Posh picnic for an opera?

[ForeverAndEverCheese]

Some friends are very kindly taking me to one of those operas with a posh picnic slot in the middle - like Glyndebourne. I said I’d do the picnic!

Any ideas? Needs to be served cold and, if possible, made in advance. Very limited time on the day. I am gluten free and one other has a legume allergy.

I was thinking of doing salmon, with a potato salad and some sort of veg, but would like a piece of salmon rather than those individual slices bur could do that.

Olives. Cherry vine tomatoes. Travel well and adds colour
selection of mini cheeses as well as salmon
Are you doing some sort of pudding?
maybe fresh strawberries or other fruit?
washed and with mini tubs of clotted cream
perhaps mini shortbread and/or meringue to go with them

I’ve not had this item but I rate Cook stuff it’s always good imo

Although, actually, maybe fish isn’t such a good call as it will have to sit out of fhe fridge from 3ish to 6ish.

I’ve suddenly panicked about the fish. It will be out of the fridge and outside for about 3 hours. Do you think that will be OK?

Was thinking of watermelon, mint and feta salad to start as that adds a lot of colour. Or alongside?

If you have a cool bag and ice packs it should be fine?

Fish may get a bit smelly after a couple of hours - depends how good your cool box is. How about a quinoa salad with some cold roasted chicken? Or pasta salad made with GF pasta? Potato salad is always nice - I make one where you add some mango chutney and a touch of dill to the mayo.
Watermelon and feta cheese salad? Am sure that is a thing!
Hard cheeses would travel / keep better than soft.
Strawberries are always good, or maybe some cherries. Maybe some mini muffins?

And GF mini sausages? Always like a mini sausage!

I did it with the same friends once before and did a sort of ‘picky bits’ (sorry!) platter with cold meats, cheeses, sun dried tomatoes, olives etc. I was trying to think of something a bit different but I’m not sure now.

I won’t have much time in the morning as I have a hospital appointment.

if I did a fancy/proper coronation chicken, what would you serve it with?

My go-to posh picnic is chilled chicken curry, rice salad, mixed green salad, pink fizz and fresh fruit salad for dessert with clotted cream. The whole lot goes in a cold box with ice blocks. I put in baguettes and butter for bread-eaters.

Rice salad - brown rice with froz mixed veg stirred through while warm with a mixture of olive oil and lemon juice.

Chicken Caesar salad would work well, not too time consuming to prepare, you would need gluten free croutons and a gluten free dressing. It would travel well.

For a starter....I'd do something like melon wrapped in Parma ham (easy to prepare) or hoi-sin duck wraps (GF) with cucumber & spring onions, or vegetable sushi would be interesting. I'd buy the sushi ready prepared.

For the pudding I'd do tropical fruit salad, or pineapple and strawberries macerated in orange juice, or black cherry compote, all of which could be prepared the previous day. Some naice gluten free biscuits would be a good addition.

No to anything ‘mini’. The aim is for a generous quantity of a small number of good things.

Coronation chicken served on crisp lettuce with a selection of heritage vine tomatoes. Fresh zesty rice and bean salad. 2 big bags of kettle crisps, a tub of olives and a couple of decent sized cheeses to hack into. And a couple of sourdough loaves to rip apart.

Pretty, sturdy paper plates and napkins, wooden cutlery plus serving spoons and a sharp knife. Wet wipes, kitchen roll, rubbish bag. Plastic tumblers. Picnic blankets. Folding chairs.

Chilled sparking water, fizz and a robust red.

Strawberries and maybe individual Gu puddings or raspberry trifles. Sweets to pass around.

And a tablecloth for the table or to spread on the ground.

Apologies I missed the allergies, so skip any legumes in the salad, and take carb of your choice along with the bread.

Is it Waterperry you're going to??

Well, I’ve taken lots of ideas from here.

I made Coronation chicken (as per @TianasBayou), using the Gordon Ramsay recipe with fresh mango.

i’ve also made the Mediterranean rice, like @LoserWinnersuggested, using this recipe, but with added halloumi: https://www.recipetineats.com/wprm_print/mediterranean-brown-rice-salad

Ive made a potato salad (vinaigrette and herbs, not mayo)

I have some cheese so I guess I just need a crispy green salad now.

does it work? It’s all a bit disparate! It’s tomorrow afternoon so I have time to buy things. Just needed to get ahead.

Someone else is doing pudding. Phew!

Could you freeze the salmon and let it thaw in the cool bag. Would be lovely and cold for 3 hours