Thursday, May 27, 2010

Stages of a Picnic

I've decided to base by picnics on the stages of an Italian meal. I figure it's a good guideline since picnics are about several dishes, this sense of abundance and luxury. I've started devising a table to help me organise my thoughts around the idea.

Meal stage
Composition
Antipasto
Snacky bits that can either be eaten at the opening of the meal or any time from getting the basket to sitting to eat.
Primo
Sort of a light opener to the meal, like a cold soup such as Gazpacho, or a terrine.
Secondo
"second course", the main dish. I've been fascinated with cold savoury pies, which would fit in very well here.
Contorno
"side dish", may be a salad or cooked vegetables. A traditional menu features salad along with the main course. Easy for a picnic, since North Americans love their picnic salads. Or, also, a terrine here.
Formaggio e frutta
"cheese and fruits", the first dessert. Local cheeses may be part of the Antipasto orContorno as well. There are also my marinated chèvre balls! Ben made a good suggestion to add home-made crackers.
Dolce
"sweet", such as cakes and cookies
Caffè
I don't know yet if this is something I should include. I mean, I'd like to have wine or bubbly water or something, but coffee?
Digestivo
"digestives", liquors/liqueurs (grappa, amaro, limoncello, sambuca, nocino, sometimes referred to as ammazzacaffè ("coffee killer"). I need to find out about liquor permits. Is this even feasible for this kind of enterprise? There is also the possibility of non-alcoholic special drinks, like Rhubarb Water

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