Opinion
It’s picnic season. You’re going to need food in a form that’s portable, shareable, easy to eat and highly delicious.
It’s quiche season! Sorry, what I meant to say is, picnic season. You’re going to need food in a form that’s portable, shareable, easy to eat and highly delicious. Something you can bake or buy in the morning and take to the park, the beach, the golf course or the mountain top in the afternoon. I told you it was quiche season.
Quiche Lorraine is my go-to picnic food because it has it all: the smooth, light, fluffy texture of beaten eggs and cream, the tang of smoky bacon, a crisp pastry crust and a nutty hint of gruyere. It tastes as good when eaten on the banks of the Seine in Paris as it does on a rackety train toiling its way through the Swiss Alps or on a park bench by the Yarra River.
Crucially, it’s not messy to eat in public; it doesn’t shatter into shards like a Vietnamese banh mi roll, or ooze shirt-staining juices like a Nicoise pan bagnat. Nor does it dry to a loofah-like texture as sandwiches can do over time, or need to be refrigerated for fear it will kill you if warm, as oysters can do over time.
And because picnics are notoriously weather-dependent events, it’s reassuring to know that you can devour a quiche, with fingers or from a plate, while sitting down or standing up – under a tree, if need be, as thunder and lightning rage overhead.
Now that we’re approaching peak picnic season – not too cold to consider dining outdoors, nor too hot, despite the occasional lightning strike – we should remind ourselves of wisdom gained over previous years.
Go easy on yourself and resolve to neither cook nor barbecue. Both strategies require the lugging of heavy stuff over difficult terrain (which includes car parks, sand dunes, sports ovals). You do not have three burly servants and a maid-in-waiting to carry everything to your preferred spot under that tree over there.
Of the foods that can be successfully prepared ahead, consider:
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Terry Durack has been reviewing restaurants and seeking out new food experiences for three decades. Author of six books and former critic for London’s Independent on Sunday and the Sydney Morning Herald, Terry was twice named Glenfiddich Restaurant Critic of The Year in the UK, and World Food Media’s Best Restaurant Critic. Australian-born and a resident of Sydney, he brings a unique perspective on the global food scene to his travel writing.
