A culinary journey doesn't necessary mean you need to take a trip. It could also mean you remember a trip you took or it could mean you researching a cooking style that is different from your own. One example of this is the Shakespeare Festival Picnic.
All across America, Shakespeare Festivals have gain popularity. Most are outdoor theaters with areas for picnic before or during the performances. Two festivals that I attended in California have small cafes that provide picnic or deli style foods and drinks for those that don't want to carry their own picnic baskets. Foods like Panini and potato chips or Italian subs. However, the majority of festivals organizers like those in Delaware and Maryland will tell their audiences to bring their own baskets of goodies to enjoy. This presents an opportunity to explore delightful finger foods.
Having lived in Britain and attended Shakespearean plays in the theaters of the author's birth city of Stratford upon Avon and in London, I decided my picnic for a group of Shakespeare fans needed to be as English as the author. I began my culinary journey by remembering those trips, and the great British gardens and the wonderful eloquent meals I enjoyed. I began researching English picnic ideas and found that the perfect picnic was the English High Tea. As Alice Walker, another author put it - “Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.” Learning how the English hosts tea both indoors and out on their garden patios provided many delicious recipes for tea sandwiches and tarts.
The perfect picnic meal is a rare accomplishment; however, arranging a picnic of tea sandwiches that are ideal for transport, the picnic can only be successful. There are many variations of tea sandwiches, such as Boursin cheese spread with cucumber slices, smoked turkey breast, basil, and sun-dried tomatoes, or egg salad sandwiches, all with crust trimmed and cut into special shapes. With the tea sandwiches as the main entree, I needed to choose other menu items that would compliment. Items to include on a tea picnic menu should be grapes, apples, cheese, water crackers, and shortbread cookies or fruit tarts. Lastly, I wanted to pair the menu with a nice wine. Traditionally, an English tea has a black tea and sherry aperitif. However, since this menu was for a picnic dinner at a Shakespeare play, I wanted to include a chilled semi-sweet white wine.
If you are planning a picnic for a Shakespeare festival or any other festival where you want to tailgate or picnic, try out this menu. Get creative with your theme and most of -- enjoy!
Picnic Menu
- Brie and water crackers
- Grapes
- Curried Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches
- Spicy Chicken salad Tea Sandwiches
- Shortbread Cookies
- Strawberry Tarts
- Chilled Dry Riesling Wine
The Picnic Basket
- Salt and pepper
- Flatware - light sliver, never plastic
- Good plastic plates and cup or Tin
- Good plastic or silver wine glasses
- Tablecloth and napkin linens
- Pillows and a blanket
- Corkscrew
- Candles and matches - I have tea light lanterns that provides for a great romance
Curried Egg Salad Tea Sandwich
Ingredients
- 6 hardboiled eggs
- 1/3 cup mayonnaise
- ½ tsp curry powder
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- 12 slices of thin white bread, crust removed
- 1 tbsp chopped chives
Method
- Chop eggs into a small bowl, mast with a fork.
- Stir in mayonnaise and curry powder.
- Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Cut bread into shapes with cookie or biscuit cutters.
- Spread the bottom slices with the egg salad mixture.
- Dip sandwich edge in the chives.
