The picnic seems as quintessentially British as queuing and discussing the weather. Come rain or shine, hikes in the countryside go hand in hand with picnics – from squashed clingfilm-wrapped sandwiches eaten in the car to gourmet hampers at posh outdoor events. Picnicking features in some of the greatest British literature from Wind in the Willows to Women in Love by D H Lawrence. But, what if I told you that the treasured picnic isn’t actually a British invention and was in fact concocted by the French, says British food writer Ally Mitchell.
The French are notorious trendsetters in the worlds of fashion and food, but it looks like they have a claim on the world of picnicking, too. Believe me, this is one to gnash our teeth about. Little do they know how treasured this outdoor dining activity is to Brits, along with the obligatory pork pies and crumbly scotch eggs – for the uninitiated, this favourite British snack is a boiled egg, wrapped in sausage meat, coated in breadcrumbs and either deep fried or baked.
Le Picnic!
The term “picnic” is clearly a direct anglicism of the French “pique-nique” – however, this French word has unknown origins. “Piquer” means “to peck” or “to bite” and “nique” – according to various sources – means “a small amount” or “nothing whatsoever” (and is also a slang swear word). Some historians say that there is evidence that picnics were popular in France as early as the 13th century when nobles would take food with them on hunts. That said, “pique-nique” was first used in the seventeenth century in a burlesque comedy in which the protagonist, Pique Nique, was an outrageous glutton. “Pique-niques” in France in those days were all the vogue for members of the high society, always held indoors, included entertainment and required guests to contribute dishes, a sort of gourmet French potluck.
Picnics grew in popularity in the eighteenth century and were regarded as a feature of salon life in the homes of the wealthy, a place for intellectual conversations and refinement. However, France was on the precipice of change. We have the French Revolution to thank for modern French society and politics, and also for the picnics we know and love.
The picque-nique becomes the picnic!
Aristocratic picnickers were in line for the guillotine, and many fled to Britain. Trying to maintain their upper-crust ways of life, they introduced pique-niques to their adopted country. This practice was embraced with enthusiasm, in particular by a group of 200 wealthy Francophiles – including, rumour has it, the Prince of Wales – and in 1801 the “Pic Nic Society” was formed. In hired rooms in London, wild gatherings were held where admittance cost a dish and six bottles of wine per person. The Pic Nic was accompanied by general singing, dancing, gambling, risqué behaviour and an amateur play. Deeming it a risk to local West End profits, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, owner of London’s Drury Lane, petitioned for the Pic Nic Society to be shut down as a “threat to morality”.
Within a few decades, picnics emerged unscathed from the elite’s hedonism. And they moved outdoors, a practice shared in the journals of Dorothy Wordsworth (1800) and in Jane Austen’s Emma (1816). During this era of Romanticism, escaping to the country was at the height of fashion. Gone were the picnicking dances and gambling, instead food became the focus.
In France however, there was resistance to accept the new fad of outdoor dining as it was associated with the frivolous fêtes champêtres – garden parties – of the pre-Revolution aristocracy. Lavish outdoor luncheons had been routinely enjoyed by courtiers at Versailles, particularly by Marie Antoinette in her own on-site fully-functioning fake village, Hameau de la Reine, with its working farm and dairy. Eventually though the reluctance was overcome, and the trend caught on in France too.
The picnic goes posh!
Meanwhile, in Britain, picnics had become social occasions of high status. Mrs Beeton, one of the earliest celebrity British cookbook writers, included a chapter on picnic catering for 40 guests in her best-selling “Book of Household Management”. Her recommendations included ribs and shoulders of lamb, roast ducks and fowls, pies, a calf’s head, and six lobsters. Plenty of cakes and biscuits were listed to be served along with tea.
After the Bank Holiday Act of 1871 in the UK, the improved transportation links included “picnic trains” which carried working class passengers to the country. Picnics were no longer exclusive and became a distinct component of city-dwellers’ daytrips.
Another French revitalised invention to aid picnicking was the hamper. The “hanapier”, a goblet case (in days of old travellers took their own dishes and cups with them), was first introduced to Britain by the Norman invader, William the Conqueror. Over centuries, the cases morphed into refreshment baskets for travellers, and by the nineteenth century, Fortnum & Mason of London had the monopoly on ready-packed picnic hampers.
And it may surprise you to know that it was actually this luxury department store that invented the scotch egg as a snack for travellers in 1738. The pique-nique or picnic, is, it could be argued, a testament of what Brits can shape out of French inventions, even if it comes with our worryingly well-preserved scotch egg!
How to make a typical French pique-nique
A baguette fresh from a boulangerie is of course de rigeur!
Charcuterie – cured meats, ham, saucisson, and paté.
Cornichons – the little crunchy gherkins
Pan Bagnat – a southern French speciality. You take a large round loaf (a boule), Cut the top off and scoop out the inside, then fill it with layers of your favourite things – olives, herbs, salad, sliced tomatoes, roasted red pepper, cheese, cold meat, drizzle some olive oil and season the layers, put the lid back on – and it’s ready to eat!
Quiche Lorraine – a cheesy tart you can eat hot or cold.
Cheese – blue, creamy, goats’ milk, dry, crumbly, cows’ milk, brebis (sheep milk), slathered in herbs, edible flowers, truffled… so much choice!
In cooler months – raclette is popular, melted cheese scraped onto a slice of baguette!
Cake – from a patisserie or maybe a lemon tart or tarte tatin – perfect for sharing.
Spread out a red and white check tablecloth, place your picnic food on the cloth, Frenchify it by adding some fresh fruit, a bottle of wine and some glasses, a few sprigs of wildflowers – and there you have it – the perfect French pique-nique!
Ally Mitchell is a blogger and freelance writer, specialising in food and recipes. Ally left the UK to live in Toulouse in 2021 and now writes about her new life in France on her food blog NigellaEatsEverything.
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