SUMMER FOOD:A PICNIC IS like any meal. It's not the accessories that matter. Gingham tablecloths and wicker baskets notwithstanding, if it involves ham rolls then it's a school lunch with frills, writes Catherine Cleary.
Alan Foley and Alain Bras are two men who want to bring glamour back into eating outdoors at a music festival. The chef and the sommelier will be providing the picnics at Ireland's answer to Glyndebourne, the Opera in the Gardens Festival at Borris House in Borris, Co Carlow, next month.
Foley, head chef at the newly-opened Stephouse Hotel in Borris, believes in bringing good food to the picnic blanket. "The secret of a successful picnic is its simplicity, careful planning and packing," he says. "Try not to be too ambitious and remember that dishes that work at home are usually not going to work al fresco."
He recommends the best first step for a great picnic is a trip to the local farmers' market to buy a basket of Irish cheeses, good bread, and seasonal fruit and vegetables. His picnic menus involve mouthwatering ingredients and just a bit of preparation in advance.
Foley has worked at the Sheen Falls Hotel in Kenmare, was a chef at Peacock Alley, and up until recently, cooked at Ross Lewis's stellar restaurant, Chapter One. In Kenmare he met Alain Bras, a French man who has been living in Ireland for 29 years. Bras will be marrying his Irish fiancée, Christine Arthur in September, and they will have their wedding party at the Stephouse Hotel.
Bras has just opened the Kenmare School of Wine, after teaching night classes in wine at the University of Limerick and lecturing for the Wine Board. His advice on picnic wine? Make it light, both in alcohol content and flavour. "Go for a Sauvignon Blanc or a Touraine or Muscadet or an unwooded Chablis. There is a lovely fresh crisp wine from a region called Rueda in Spain. In Italy go for Verdicchio. Avoid wines that are heavy in oak and high in alcohol." His favourite rosé comes from Provence. The Mas Daumas Gassac from the Languedoc is a picnic favourite. "It's inexpensive and very quaffable." For a picnic mineral water he would choose San Pellegrino.
And to avoid the warm wine experience? "Put the bottle into a ice bucket to bring the temperature right down, then wrap it in a thick coat of newspaper." Freeze some litre-sized lemonade bottles full of water as giant ice packs to keep the temperature down.
Alan Foley suggests lobster for a posh summer outing
To cook your lobster: Get your fishmonger to take off the claws. Allow 10 minutes for each 1lb of lobster and a further three to four minutes for the claws. Bring a pot of water or a steamer to the boil and add in the claws. Three minutes later add the tail, tying a knife to its underside if you don't want it to curl. After 10 minutes remove the lobster from the water and crack the shell in your hand, trying not to break up the flesh as you remove it. Use the back of a heavy knife to crack the claws and ease out the transparent bone in the middle. Put the lobster meat into the fridge.
Mango mayonnaise:
4 egg yolks
1tsp honey
2tsp Dijon mustard
700ml of good olive oil
dash of Worcester sauce
15ml of sherry vinegar
salt and pepper
100ml mayonnaise
100ml crème fraiche
2 ripe organic mangoes
15g grated fresh ginger
50g capers roughly chopped juice of a quarter of a lemon
In a blender mix the egg yolks, mustard and honey. Add the sherry vinegar and Worcester sauce to emulsify the liquid. Then slowly drizzle a trace of oil into the mix and keep adding while mixing, slowly, until it is a thick, creamy mayonnaise.
Then take 100ml of mayonnaise and mix with 100ml of crème fraiche. Puree one of the mangoes and dice the other into small chunks. Stir the pureed and diced mango into the mayo and crème fraiche mixture, and add the capers, grated ginger and lemon juice. Season with salt and cracked black pepper.
www.stephousehotel.ie; www.alainbras.com.
Opera In the Gardens takes place at Borris House, Borris Co Carlow on July 4th-6th. See www.blackstairsopera.com. Tickets cost from €80. Family tickets for the matinee picnic event Prams & Proms, on Sunday, July 6th, cost €20.