flipThe Painter's Field Snack
The Painter's Field Snack
Why this dish? Pissarro painted 'en plein air', in the open countryside, for entire days. Like the peasants he observed, he carried a cold meal wrapped in a cloth: bread, a local cheese, and an onion, eaten without a table in front of the landscape.
A thick slice of brown bread, a piece of fresh cheese or local Brie, and a crunchy raw onion: the portable, robust, tangy meal that keeps a man standing in the middle of the fields.
When I leave for the motif before daybreak, I don't bother with fuss: a big hunk of bread, a well-ripened piece of Brie, and a raw onion, all wrapped in a cloth at the bottom of the bag, under the paints and brushes. We eat it standing up, watching the mist rise over the haystacks, and I assure you, an onion crunched there, in the open air, is better than a served dinner. The worker's hunger, my child, is the best seasoning.
- •Brown bread — a large hunk (base)
- •Brie or local fresh cheese — a piece (fat and flavor)
- •Raw onion — one (freshness and bite)
- •Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
The Painter's Field Snack
A thick slice of brown bread, a piece of fresh cheese or local Brie, and a crunchy raw onion: the portable, robust, tangy meal that keeps a man standing in the middle of the fields.
Why this dish? Pissarro painted 'en plein air', in the open countryside, for entire days. Like the peasants he observed, he carried a cold meal wrapped in a cloth: bread, a local cheese, and an onion, eaten without a table in front of the landscape.
When I leave for the motif before daybreak, I don't bother with fuss: a big hunk of bread, a well-ripened piece of Brie, and a raw onion, all wrapped in a cloth at the bottom of the bag, under the paints and brushes. We eat it standing up, watching the mist rise over the haystacks, and I assure you, an onion crunched there, in the open air, is better than a served dinner. The worker's hunger, my child, is the best seasoning.
Ingredients (period version)
- Brown bread — a large hunk (base)
- Brie or local fresh cheese — a piece (fat and flavor)
- Raw onion — one (freshness and bite)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Ingredients
- Sourdough country bread — 2 thick slices (base)
- Brie de Melun or fresh goat cheese — 80 g (fat and flavor)
- Spring onion or sweet red onion — 1 small (freshness and bite)
- Farmhouse butter — a knob (optional) (binding)
- Salt — a pinch (seasoning)
Method
- Cut two thick slices of sourdough bread.
- Lightly butter if desired and place generous pieces of cheese on top.
- Slice the onion into thin rings and distribute over the cheese.
- Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, close as a sandwich or leave open.
- Wrap in a clean cloth and take along: eat cold, outdoors, without ceremony.
How it was made : The snack of bread, cheese, and onion was the midday meal of day laborers and craftsmen in the 19th century, taken to the fields or worksite. Cheap and nourishing, it kept without cooking throughout a workday.
The contemporary twist : The same trio on a beautiful slice of toasted sourdough, with the onion marinated for a minute in cider vinegar to soften the bite: an unabashed 'painter's snack'.
Camille Pissarro · Charactorium
