Mother and I enjoy more or less the same things; cooking, interior and antiques shopping, museums and exhibitions and theatre and opera. Father not as much. So when my visit home to Skåne coincided with an opera performance (in Swedish – a first for me) at Jordberga Manor a short drive from our summer house we made sure to book tickets. When booking said tickets the company suggested you could have a picnic in the park beforehand which we happily did.

In Swedish, Jordberga is called a slott, a castle, but it isn’t really a castle as it doesn’t have a moat (or towers) so in English it translates more to a manor house. Anyway, the grounds are really pretty with an English-inspired garden, a small lake and a large farm on the grounds. The place for the opera was an refurbished old stable mainly used for parties or Christmas markets nowadays.

When we arrived we walked down to the lake and put our blanket and picnic out. We had olives, cheeses, biscuits and hawthorn jam, prosciutto, ciabatta with a creamy salad of chicken, bacon and girolles and homemade ambrosia cake. All washed down with a decent bottle of rosé. We also brought along proper chinaware and glasses, although not as practical as plastic plates but a lot prettier.

I made the chicken salad from left over chicken and what I found in the fridge that would work well together. I find it very satisfying to use things up and this creamy salad with chicken, bacon and fried girolles was a great example or a successful fridge forage. I utterly loved this mixture and it will most certain become a picnic staple of mine.

Nice grounds to have picnic on, don’t you think?!

The opera, performed by Skånska Operan, a touring opera society and it was my first opera sung completely in Swedish. The ensamble was very skilled and we had a great time enjoying the Barber of Seville set in the 1940s.

Creamy salad with chicken, bacon and girolles – a sketch

Fry bacon in smaller pieces until crispy and let it drain on some kitchen towel. Leave to cool. Fry the girolles in butter and add some pressed garlic. Add salt and pepper and leave to cool. Dice the chicken and mix with the mushrooms and bacon. Mix 2/3 mayo with 1/3 creme fraiche, add dijon mustard, salt and pepper and add to the chicken mixture. Add some chopped parsley and serve with baguette or ciabatta.