Originally published in 1981, as Picnic this revised and expanded edition is a celebration of the tradition of preparing and savouring meals in the open. It reveals a world of simply prepared and delicious foods and stimulates the imagination with tales from far and near in Claudia Roden's elegant, discursive style. It offers the conventional and the exotic: from the street food of the Middle East and Mediterranean, the festivals of the high grassy plains of Mexico to the English traditions of picnicing in parks, at Glyndebourne and shooting-lunches on the moors. This is a book for any season and any climate. It is a book to cook from and a book to read and the re-issue of this classic will be welcomed by all lovers of Claudia Roden's writings.