The Perfect Picnic

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Perfect picnic food is simple, elegant, and delicious, based around much-loved classics. Hilda Leyel was extraordinarily before her time, influencing?generations of foodies with inventive recipes where retro meets modern, such as egg mayonnaise on crusty bread; watercress, beetroot and nasturtium salad; chicken and leek pie; and spiced plum cake and salted almonds. She championed local, seasonal ingredients like watercress and asparagus; she promoted traditional recipes from raised pies to strawberries and cream; and she set a benchmark of refinement with crab souffle and spaghetti and truffles. Take a warm summer's day, a secluded spot in the dappled shade, a blanket and a bottle of wine, friends and family, and a spread of delicious homemade food, and?it all adds up to?that timeless rustic idyll—the perfect?picnic. Includes U.S. measurements.

Hilda Leyel (1880–1957) was an expert cook and herbalist who?wrote numerous books about both subjects. With training in medicine and a lifelong interest in botany, she founded the Society of Herbalists and set up the Culpeper shops, both of which continue today.?