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If you're anything like us, you're already planning on spending most of your summer weekends indulging in some delicious picnic spreads across some of the best parks in New York. Let us advise you on how to turn those culinary feasts into even more memorable affairs: how about pre-packaged picnic boxes featuring foods from a variety of countries, curated by top refugee chefs?
The fourteen chefs behind cookbook The Kitchen Without Borders: Recipes and Stories from Refugee and Immigrant Chefs have taken on this latest effort on offer by Eat Offbeat. Available for shipping only in New York, the picnic box for six-to-eight people includes popular dishes from each cook's country of origin.
Inside the cooler bag, which you can order here for $122, you'll find a DIY shawarma kit for 12 small sandwiches with vegan and chicken options, a Sri Lankan snack mix, some Senegalese spiced peanuts, a jam made of mixed berries, cheese and crackers, some delicious za'atar, a fattoush salad, sumac brownies and refreshing Venezuelan beverage papelón con limón.
There are also add-ons on offer: from a shish tawouk with toum (Syrian grilled chicken skewers) to Venezuela's carne mechada (shredded beef with bell peppers and onions) and vegetable samosas from Afghanistan, you really get to customize your picnic however you want to. And in case you haven't gotten your hands on the cookbook just yet, we suggest you add that to your order and kill two birds with one stone.
Although travel opportunities are opening up, COVID-19 clearly still limits New Yorkers' chances to spend time abroad and experience different cultures. What better way to scratch that travel bug—albeit through our taste buds—than indulging in these delectable-sounding (and looking) picnic boxes? As they say in Italy: Buon appetito!