Eating out with Tom Parker Bowles "Moreish, isn't it?" he says. I nod, mouth full. "My father, Brigadier Andrew Parker Bowles, was a massive kipper fan," he reflects. It used to drive my mother mad. Stank out the house. Although Parker Bowles's picnic may be elaborate, his philosophy of food is home-grown. As a father of two, he tells me, he is a family cook at heart. He has no time for haute cuisine; for him, thoughtful presentation means "having a quick wipe round the plate." This attitude, he says, was bequeathed to him by his mother, the Duchess of Cornwall. "When I was a child, she used to make half the picnic herself, and the other half was a rush round Sainsbury's," he says. At Eton, other families would turn up to sports day with linen tablecloths, butlers and candelabras. But we were always very English and modest: muddy boots, scotch eggs and a scruffy car full of dog hair. I used to envy the other boys. Perhaps it's a town versus country thing. His admiration for Camilla's attitude is threaded through his new book, Let's Eat: Recipes From My Kitchen Notebook. There's even a dish named My Mother's Roast Chicken. "It's essentially a chicken with a lemon up its arse and a bit of butter," Parker Bowles explains. "When I asked my mother for the cooking time, she said "stick it in the oven, and when it's done, take it out."" He cuts the tortilla and serves himself a slice with his fingers. I follow suit and find it works surprisingly well cold, with just the right amount of ooze in the centre. I am impressed by the lack of charring on the bottom (I always burn the base of mine). "The key is having the right sized pan, about six inches in diameter," he explains. If you get that right, and you caramelise the onions very slowly, you can't go wrong. Just have faith in the recipe. He then assembles the fennel and orange salad with fresh broad beans, dressing it in orange and lemon juice. A little tangy for my liking, but the odd flavours blend seamlessly. Then comes the smoked eel and bacon salad. Parker Bowles adds the bacon to the leaves, then mixes a dressing of lemon juice, mustard, horseradish and seasoning. Finally, he adds some piquillo peppers. But where are the eels? "Sorry," he says, "I couldn't find any. I had a jar of peppers at the back of the cupboard, so I grabbed them instead. Anchovies might have worked better, or smoked trout, or mackerel. But it doesn't really matter, does it? The absence of eels, however, is a great loss. "They are truly remarkable creatures," he says, gazing mournfully at our piquillo peppers. They come from the dark recesses of our nightmares, but at the same time they are intelligent and tenacious. Salmon has the looks, but the eel is majestic. And then the rains come. With a giant - and very British - kerfuffle, we gather up the food and stagger into the relative shelter of a nearby tree. There we finish our meal amid heavy drips. "My kids and I still get excited about picnics," Parker Bowles says into the drizzle, "whether we're sitting in a car with rain drumming on the roof or in my mother's garden. It's how the British let our hair down, eating with our fingers, sitting on boxes. When you've made it to dusk, when the bats come out and people are still drinking, or kipping under a tree, that's a perfect picnic. 'Let's Eat: Recipes From My Kitchen Notebook" by Tom Parker Bowles is out now (Pavilion, £25) Peas with pancetta Fry 100g of finely chopped, unsmoked pancetta until it is crisp and golden, than add half a small onion and sauté for five minutes. Simmer in dry white wine for a few minutes, then add 1.3kg of shelled fresh peas. Cook, stirring, for two minutes. Fennel and orange salad Using a mandolin, slice two largish fennel bulbs. Remove the peel and pith from three oranges, then slice. Blanch a handful of fresh broad beans and peel them. Combine all this, and dress with the juice of half an orange and half a lemon, whisked together with double the quantity of oil. Season and serve. Tortilla Fry two onions over a low heat for 30 minutes. Add two potatoes and a pinch of crushed chillies, then cook for another 20 minutes. Allow to cool, add eight beaten eggs and season. Cook for four minutes in a six-inch frying pan, then turn it over and cook for a further four minutes. Serve hot or cold. Smoked eel and bacon salad Fry eight rashers of bacon over a high heat until crispy, then crumble. Mix this with 400g of chopped smoked eel fillet and add to a washed and separated head of curly endive. Dress with a mixture of the juice of half a lemon, half a teaspoon of English mustard, one teaspoon of fresh horseradish, three teaspoons of olive oil, salt and pepper. Kipper pâté Poach four kippers and remove the bones and skin. Mix them with 225g of cream cheese and two tablespoons of single cream, then season with paprika, salt and pepper. Rhubarb fool Mix 1.5kg of rhubarb with 300g of caster sugar and the juice and zest of an orange. Cover and roast for 40 minutes at 180C/350F/Gas 4, then purée. Whip a pint of double cream and fold in the rhubarb. Spoon onto a layer of crushed biscuits.