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The beauty of The Big Lunch is that anyone can get involved and that is why The Big Lunch asked the nation 'what will you bring to the table?'
Whether it was simply turning up with a pot of coleslaw, or the tables and chairs for people to sit on, whatever people brought was in the spirit of forging long lasting relationships within their community.
We've collected a few answers from friends of The Big Jubilee Lunch- one for each year of the Queen's reign!
I shall be taking parmesan cheese wafers: parmesan grated and put in
small heaps on a baking tray and put in a hot oven until they melt: then
withdrawn and left to cool and harden. I may stand by a table in the Big Jubilee
Lunch and eat them all myself xxx
I will be bringing my baby daughter Clemency on one arm
and a basket of goodies on the other. Clemency will bring, as only a baby can,
innocence, hope, love and laughter. I will add some special homemade flapjacks,
chocolate laden brownies and perhaps a strawberry or three. This is a time for
giving; sharing and taking delight in the old fashioned values it is so easy to
lose sight of in the maelstrom that is modern life. The Big Lunch is a time for
remembering all that is good about Britain, our community and our lives.
For the annual community party in our street in Kentish Town in September
I will make my usual big paella. But for this June's Big Jubilee Lunch I will be
pleased to offer a jar of the special Diamond Jubilee Marmalade which I made
earlier this year, when the Seville oranges were in season - it has peel cut in
the shape of a crown!
What will I bring? I’ll be bringing my 2 children, my wife, my dogs and
the whole village together for a BBQ down at the rugby club. There’ll be
everything from rugby balls to crème brûlée to fine Gloucestershire ale and I
for one can’t wait!
You ask me what I bring. I bring the same as you – myself. I pledge
myself to be here, as you do, so that together we can make memories of a day we
shall never forget. An outstretched hand and a smile of welcome, a thirst and a
hunger to be part of the throng, laughing and chattering with excitement,
singing with gusto - we are a community, a neighbourhood.
What I’d bring is a bunch of dice and we’d teach everybody how to play a
wonderful game called Perudo. Perudo is played in the bars and cafes of Peru and
it’s a wonderful way to finish off a lunch and to make sure everybody has a
great time.
The Big Lunch needs my Big Nutty Mango Salad with something for everyone.
Herby rice for Mrs B at 36, who has more kids than the old woman in a shoe,
coconut for Bob at number 4 who I am sure is rummaging through my recycling, and
fruity bits for the chap on the corner who lost his wife and needs a little
sunshine in his life, from a neighbour who meant to say hello but didn't. Let's
eat, let's chat, let's say hello next time we pass.
I will be up in Yorkshire with my old friends Kathy and Christa - the
three of us make up Richard Whiteley's Quality Birds or QBs as he preferred to
call us. So we will be bringing lots and lots of laughter to the Yorkshire
table, usually so much that we too exhausted to eat!! Nobody lets me cook, for
reasons best known to my smoke alarm, so I'll be helping a lot - I'm very good
at laying tables, serving and clearing away, in other words I will be head
waitress and bottle washer and happy to be so. Bring on the lunch.
I would bring my pineapple and sausage surprise because the Monarch
always enjoys this when she comes to my place. Sadly I won't be in England for
the diamond jubilee because my sense of community is so strong I will be doing
my farewell show in Australia, celebrating my own diamante jubilee. However I am
contributing a set of tasteful dinner mats portraying Australian marsupials,
painted by deviated septum victims in honour of my favourite charity. When will
I stop giving?
For me the big lunch is a rare opportunity to gather with and celebrate
neighbours, the people from up and down the lane of all different types who are
thrown together to create a community, it is about watching smiles exchanged,
kids playing tag and sharing hiding places, grinning men with a beer in one hand
and a charred sausage in the other, women with plumptious coffee cakes,
cardigans pulled around shoulders as it gets chilly. It is about taking time out
from the inane rush to stop together and feel good about being us here and now.
As I have been collecting Coronation Chairs for many years now, I will
get them all out and set them round the table. They are very comfortable as they
were designed for sitting on in uncomfortable clothes for long hours in
Westminster Abbey. This will be my stylish contribution.
What would I bring to the table? I would bring a Diamond Jubilee mug for
every child. Giving school children celebratory mugs was a wonderful tradition
that has slightly fallen by the wayside in recent times. I think it last
happened at the Queen's coronation in 1953. We should revive it - it would be a
great reminder of what is going to be a great celebration, and would be
something which could be handed down through the years.
