A few years ago, my partner and I did the cooking for a couple who were getting married. We did the pre-wedding dinner, which was more of a party than a rehearsal dinner. The theme for the wedding was a Carnival/PJ party, and the pre-wedding dinner was just the start.
There were several things we had to keep in mind. Allergies in guests, including a full-on meat allergy. Doing the primary cooking at the client’s home, with just a little pre-done. Having a grill for some of the food, but most of it being done on a regular consumer gas stove. And leftovers.
The finger-foods for the wandering around and socializing before the sit down dinner were almost all pre-made and purchased. That is not only o.k. for a caterer, it is essential. It sounds like cheating to say that a warehouse store’s freezer section was essential to the finger foods we presented. To be able to make consistent cream puffs, store them, transport them and platter them without having a whole lot of time and effort into them, raising the price and taking all of the sheet pans… Well, lets just say, from experience, I like being able to just purchase such things.
The only thing we made at the gathering for the finger foods were our stuffed mushrooms. This is such a simple thing that I m surprised how much contention there is on how complicated stuffed mushrooms are. Mushrooms, cream cheese, grated parmesan, canned mini shrimp for the meat variation, the mushroom stems for the non meat variation. Salt and pepper, as wanted, though with the shrimp, not as much. That is it. Mix the cream cheese, parm and shrimp or mushroom stems, spoon the filling into the mushroom caps, with a sprinkle of the cheese on top if you wish. Into the oven at 350f until the filling is warm, and a little grill time for color if you wish. Done. Perfect for toaster ovens. And so very simple and easy to alter for food preferences. I do not recommend using tofu-based cheese substitute as it will just mush and not have any ability to color without immediately going from cooked to burnt.
And so very elegant.
I believe, at the time, the food cost for a tray of 20 was under $10. I know places that charge $7 for two as an appetizer. This goes to the adage of knowing how to use the ingredients you have to make the best food you can.
It is in how you name the food item too. Make sure you know what language your client is using for what items so you know what you are actually making for them. In the West Coast USA, a Lobster Roll involves rice and seaweed. On the East Coast USA, a Lobster Roll involves mayonnaise and a small hoagie roll. Same words, completely different item. When going through what my client wanted for other things at the meal, she mentioned Pinwheels. Now, at the time, the food-related pinwheels I had done were a style of pastry involving fancy cutting of the puff dough to make sugary pinwheel shapes. What my client was actually asking for were the tortilla-based meat, vegetable and spread roll-ups. Completely different!
Trays were used for the presentations as individual dishes would have been prohibitive in both cost and cleaning. We used silvered trays with doilies for most of the items. The doilies were easily disposed of and helped to keep things from sliding around on the trays. They may seem silly, but the paper doilies you find in most restaurant supply stores, and groceries, really do make a difference in both the presentation’s elegance and the food safety.
One last note to this rambling remembrance. We brought with us to-go containers and put together meals that stuffed their refrigerator before we left that night. Not only did we not throw out food, or have to transport things out of the venue, the couple didn’t have to think about making food for about a week after the wedding. We knew that they were hosting many people for that week, and were going to take the trip for their honeymoon the next week after their wedding. It was a detail, but it kept them from having to think about what to serve to their guests and just be happy.