Bougie picnic: Up your al fresco game with quality bites and minimal fuss
Snack plates
Heart-shaped crackers, from Isle of Crackers
Forget balancing a charcuterie board on your blanket; this summer, it's all about snack plates, a more curated way to serve picky bites. Cheese is key: burrata, smoky Goudas, creamy blues. Pair them with fresh seasonal fruits. Figs, grapes, plums or ripe peaches with that oozy burrata.
Perelló olives, available from verafoods.ie
Toonsbridge burrata
Add posh, plump olives, fancy nuts like marcona almonds, crusty bread or gourmet crackers. Arrange on a big, cool plate in sections or clusters, mixing savoury and sweet. Drizzle with local honey or single-estate olive oil. Focus on texture and colour. Use Instagram for inspiration. It's meant to look effortless and chic, even if it has almost bankrupted you.
Toons Bridge Dairy Burrata
toonsbridgedairy.com
Isle of Crackers Heart-shaped crackers
instagram.com/isleofcrackers/
Perelló olives
verafoods.ie
Bagels
Galway Bay Bakery bagels
Bagels are back and perfect for picnics. Think proper chewy NYC-style bagels from local bakeries such as Galway Bay Bakery (which delivers nationwide) or Dublin's Fat Baby Bakes. For your schmear
(cream cheese), skip the usual Philadelphia and opt for something Irish instead. Foodies in the know will swap the smoked salmon for smoked rainbow trout – unless you can get hold of wild Irish salmon, that is.
Galway Bay Bakery Bagels
galwaybaybakery.ie/home/buy-bagels-online
Sally Barnes Wild Irish Salmon
woodcocksmokery.com
Killowen Cream Cheese
killowen.ie/great-taste-award-winners-2024
Crisps
Blanco Niño, corn tortilla chips from Co Tipperary
No matter how fancy you plan it, no picnic will ever be complete without crisps. A sandy feed of Tayto on the beach is what most of us were reared on, and a classic cheese and onion is, of course, still a perfectly appropriate picnic crisp, but these days, there are so many other exciting options to try. You'll never go wrong with O'Donnell's Sweet Chilli flavour, but a new favourite for me this year is their crinkly crisps, the Furrows Classic Prawn Cocktail. Keogh's Chorizo & Cherry Tomato goes very well with a few slices of cheese.
Chips and dips are a great idea. I love to pair Blanco Niño, corn tortilla chips made in Tipperary, with a delicious ranch dip. Generally, I've little time for a plain salted crisp, but when I'm feeling a bit extra, and want to serve up some sour cream and caviar with crisps, then the plainer the better.
Blanco Niño Creamy Jalapeño
blanco-nino.com
Dunnes Stores Simply Better Handmade Buttermilk Ranch Dip
Keogh's Irish Atlantic Sea Salt
keoghs.ie
Goatsbridge Trout Caviar
goatsbridgetrout.ie/products/trout-caviar
Spritz
Mixing a cocktail with Valentia Island Vermouth. Photograph: Joleen Cronin
For outdoor summery drinks, spritz is still where it's at, but skip the sticky Aperol and instead seek out the slick canned selection from Dublin Cocktail Lab. For 'swicy' (sweet and spicy) fans, try the Chilli Rita or Habanero & Lemongrass Spritz, with a no-alcohol version too. Purple Haze offers coconut and cardamom gin spritz with piña colada vibes. They also stock White Box cocktails – classics in cute cans.
Whiskey Hi-Ball, from Dublin Cocktail Lab
If you want to mix your own drinks, look out for Irish-made Valentia Island Vermouth. Poured over ice and topped off with Poacher's thyme tonic water and a slice of orange, this makes for an excellent, effervescent, relatively low-alcohol sip that's perfect for picnicking.
Dublin Cocktail Lab
dublincocktaillab.com
Valentia Island Vermouth
valentiaislandvermouth.ie
Poachers Tonic
poachersdrinks.com/classic-tonic
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