I know exactly what I would like to bring to the table. If the job hasn't
already been taken (!) Can I do the barbecue? The moment food moves outside, it
oddly becomes a bloke’s job to cook it and our house is no different. However
I'd like to think I've progressed beyond charcoal sausages and smouldering
burgers. I've cooked for large parties so I think I'm up to the task. I'm also
at my happiest surrounded by family and friends, cooking for a grand
occasion!
Seeing as we'd probably have our Big Jubilee Lunch outside and this is
good old Blighty I'd have to bring a few outdoor gas heaters so we could all
mingle through the night. I don't get much time to spend with my neighbours so
if I'm making the effort for one day, I'd make sure it lasts... Of course I'd
have to bring food because every time I bump into Helen and James from down the
road, they tell me there still waiting to taste a MasterChef dish. Let's not
forget the kids though, they're the future of our community so I'm thinking a
bouncy castle would keep them happy (and quiet). So as long as I keep the food
and neighbours warm and air in the bouncy castle, we're all in for a great
time.
I bring to the Big Lunch optimism and hope, happiness and laughter,
positivity and surprise, generosity and care; all the ingredients that we
sometimes forget to add to our daily life. It's a chance to hug a neighbour and
get back to the roots of community.
I've never been to a Big Lunch in the street but it is one of those must
do before you die things for me. I'd love to do the cooking for everyone and
this is what it would be in early summer in Cornwall: a crab salad with
mayonnaise made with the oil from the rape seed fields around Padstow then our
Newlyn fish pie, fresh from the market that morning and strawberries, meringues
and cream and to drink, Bob Lindo’s wonderful sparkling Pinot Noir, all from
Cornwall to celebrate our Queen’s reign.
I shall be bringing a big bunch of carrots to the lunch. Why? Because
there is nothing tastier than a raw carrot. Most of it is water, of course, so
it's refreshing and low on calories. A carrot is rich in vitamins - A, B, C, D,
E - and all sorts of marvellous mineral salts and essential oils, carbohydrates
and nitrogenous composites. It's nourishment that gives you a tan. (I think Tony
Blair and Dale Winton must eat little else.) Carrots are fun to look at, good to
eat and they are USEFUL. If the Big Lunch goes on until after dark and the fuses
blow, you won't need to worry. You'll be able to see in the dark.
I have always been a fan of the pork pie. Not just any old pork pie -
like that dreadful sort with damp and greying pastry encasing damp and greying
meat and wrapped in cellophane - but freshly baked pork pies from a pork butcher
with liquid jelly that can be drunk from the hole in the top of the crispy,
golden, glazed pastry. I have always vowed to make one of these 'raised' pies
myself, and the Diamond Jubilee should give me the inspiration to do it. My
mouth is watering already - God Save the Queen - and the home-baked pork pie!
We will be bringing as many people as we can to our garden for lunch in
the marquee which hosts our son Merlin's wedding to Lizzie the day before. So, a
wedding lunch of love and laughter, all our friends, a celebration of Louella's
father's 92nd birthday, and a heartfelt prayer for all our troops in Afghanistan
where Merlin has survived three tours and his regiment is at the moment. Long
live the Queen!
I'd bring humour to the table. My every memory of happy coming together
around the dinner table have involved laughter, jokes told in English, Scots and
Punjabi, a veritable cross cultural compendium of comedy. And I find laughter
distracts from my substandard cooking.
I will bring some French sticks, a bowl of steak tartar and to wash it
down a crate of vintage sparkling water. However raw meat may not be everyone’s
idea of a meal so I’ll join the big lunch but I might just be eating on my own
although I’m prepared to offer anyone a morsel willing to try it.
I will bring rice and peas and jerk chicken (spicy , but not too hot –
only a hint of scotch bonnet peppers, lots of allspice, chunks of ginger, onion,
garlic and tomato on chicken thighs marinated for a couple of days). Moreish
party food to remind me of the three weeks I spent with the Queen and Duke
touring her Caribbean realms on Britannia, when I saw what this astonishingly
dedicated woman really means to people worldwide, the Queen of Jamaica. Her arm
was in a sling because she’d fallen from a horse ... but I never saw a trace of
sweat as they seemed to enjoy six busy engagements a day. Last month I reminded
her of the trip. “Oh yes” she said, with that big smile. One Love. Let’s get
together and feel alright.
We will be bringing, family, good friends, food and fun to the table on
Sunday 3 June 2012 and hoping to create happy memories to cherish for years to
come.
