August 2013 fluentfriends newsletter - The Insider

The Great British Picnic

 Quintessentially British?

There’s nothing that says summertime quite like a British picnic. From scotch eggs, hams and sandwiches to strawberries and jellies, picnics provide the perfect opportunity to share food in the open air whilst enjoying the company of friends, a beautiful setting and the glorious British weather (uncharacteristically so this year).

But did you know that the origins of the British picnic are in fact French? Let’s find out more…

First making an appearance in 1692, in an edition of Tony Willis’ Origines de la Langue Française, the term picnic was used in France to describe a group of people dining in a restaurant who brought their own wine. The word pique-nique at this time painted a rather different picture to the picnic that we know and love today and there was a theory that the word was based on the verb piquer which means 'pick' or 'peck' with the rhyming nique perhaps meaning trifle.

With time, the picnic spread to Germany and Sweden and became known to be something of  ‘potluck, an entertainment at which each person contributed some dish to a common table for all to share’. And finally in 1748, the word picnic made its first appearance in British print when Gallicised Lord Chesterfield mentioned a picnic in a letter associating the term with card-playing, drinking and conversation.

Despite the late appearance of this linguistic term in the UK, the earliest picnics in Britain were in fact seen during medieval times when elaborate traditions of outdoor hunting feasts were enjoyed by the rich in the 14th century. It wasn’t until the Victorian era however, that picnicking really came into its own. It is during this time that we see picnics depicted in literature by Dickens, Trollope and Jane Austen who all introduced this form of social event into their fiction. Artworks of the period by Monet, Renoir and Cezanne were also inspired by the subject. It was during this era that the meaning of the word picnic really changes from ‘everyone bringing some food’ to ‘everyone eating out of doors’ with a casual atmosphere, no strict course menu and jovial company.

Nowadays, people continue to enjoy rustic picnic fayre such as pastries, hams and cured meats and while the picnic may not have its true roots in the UK, it is certainly a tradition that has become a favoured custom of the English summertime, come rain or shine. And with so much to celebrate this year - Murray’s Wimbledon victory earlier on in the year, the birth of future King George last month and the fantastic weather we’re enjoying this August - the old British picnic seems like the perfect activity for a perfect British summer, or maybe an Indian one?

Why not get some inspiration from your next picnic? We recommend:

Try out some of the Guardian’s picnic recipes>

Visit Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill, for the perfect location>

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