Monday 18th June 2018 is International Picnic Day, a chance for all nature lovers to get out into the open air and celebrate eating al fresco. To mark this occasion, we’ve compiled a definitive ranking of our favourite picnic food, as well as a breakdown of the best packaging we have to offer to keep your picnic treats fresh and some recipe ideas you can try out yourself!
Drink
When eating al fresco, nothing is more suitable for packaging your drinks than our Glass Fresco(r) Bottles! They’re ideal for milkshakes, fruit juices and flavoured waters and it’s not hard to see why they’re one of our bestselling ranges. They come in sizes ranging from 200ml up to 1 litre, with the option to add a gold or silver twist lid to complete the look. You can buy in single quantities or per pallet, so they’re ideal for both home use and for selling your drinks to the mass market. We’ve found some tasty drinks recipes that you can put try out yourself and take to your next picnic (remember to bring a cool box for the milkshakes)!
We think that you just can’t beat putting fresh fruit into a milkshake, as it tastes so much better and more fresh than using artificial flavourings, which is why we think that this Fresh Strawberry Milkshake from My Recipes sounds delicious! All you need are fresh strawberries, vanilla ice-cream, vanilla extract and milk, then whip it all together in a blender, pour into your bottles, pop them into a cool box and away you go to your picnic with a tasty treat for adults and kids alike. Smoothies are also a great, slightly healthier picnic treat, such as this Sunshine Smoothie from BBC Good Food which contains 2 of your 5-a-day!
As well as soft drinks, a British picnic just isn’t complete without a little tipple, whether it be a nice bottle of red wine or refreshing bottles of beer or cider. If you’re a new brewer who wants to make the most of the recent good weather and increase in sales, then you need to take a look through our massive collection of glass beer and cider bottles! We’ve got them in all shapes and sizes; with sizes ranging from 200ml up to 500ml in a choice of clear or amber glass. You can even add crown caps! For wine, our single serving-sized 187ml Mini Bordeaux Glass Bottle is ideal.
Food
If you’re bringing a salad to your picnic this International Picnic Day, there’s a better way to eat it than serving it out of a big bowl onto paper plates, where a slight gust of wind can cause salad leaves to blow away! Why not pack your salads individually in a glass mason jar instead? Not only are they easier to eat out of than a flimsy paper plate, they also look stylish and you can create works of art using colourful layers of vegetables, just like the one below. By packing individual salads for each person, you can tailor them to each person’s favourite vegetables and cut down on single use plates by using recyclable and reusable jars. Check out our vast collection of glass jars suitable for salads by clicking right here.
Jam, honey, chutney, hummus, peanut butter, lemon curd, salsa… all of these delicious picnic spreads and dips need to be packaged in something, and that something is a preserve jar. Our glass preserve jars offer brands a cost effective way to retail their products to the mass market, with our collection ranging in sizes from 190ml to half a gallon! If you’re a home cook, then these jars are perfect for storing your homemade dips and preserves. Why not try out this easy hummus recipe from Jamie Oliver? It’s the best thing to dip your breadsticks and carrot sticks into, and best of all, the chickpeas in hummus are extremely good for you!
International Picnic Day: The Definitive Picnic Food Ranking
Which classic picnic food will come out on top in our rankings?
15. Egg and Cress Sandwiches
If there’s a worse sandwich, then we’ve not heard of it. Usually put into lunch boxes by mums who just want their kids to get some greenery. The cress always get stuck in your teeth and egg should never be the main ingredient in a sandwich!
14. Pickled Eggs
Vinegary boiled eggs… no thanks.
13. Pasta Salad
Whilst a pasta salad with mayonnaise and spring onions is nice enough, it’s mainly just there to fill you up. A forgettable part of a picnic.
12. Quiche
We think that quiche is best served warm, so serving it cold in a field does nothing for us.
11. Jam Sandwiches
There’s nothing wrong with the taste of a jam sandwich, in fact it is wonderful. It is however unacceptable to be seen eating one in public above the age of about 10.
10. Pickled Onions
Whilst many people love pickled onions by themselves, adding them to a sausage sandwich takes it to another level.
9. Pork Pies
The concept of a pork pie is delicious; pork wrapped in pastry, but the constant lumps of hardened jelly fat are somewhat off-putting…
8. Coronation Chicken
The ultimate dish of British multiculturalism is chicken covered with mayonnaise and curry powder! Originally created to celebrate the Queen’s coronation in 1953, it’s now a staple of British sandwich fillings.
7. Bakewell Tarts
A favourite of grandmothers everywhere! Everyone has a different way of eating them, whether it’s picking off the glacé cherry first, nibbling around the crust or just biting straight in, but we all agree that they are yummy.
6. Flapjacks
The best flapjacks are those that are home baked by your mum, but the shop-bought ones are pretty good too. Squidgy, oaty, sweet goodness!
5. Chicken Drumsticks
Anything you can eat using your hands is alright by us. Chicken drumsticks come in many different flavours as well, from jerk chicken to smoky barbecue – so there’s a type of chicken drumstick for everybody (except vegetarians).
4. Cocktail Sausages
Usually seen on buffet platters at children’s parties and weddings, the humble cocktail sausage is a true joy. They are addictive though, and before you know it, you’ve probably eaten close to an entire pack by yourself.
3. Brownies
Is there anything more delicious than a slightly warm, gooey chocolate brownie? Whilst you can’t get them to stay too warm as part of picnic, they taste just as good cold, especially when they get an almost fudge-like texture.
2. Sausage Rolls
The traditional British sausage roll is often sneered at by food snobs, but we all know that it is one of the finest creations of this country. Whilst recent year have seen a surge in ‘posh’ sausage rolls from artisan bakeries, we all know that the best ones are those that have a 70:30 filling ratio of rusk to meat, like those from a certain high street chain bakery…
1. Scotch Eggs
Let’s be honest, the Scotch Egg is a culinary wonder. On paper, a boiled egg wrapped in sausage meat and breadcrumbs sounds a bit mental, but it just works! They are top of our list due to the fact that you can get them in bitesize and gigantic forms, as well as being the perfect pairing to a pint!
Disagree with our rankings? Then feel free to continue the argument in the comments!