I should definitely bring plenty of wine to share. I wonder if that's
still allowed. Would I be stopped at the first string of bunting and urged
sternly to drink responsibly and consider the health of unborn children before
indulging in a merry quaff? Well I'm not pregnant and I like to think I can act
responsibly without being told to. So I shall bring a bottle anyway and raise a
glass to the organisers of the Big Jubilee Lunch. For what better way could
there be of celebrating our great British community, its splendid history and
it's exciting, ever evolving present than by meeting friends and neighbours over
a good long lunch! Cheers!
I am going to bring to the table a sense and feeling of community spirit.
I will make sure that we all have fun and get to know each other by finding out
everybody's names and not letting anyone feel left out. My ideal dream is that
as well as all the lovely food people have supplied together, we will have a
great sing song, plenty of laughter and end up doing a conga down the street.
I shall bring to the table a china teacup bought in 1977 with a picture
of the Queen on it. That year I was a truculent twelve; she had already been on
the throne for 25 years. At the time I didn't see the point of being dragged up
to the Mall by my parents to wave to the Queen. This year I will be taking my
own daughter to do the same. And when it comes to the lunch, I will use that
souvenir cup and think with gratitude of her Majesty's many years of
service.
I love inspiring children to have confidence in themselves, to hold up
their heads and smile, because winners smile. To consider the feelings of
others, not bully or be hateful causing untold anguish to those who are
vulnerable. To find contentment in their hearts and not to be jealous or envious
of what other people have in this materialistic world, but to be content and
satisfied with what they have because the more content a person is the more they
will receive. So I’ll be bringing all this wrapped up in moral courage to help
them practice the above. Along with slices of tantalisingly rich Caribbean fruit
cake made to my beloved late mother’s recipe…… Once you have tasted it you know
you’ve lived!
I'm lucky enough to have a teapot that is meant to service a small
regiment of soldiers, it’s a huge two handed beauty that would make the hearts
of many a WI lady flutter. I'll arrive as a one man cream tea, copious quantity
of scones, jam made from local strawberries, local clotted cream, tea, milk and
sugar. Totally British and bound to cause an argument - what goes on first the
jam or the cream....
I can't cook, but hopefully the sun will shine down on us that day and I
will bring to the table the best barbecue ever using my expert skills with my
tongs, inviting those close to me to eat, drink and celebrate this huge occasion
with excellent company in the form of my family and best friends.
What will I bring? Well, first of all, I will bring chocolate. No meal is
truly fulfilling without it. Next I will bring napkins since, with the onset of
deteriorating memory, and menomiddleage, I seem to have become a major dribbler,
plus, I like to put all crumbs to good use as between-course snacks. Next, I
will bring chocolate, since I love it so much. Finally, I will bring chocolate
although if I am honest, I am unlikely to be sharing it. Oh, and as an
afterthought, I will, of course, be bringing chocolate. Yes. That's right
What I would bring to the table would be a table. A round table, so we'd
all have to face our neighbours, lost friends and enemies, not just look into
the eyes of those closest to us.
I bring to the Big Lunch a prayer of gratitude for all the incredible
abundance on our table and the friendship of our neighbours and community. I
would ask everyone at the table – young and old, of all backgrounds, religions
and cultures – to add their personal gift of a prayer to the gathering so before
we dig in to our delicious food we connect at a deeper level of love, harmony
and peace.
I would bring to the table a bottle of Newcastle Brown!
I love the idea of the Big Jubilee Lunch and everyone getting together to
celebrate in such a wonderful way. Just like Coronation Street every street and
neighbourhood across the UK can feel part of the occasion. Community spirit,
laughter, goodwill and togetherness mean so much. We’ve had some amazing parties
over the years on the cobbles and we’ll be having our own street party to
coincide with the nation’s celebrations. Not surprisingly, I’d bring Betty’s
famous hot pot to the table! There’s no party without Betty’s famous recipe and
there’s a veggie version too! It’s hearty, sustaining and brings a smile to your
face when you recall its lovely namesake, Betty Driver.
I would love to bring my nana’s chicken soup to the table! It’s the
happiest food there is and there’s always enough for the whole family in fact
the whole community hahaha! No one ever goes hungry with nana’s special soup!
The perfect wholesome food for a street party as well just in case the weather
isn’t gleaming sun , (which I’m sure it will be) this soup will not just fill a
whole in the tummy but warm you right up from the inside out! I think I might
have a problem with sharing it though as my mouth is watering just as I write
this hehehe!
I'll bring games and fun! Parties need lots of both!
Wallace and Gromit would have to reinforce their table first, before they
bring an extra-large portion of their favourite crackers and cheese to share at
their Big Lunch, all washed down with lashings of tea. Smashing!
