High Summer Al Fresco Lunch for 8

To eat outside, you don’t necessarily have to cook a lot, but you’ve got a lot to think about. I’m talking here about a table-borne lunch outside in the garden. Choose nothing fussy, nothing that will grow waxy or dry in the heat and nothing that will sit too heavily on the digestion. Lots of meat, quivering pots of mayonnaise in the sun’s glare, bread already cut – much traditional picnic fare is ruled out. Certainly a hunk of bread, a wedge of cheese and a peppery salame will do on cooler days, but in even moderate heat bread gets stale in a matter of minutes. Cheese and meat quickly grow a patina of rancid sweatiness.