Take a warm summer's day, a secluded spot in the dappled shade, a blanket and a bottle of wine, friends and family, and a spread of delicious homemade food, and you have that timeless rustic idyll - the Great British picnic.

Perfect picnic food is simple, elegant and delicious, based around much-loved classics. Hilda Leyel, who wrote this book in 1936, was extraordinarily before her time. She influenced generations of foodies with her wonderfully inventive recipes, where retro meets modern, such as:

Egg mayonnaise on crusty bread

Watercress, beetroot and nasturtium salad

Chicken and leek pie

Spiced plum cake and salted almonds

She championed local, seasonal ingredients like watercress and asparagus; she promoted traditional recipes from raised pies to strawberries and cream; and she set a benchmark of refinement with crab soufflé and spaghetti and truffles.