I would bring some platters of health and well-being to the table! Made
up of a dash of healthy food, a splash of family physical activity, a sprinkling
of fun, then put on a gentle slow simmer which makes for a delicious happy
lifestyle for all!
My favourite part of a meal is pudding so I'd bring that for my Big
Lunch. Despite having lots of kids, I'm afraid my pudding is for adults only.
It's a fresh double espresso with a scoop of proper vanilla ice cream, the stuff
where you can see flakes of real vanilla pod. I can't claim it as my own
invention - it's called an "Affogado" and is a simple Italian dessert. I'm quite
retro when it comes to coffee too. I'd set up a stall using the old-fashioned
stove-top coffee maker like the kind you see in Spain.
We’re going to be having a Big Jubilee Lunch street party and we’re going
to have a huge cake, with everything in it, lots of rum and raisins and we’re
going to be dancing to the Calypso all day!
For the Big Jubilee Lunch I’d bring music to the table, obviously… Yes
I'll bring the singing. I’ll get everybody in a singsong, I’d research the songs
that were current when The Queen was crowned and I think we’ll have a musical
tribute to the time of her coronation, all those wonderful old songs. Vera Lynn,
Rodgers & Hammerstein, a piano in the street like we used to when I was a
kid and we’ll have the most wonderful singsong.
I would bring a large groaning platter of Scottish langoustine, the
greatest of crustaceans. And on the side, I’d have a big bowl of garlic butter,
some Vietnamese dipping sauce and a tub of my special cocktail sauce. It’s a
combination of mayo, ketchup, crème fraiche, cayenne pepper, whisky, lemon juice
and seasoning – sort of posh Scottish Marie Rose, and de-licious with fresh
langoustine. I’d supply a load of those bamboo kebab sticks and shellfish
crackers, too, for fiddling the last lovely succulent morsels out of the shells.
Oh, and napkins. And I’d ask my wife very nicely if she could pick a bowl of
salad leaves from her garden for everyone.'
My culinary skills are somewhat lacking, so for the Big Lunch I would be
the first one to shout 'Takeaway?' through my neighbour's letterboxes, happily
collecting their orders and phoning it through: "Hello. We'll need 450 pizzas
please. I'm afraid they're all different toppings. Have you got a pen?" I think
The Queen would approve, as I have it on good authority that she likes nothing
more than to kick back with a takeaway prawn chow mein (which she eats off a
1977 Silver Jubilee commemorative plate) and a box set of The Wire. Her Majesty
is currently on Season 3.
As the Big Lunch is happening during Springwatch, I would bring lunch for
our feathered friends! A few big bird feeders and fat balls carved into jubilee
crowns and hang them on trees in the street for all the community to enjoy. I'd
bring a few pairs of binoculars and some bird books so we could share our
laughter and song with the beautiful chatterings of nature.
I would bring Royal Pots de Crème and meringues. For six you need three
eggs in all – two yolks for the pot au chocolate and three whites for the
meringues - and the trick here is to leave them in the oven overnight when
cooked. It takes me ten minutes total to prepare both puddings and they are a
delight. Double or treble the recipe and those in your corner of the Big Jubilee
Lunch table will have an extra reason to celebrate!
Anyone who knows me will know that I love any excuse for a get together
with family, friends and food. So The Big Lunch is right up my street! My
lifestyle means I never have enough time for family and friends so that's why
when I can I go for it big time - this would be a great opportunity to pull
together all those that are fed up of my excuses (usually work) and the
neighbours I run past waving too when trying to get a train or meet an
appointment. If I could, I would guarantee sunshine - must be my Caribbean
heritage! Food wise - my ex-boyfriend was a great cook and his speciality was
seasoned Tiger Prawns soaked in coconut rum. Divine! We are still friends so he
would share the recipe. I have a thing for Beetroot, goats’ cheese and pine nut
salad so willing to share that with anyone who fancies it - and carrot juice.
Let's not forget desert - Popkakery seem to be the new cupcakes - (cakes on
lollipop sticks in fancy flavours and designs) - great for sharing. To top it
off - Massive speakers in the streets blasting out the new Bob Marley film
soundtrack! Wicked!
My Big Jubilee Lunch will involve over 100 kids so we are doing retro
kids food, jelly and certainly trifle will be on the menu and I am hoping to get
hold of some good corned beef and make corned beef and salad cream sandwiches.
There may also be some ham with pineapple. The kids will be very bemused I am
sure!
