Portable food, perfect for a picnic on the beach, in a park, in the wilderness or on the floor beside an open fire. Here are some of my favourite picnic recipes.
Chinese Red-Cooked Chicken Salad Red-cooking is a classic Cantonese technique of braising food in dark soy sauce and Shaoxing wine to give it a burgundy hue. Inspired by a recipe of Cheong Liew’s, I use those ingredients to marinate chicken before baking it. Cheong served a deep-fried version of this dish as part of Neddy’s […]
Potato Focaccia I love authentic focaccia made with a generous amount of olive oil. My recipe is inspired by Ligurian-born restaurateur, Lucio Galletto, who uses more water and oil in his recipe than many I’ve seen, which is what makes his focaccia so delicious. I love how versatile focaccia is and especially enjoy potato focaccia […]
Spungata (Ligurian Apricot Tart) This delicious fruit tart, called spungata in Liguria and spongata in neighbouring Emilia-Romagna, is similar to what other Italian regions call crostata. In Liguria it’s often given as a gift when visiting friends and family. Apricots are a common filling, but it’s also made with apples, pears and other fruits; the […]
Fresh Fruit with Spicy Thai Salt I was reminded of this classic Thai dish at Viand, when Annita Potter served a simple pre-dessert of pomelo segments alongside a little mound of ground salt, sugar, chilli and kaffir lime. I’ve bought sliced pineapple from Asian grocery stores with a little pod of the salt-sugar-chilli combo, but […]
Focaccia I love authentic focaccia made with a generous amount of olive oil and had such fun working on focaccia recipes for our Month on the Italian Riviera inspired by Lucio Galletto. Lucio uses more water and oil in his recipe than many I’ve seen and I think that’s what makes his focaccia so delicious. […]
Rice pudding is one of the most typical Portuguese desserts – and a great way to use some of the short-grained rice you have on hand for that other typical Portuguese dish, tomato rice! It always makes an appearance at celebrations, from birthdays to weddings and is usually decorated with a relevant motif sprinkled on […]
Fruit Leather Walnut Rolls Fruit leather, pestil in Turkish, is popular all over the Middle East and Eastern Europe. It’s fruit juice or pulp that’s been dried into chewy strips, originally to preserve excess summer fruit for winter. It’s pastel in Armenian, pastilos in Greek and is also known as bastik in some parts of […]
Pane Carasau with Rosemary I love Sardinia’s crisp flatbread, called carta di musica or, in dialect, pane carasau, especially the way chef Giovanni Pilu serves it, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and rosemary and crisped in the oven. Add a few olives, a chunk of Pecorino and your favourite aperitivo (here are mine) – and […]
Burratawith Tapenade I love stretched curd cheeses of every kind – including delicate, creamy burrata, the southern Italian cheese that’s a thin pouch of mozzarella filled with a rich blend of cream and fine strands of stringy fresh curd tied off with a knot. It makes a lovely presentation and, with a touch of tapenade […]
Masala Nuts These spicy salted nuts are a popular treat in India, especially during Diwali. Use any nuts you like, just one kind or a mixture, and mix up the spicing to suit your taste. You can also use rice flour if that’s what you have on hand instead of potato starch. Serve these nuts […]
