Here's how you plan the perfect picnic
This is your sign to dine alfresco
Summer’s here, and with it comes the irresistible urge to dine alfresco. Whether you’ve already indulged in a picnic or two, or if you’re just starting to plan one this article will equip you with just everything you need. The humble picnic, as it turns out, is actually the most nourishing meal one can undertake. Let me explain.
Life-giving Tenets For a Good Picnic
Nourishing ingredients
Traditional picnic fare is exceedingly nutrient dense. Think juicy ripe fruit, cured meats & cheeses (which are both fermented and also protein-rich), leafy greens dressed in extra virgin olive oil, sourdough bread slathered with butter that has been softened by the sun, and homemade lemonade to provide much needed electrolytes when spending time outdoors. It’s nourishing.Sunshine
Despite fear-mongering by various institutions, the sun is actually our friend and not our foe! Getting adequate sunlight is crucial for vitamin D synthesis, strong energy levels, boosting our immune system, and general happiness.Grounding
A concept that goes sadly ignored in most circles, grounding has immense health benefits that should never be underestimated. Grounding, aka letting your bare feet (and other body parts) touch the earth unhindered, has been proven to drastically reduce inflammation, as well as increase important health markers. Picnics are the perfect opportunity to throw off your shoes and sit in a grassy meadow, moss-covered forest, or on a sandy beach. The earth is an electrical entity, and therefore so are we: by connecting with it, we receive important signals from our environment.Fresh air & nature
We’ve all experienced how much better we feel after a walk in the woods, or a swim in the ocean. Eating outdoors, surrounded by natural landscapes, without the urban smog, is something we sorely lack in our modern lives. Nature is the ultimate healer — the closer we get to it, the more whole we ourselves become (and, therefore, the farther we stray from it the farther we stray from true health).
Being with loved ones
Picnics are not usually embarked upon with people we dislike! It’s a casual and yet strangely intimate thing, far different from a meal taken indoors at a restaurant. Picnics are purely the domain of lovers and friends and family — they have always evoked romance and affection. Being surrounded by those that we care for deeply is one of the most healing things we can do; after all, humans are built to be social creatures. Laughing and eating with loved ones is nourishing for both the body and soul!
Crafting the Perfect Picnic
Good protein
Whilst the classic charcuterie spread never fails to win everyone over, you can also experiment with other meats if you feel like taking things to the next level. A fillet of beef, seared well but still rare in the middle, sliced as thinly as you can possibly bear, laid out like blushing pink leaves. Or an entire chicken, spatchcocked for maximum crispy skin surface area, massaged with a generous amount of sea salt, roasted in a very hot oven until burnished and golden, and served at room temperature to be torn apart by eager hands. Even though a whole fish is quite glamorously impressive for a dinner party at home, I would steer clear of any type of seafood for a picnic: it is a touch smelly and messy for a finger-food situation!
Cheeses
Two to three varieties is sufficient. Make sure your choices aren’t too similar to each other in texture or taste: you want variety in both. I like a hard cheese, a blue cheese, and a young goat’s cheese for a good range. Perhaps don’t get anything outrageously soft and ripe, lest you cover your picnic blanket in a stinking ooze that is almost impossible to wash out. Even with the best intentions, picnics will always get a little chaotic! Embrace the chaos; but also be smart about it by anticipating such an outcome.
Real bread
Crusty sourdough loaves, proper baguettes, herby focaccia drenched in olive oil, ancient grain flatbreads… starch takes pride of place at a picnic. Most people will take at least two servings of bread as they graze, even if they attempt a modicum of faux-restraint at first, so plan accordingly for abundance over stinginess. As an example: if opting for baguettes, account for half a baguette per person at a minimum. Any less than this and at least one of your party will be bitterly, secretly, silently disappointed.
Butter, preferably salted
Some may not agree, but salted butter elevates the taste of everything it is paired with. If you can find a butter that is both unpasteurized and cultured, all the more better, since it is an underrated focal point of a picnic and shall be slathered onto bread with great abandon by all. A high quality butter is worth splurging on.
Raw honey, or honeycomb
A hunk of honeycomb in particular is a beautiful addition to any picnic spread, and pairs perfectly with most cheeses. Preserves and jams are a lovely addition too, but they don’t have the versatility of honey, as the latter is more neutral. Fruit preserves will have to be chosen carefully according to which cheeses you are planning to serve, so as not to disrupt what should be a harmonious flavor profile. Apricot jam with pecorino, lemon jam with burrata, fig jam with goat’s cheese, blackcurrant jam with cheddar, and peach jam with gorgonzola are some examples of very tasty pairings.
Seasonal salads
Plump tomatoes, skinned cucumbers, fresh herbs, radishes, and leafy lettuces are refreshing without being too burdensome on digestion. Raw foods are best taken in summer, as they generally have cooling properties, and so have their rightful place at the picnic table.
Locally grown fruit
In-season and ripe fruit, heavy with juice, is the ultimate summer foodstuff. You could of course make a galette, cake, or other such pudding, but I find that summer fruits are so delicious by themselves that they don’t need much adornment. It also saves you time in the kitchen, and is much more easily transportable. Whipped cream, a sprinkling of sugar, a lick of honey, or a simple syrup with a well-paired herb is all you really need at the very most.
Booze
If you choose to drink, make sure it’s the best possible quality. Bio-dynamic wines and organic beers are all quite easy to find now in most major cities. A little goes a long way, and the admittedly higher price of good quality alcohol will ensure that you drink moderately! Getting the tiniest bit tipsy in the sun with good people around you is the healthiest way to drink, hands down.
Homemade cordials
A classic lemonade is a suitable accompaniment to any picnic, but you can look to other summery fruits for inspiration too. Cherries, strawberries, gooseberries, damsons, apricots, blackcurrants, raspberries, greengages… any seasonal fruit can be simply cooked down with a touch of sugar, strained, bottled, and then served with sparkling water for a hydrating drink full of electrolytes.
Must-have picnic props
A wool blanket.
A natural material blanket is not only comfortable and beautiful, but can also be beaten, aired out, and left to hang in the sun afterwards to make it good as new!
Steel cups
Glass cups will inevitably lead to at least one of them breaking, and plastic cups are obviously not much of an option. Steel is highly durable and won’t fill you up with microplastics!
Disposable wooden plates and cutlery
It is not worth lugging ceramic plates and metal cutlery around for more than two people, but if you are just a couple, you can do so if you’d like. For a group it is far easier to go for non-plastic disposables that can be composted afterwards.
Knives
A bread knife, butter knives, plus speciality knives for cheese. If your saucisson or salami is unsliced, you shall need a knife for that too. Bring knives! More than you think you will actually need!
Cloth napkins
Elegant, elevating, and easily thrown in the washing machine for a good clean when you get home. Bonus if they’re embroidered.
A cloth bag
You need a cloth bag to store dirty cups, cutlery, plates, and any other detritus. Plastic bags will just ruin the atmosphere of your otherwise pretty picnic! Use a cotton tote to take your rubbish home with you: natural areas of beauty must be left as you found them. Fabric bags can also be washed along with your napkins.
A trolley
Get a trolley on wheels to easily move everything you need. Or, you could always opt for a basket and a strong pair of arms.
This article was written by Sofya Mitchell, a Scottish-Singaporean ancestral nutritionist, chef, writer, recipe developer, & appreciator of the arcane. You can reach her on X @sofyamitchell. Sofya writes “How to Survive Modernity”, where she talks all things ancestral nutrition, womanhood, nutrient dense recipes, and more. Explore more of her work here:
This article was originally published in Issue 26 of the WARKITCHEN Magazine:
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