Claudia Roden’s Midsummer Picnic

Food is specially important on an outing. It has to be good because you have so much time on your hands and because nature has its way of unleashing the senses and the appetite. But it is part of the leisurely atmosphere and in the spirit of the occasion to make things easy for yourself when you are out among the trees.

My favourite picnics have always been spontaneous ones and those where the work was shared and resources pooled - when friends came to cook with me before we set off, or when we each brought a dish made in advance. Together we have prepared all kinds of things, from sandwiches and salads to hot pastas and soups, which we rushed out steaming in their pans, as well as pies, tarts, stuffed vegetables, omelettes and fruit salads. When you have a car it is easy to bring out almost anything.