FROM PATCH TO PLATE: MATTHEW

MY ENGLISH HOME Matthew Fort FROM PATCH TO PLATE

The food writer and critic tells of his passion for picnics, the ingredients to pluck from the vegetable plot to savour for eating al fresco and the must-have elements to pack

What about lunch?” I said to my friend Stevie. “Lunch?” he said, looking puzzled. “Yes, lunch,” I said firmly. “A picnic lunch. On the river bank.” We were going trout fishing. Now, I don’t know about you, but fishing isn’t just about fishing. It’s also about lunch. A picnic in other words. Picnics are central to summer. They’re fun, feasts, celebrations and, frequently, triumphs of optimism over weather.

But there are picnics and there are picnics. There are rug-and-fingers-only picnics and folding-chairs-and-tablesnapkins-and-cutlery picnics. There are Glyndebourne-style picnics with their champagne, cold lobster and strawberries and cream trimmings, and coldsausagepork pieandmustardhardboiledeggcheeseand pickleandbottlesofdecentclaret picnics.

Then there are picnics to which modern technology, contemporary eating habits and greater knowledge have introduced a whole range of picnic foods and flavours at which our parents would have raised an eyebrow. Tomato and peach salad with tofu cream anyone? Books have been devoted to the topic (notably Max’s Picnic Book, Picnics by Claudia Roden and Picnic Crumbs by Anabel Loyd if you want to take your researches further).

On the whole, I’m of the rug-and-fingers coldsausageporkpieandmustardhardboiled eggcheeseandpickleandbottlesofdecentclaret school of picnics, although I’m not averse to a bit of knife and fork work. Salads are better eaten with a fork.

I start planning by peering out of the window to check on what I can pillage from my vegetable patch. At this time of year I’m spoiled for choice. There are carrots – James Scarlet Intermediate and Guérande – looking robust enough to be

“grated and mixed with sultanas, olive oil, honey, lemon juice, ginger, cinnamon, salt and pepper as Claudia Roden suggests in The Book of Middle Eastern Cookery. There are potatoes, too. Ratte, the waxy French variety, (Pink Fir Apple would do just as well) are very good for turning into a salad (mayo or vinaigrette). Courgettes, too, perfect for zucchine alla scapece – matchsticks of courgettes fried in olive oil, then cooled in a splash of vinegar with a touch of chilli and chopped mint. There’s a choice of beetroot as well – Cheltenham Green Top or Bull’s Blood – delicious grated raw, doused in mustardy vinaigrette and dusted with grated horseradish. Choice, choice, choice. No picnic is complete without a hardboiled egg in my book, which is just as well as hard-boiled egg goes very well with beetroot. (Should you have two hard-boiled eggs, can I suggest taking along a packet of pork scratchings, which are not only very beguiling in their own right, but when you’ve finished them, just pop a peeled hard-boiled egg into the bag, shake around, and you’ll find you egg has been cursed with the remaining scratching seasoning.) So that just leaves meat and fruit. Almost any cold meat will do, but the plainer the better in my view. Let the vegetables do the showing off. As I’ve said, I love a cold sausage and cold pork pie. Cold grouse, of course, after 12 August, would be a blessing, but failing that, cold guinea fowl makes for a more than halfway decent substitute.

About Matthew Best known as a judge on BBC2’s Great British Menu, Matthew is an award-winning food writer and critic. He was the Food & Drink Editor of The Guardian for 15 years and is the author of four books.

COLD SORREL AND CUCUMBER SOUP WITH HARD-BOILED EGGS

A versatile, refreshing little number for hot days, inside or out, and a useful way of using up surplus cucumbers and tail-end sorrel, Keep cool in a Thermos flask for picnics.

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs 1 small onion 1 cucumber 50g butter 200g sorrel 500ml vegetable or chicken stock 285ml sour cream

METHOD

• Hard boil the eggs and cool them in cold water. • Chop the onion finely. Peel and slice the cucumber. • Heat the butter in a saucepan until foaming. Add the onion and fry gently for five minutes. Add the sorrel and cook for roughly 30 seconds. Add the cucumber and the stock and cook gently for five minutes. • Whizz up the sorrel, cucumber and stock in a food processor or blender. • Cool. When cold, stir in the sour cream. Peel, chop and add the hard-boiled eggs. Chill. • Decant into a Thermos flask or straight to the plate. ■