I shall be taking my very favourite blend of fair trade coffee. Now this
is not ordinary coffee and I shall bring my special coffee grinder and serve to
order! I am quite a proficient Barista and will enjoy taking orders for whatever
coffee the guests would like and make a special delivery to neighbours who can't
make the meal itself.
I would bring a camera to film my Big Lunch event because time never
stands still and memories fade but if you've recorded the moment on video or in
a photograph, memories can come alive again and bring a smile to the face
forever! Priceless!
Let's face it Britain is a nation that lunches...It's enshrined in our
history, in who we are and if we had a Constitution we would be constitutionally
required to lunch with family and friends a lot. So it's natural to want to wish
Her Majesty well through the medium of lunch. And whatever you do FORGET your Ps
and Qs and DON'T feel the need to fold napkins in the shape of Corgis.... The
Big Jubilee lunch isn't about stuffy stuff like table manners it's about getting
together for a Happy Jubilee.
We are no strangers to a big lunch - a couple of weeks ago we cooked for
80 folk. And this is what I'd bring to the table - a whole pig! I can think of
nothing better to feed a crowd than this, and such fun to prepare and cook. 9 or
10 hours on the spit (and probably a good half ton of logs) and you have a roast
that you can literally carve with your fingers. Everyone has second-helpings and
all the dogs gorge themselves on the bones afterwards - nothing at all is left
and all present are satisfied and cheered. A lovely old-world type of feast.
I am stuck in the Peruvian amazon with an egg and a can of peaches until
the next food boat arrives which could be today or in three days - I am
imagining The Big Jubilee lunch, which I should be back for, in my mind at this
moment it centres mainly around steak and beer - glorious.
I'll be bringing a fridge full of red lipstick, a hair brush, a smile and
some of my old fashioned sweet and special cakes to pop into everybody's ruby
delicious mouths.
I would bring a sense of style and a sense of occasion; it’s just too
easy to get out the paper plates, plastic forks and polystyrene cups! Go and
visit grandma or the local antique arcade, borrow beautiful crockery, glass and
cutlery it doesn’t matter if it doesn’t match, probably nicer in fact. I promise
the food will taste better and the day be more memorable for it! Just remember,
some of it won’t have seen the light of day since the last Jubilee so revel in
the memories... As for the washing up...I'll do it.
I'm going to bring the beauteous bounty of British summer to the table.
Forget dreary imported dullards. This is all about English asparagus, cut from
the crown mere hours before, steamed and swathed in butter. Fresh peas too,
still in the pod, eaten naked save a whisper of salt. Broad beans no bigger than
a child's nail, peppery radishes, succulent Poole prawns and a few bottles of
proper English cider. None of that over-fizzy muck, rather the real stuff from
the West Country, pure liquid gold. Bring the best of British produce to the
table ... and wait for the good times to roll.
What would I bring to the table? Well, Jamaican Kola Champagne is my
favourite drink and I love tomatoes with absolutely everything. But in reality
so long as my son Aidan and I are there, there’ll be plenty of laughter, and
what more could you hope to bring?
So what would I bring to a Jubilee celebration lunch...a wonderfully
cooked shoulder of mutton...not lamb but mutton. As I have married into a sheep
farming family, I have become quite an expert on this and without doubt mutton
is best! Plus, I’ll be getting everyone involved in game of cricket – I couldn’t
really ask for more!
I'd love to bring my three grandchildren, aged six, three and ten-weeks.
The older two would give great fun and joy with their energy and humour, and the
new baby would ensure a real cooing moment for everyone. They'd bring a whole
cross-generational dimension, plus in decades to come they'll each be saying "I
was there".
Choosing the menu at our place is always a challenge. I am an Australian
of Sri Lankan origin, married to a Trinidadian, and the kids are born and bred
in Britain. To celebrate the Big Jubilee Lunch, I am going for the fusion effect
– something marinated in curry spices, chucked on a barbie, wrapped in a roti,
and served with some English chutney.
As a chef, it’s generally expected that I’ll bring food to the table.
I’ve cooked since I was small, whether cooking with my mum at home or helping
out in the communal kitchen of the Sikh Gurdwara in Edinburgh. The Big Lunch is
all about having fun and meeting your neighbours. You don’t need to bring
anything particularly fancy to the table. Lively chat and interesting people can
make even a glass of water good fun. I’d like to think I’d bring a bit more than
cooking – I can do other things too! Hopefully someone else will bring the
desire to clean up – I hate doing dishes!
The Big Lunch, an Eden Project
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