take a lettuce, some hoi sin sauce, cucumber and spring onion and get people to roll their own.
"That way, you don't have to worry about presentation so much. Just lay it out and people can help themselves.''
With spring in full swing and summer approaching, now is the time to organise an outdoor feast for friends and family. Chefs and caterers say there's no excuse for a picnic not to be a glamorous as well as an enjoyable affair.
"Everybody's so over winter, the races are on and everybody wants to go outdoors and have a good time,'' Melbourne caterer Edwina Thomson, from the award-winning Ed Dixon Food
Design says.
"Everybody's in a great mood, especially when it comes to the races.'' For Edwina, organising the perfect picnic is about finding food options that are tasty but easy, and, most importantly, won't drip all over the place, especially on fine race wear.
"The main thing to remember when organising a good picnic is to have what's fresh and what's in season,'' says Cindy Halasz from Adelaide's The Food Business. "You don't want anything too stodgy.''
For many, a posh picnic, like those taking place as part of Melbourne's spring racing carnival, can be as glamorous and elegant as a dinner party.
For a posh picnic, Cindy recommends preparing or simply pre-ordering dishes such as terrines, pickled cherries and pate, which can be served with artisan bread and plenty of bubbles.
Edwina agrees the sky's the limit when planning a posh picnic. "If you have a folding table you can take that and dress it up with a checkered tablecloth, pots of herbs, vintage cutlery and things like that,'' she says. "We have picnics all the time and we take things like my grandma's vintage picnic hamper to give it a special feel.''
If you want your picnic to rise above the ordinary, Pete Evans suggests cooking a stand-out themed dish at the event.
"If you go to one of those camping stores, you can get a little butane stove for about $30, which means you can do something like a paella in front of everyone,'' he says. "There's something of theatre about that that people love.''
Edwina agrees a themed party can lend a picnic a memorable spirit. She says Mexican, Korean and Spanish are hot food trends, and easy to theme for your picnic outing.
"For Mexican, I'd say take a portable barbecue or go where there is a barbecue already,'' she says.
"I'd precook some slow-cooked spare ribs, take them to the picnic and barbecue to warm. Then serve them with delicious soft tacos, homemade guacamole, tomato coriander salsa and some creme fraiche.''
For many, there is no going past the traditional picnic that involves salads eaten on paper plates and chicken legs wrapped in serviettes.
Pamela Lawson, of Pamela's Pantry in Brisbane's Petrie Terrace, says her most popular sellers for outdoor entertaining remain such classics as Greek salads, savoury tarts, honeyed chicken legs and meat balls. Pate, breads, baby quiche and more exotic salads, such as Thai beef, pumpkin and feta and chicken and crispy noodle are also enduringly popular.
"Freshness is the most important thing,'' Pamela says.
Perhaps the loveliest picnics are those that just happen on warm, sunny days.
Perth deli owner Nathan Nairn says the incidence of picnicking certainly has increased since he was a child, perhaps because "parents are working more so they spend the time on the weekends with kids out in the park''.
Nathan, who this week launches a new deli called North Perth, a sister deli/cafe to his Deli Chicchi in Northbridge, recommends people taking whatever's in the fridge to their picnic.
"Most picnics are just leftovers in the fridge,'' he says.
"People take a selection of cold cuts, sausages, steak and prawns - and, beer.''
Pete says a perfect picnic can be done simply by popping into your local deli.
"Delis have stepped it up so you can get the best olives in the world, Spanish hams, amazing produce that you don't have to do anything to,'' he says. ‘‘You can do a whole picnic where you don't have to cook anything at all.''
Taste.com.au - October 2010
Elizabeth Meryment
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