Best British "picnic snack" for international picnic?!

[titsmcgee]

Got a work event next week with international/global colleagues. Includes awkward "ice breaker" picnic. We have to take a picnic "snack" that represents our local culture (ie, British). It's got to be something that will survive a long flight (so tragically no scotch eggs or pork pies). What can I take?! Currently thinking Monster Munch, but please help!!

I'd go for a couple of those M&S mini bite tubs. Surely a picnic classic these days?

Plum or fruit bread? Jar of cucumber sandwich slices (you can buy them in ASDA)

OP you can freeze clotted cream, so if you want to take some you could take it frozen in an insulated lunch bag and it would stay cool for much longer.

Marmite and lettuce sandwiches. You'd just need to take the marmite and try to find bread that wasn't vile - pretty difficult in the US to be honest.

Or what about Pimms.

Seeing as food is so difficult, why not go for Pimms instead.

A selection of British cheeses? I have taken Stilton to the USA without any problem, except make sure you declare it at customs!

Apparently most Americans really aren't keen on dried fruit - they think fruit cake is pretty horrible, as are mince pies. It's obviously part of the northern European palate that we traditionaly like it - not having much sweet fruit aside from a very short berry season, if we wanted anything sweet in winter, it had to be dried or otherwise preserved. I wouldn't take anything with dried fruit in, TBH. However I read somewhere thay they are apparently fascinated by sausage rolls!

@LaMarschallin I just chortled aloud at the bus stop, surrounded by 15 plus soggy Croydonians.

Scones are a great idea but they go off really quickly so I’m not sure they would be very tasty two days later. How about some parkin or ginger cake that gets better as you keep it?

Seems like a really hard challenge because of the travelling. Will you be able to make something when you get there. 8 was thinking cucumber sandwiches and Victoria sponge. Cucumber sandwiches will be easy to make once you get there and if you chat make the cake you could buy one with a fairly long use by date.

Tunnocks tea cakes!!!!!

You can't take any meat in your personal luggage into the USA so, unfortunately, taking a pork pie or scotch egg would be against the law.

If you have the time and access to a kitchen while you're there, it's actually quite easy to knock up some Scotch eggs yourself. Here's a link to a recipe which also has US conversions (those pesky Yanks use "cups" instead of grams):-

honestcooking.com/cooking-like-heston-scotch-eggs/

Alternatively, how about a bit of a "ploughmans lunch"? Take some really nice British cheese (you're allowed to take cheese into the USA) and a jar of nice pickle and then you'll have to source the other ingredients locally.

Or how about some traditional baked goods. Depending on what you prefer maybe Chelsea buns or something like lardy cakes or dripping cakes?

That just reminded me, I grew up in the part of the country where dripping cakes are more common but since I've moved away I haven't had one in years - maybe need to rectify that at the weekend.

Tunnocks chocolate teacakes?

Flapjacks.
Salt and vinegar crisps.
You could be very Mumsnet and take Pom bears.

I'd go for something low effort like PG Tips or custard creams or crisps like you suggested. Having to run around the US sourcing bread etc to make little sandwiches seems a pain the arse.

I’d take an M&S Victoria sponge.

Yep - definitely Tunnocks choc tea cakes - if it’s Great Britain and not just England why not some of Scotland’s finest? (Can you tell I loves them?!!!)

Pork scratchings.

I don't 'like' them but they do seem to be a quintessentially British snack, and they don't require special treatment.

I think flapjack, fruitcake and shortbread would be your best bet for travelling, plus some decent teabags and pimms from duty free.

Americans generally don’t like fruit cakes, that’s true. You could do a ploughman’s lunch quite easily, take the Branson pickle with you (lots of people will tell you you can get Branson all over the place in the US, this is possibly true if you can go to a huge supermarket, but I haven’t seen it in the 10 months I’ve lived there). You can buy good cheese in any supermarket, don’t bother bringing it (in Boston at any rate, maybe not in small town Iowa). Pork scratchings are everywhere but they call them pork rinds, I think (I don’t eat them so I’m not sure if they’re the same). Salt and vinegar crisps are easy to find. A bottle of Pimms is a good idea (although it’s not unknown in the US it’s not that common, and seldom comes with the fruit etc that you would expect in the 🇬🇧). Squash is pretty much unknown so that would be a classic British picnic experience, especially black currant which doesn’t exist in the USA.

M&S do some loves tiny cakes which are perfect for tea.

Salt and vinegar crisps.

Eccles cakes!

Mini pork pies with branston chutney inside

I second Tunnocks Tea Cakes. You can take a load of them, they're light, no effort and Americans LOVE them, in my experience!