Cooking For a Crowd

Lesson 1: Initial Considerations

Zeroing In On Food Choices

The next initial task is to begin to limit your food choices. In Lesson 2, we calculate the number of dishes you should serve and discuss recipe choices. In Lesson 3, we’ll discuss actual quantities. However, here you want to start to narrow the choices.

In general, you do want to choose a menu that considers the following:

• Avoid flavors that clash, (think of garlic overpowering a subtle asparagus salad).
• Try to avoid color similarities, i.e. monotones. The various dishes should have lots of different colors, unless you’ve chosen a color theme, (see below).
• Avoid using one cooking technique too much – think of how weighty a meal with four different fried foods would be.
• Limit the dishes that require last minute attention. If you haven’t specific kitchen help, it is best to have at most two dishes that require last minute attention.

My professional experience is that a party giver finds it easiest to narrow choices by picking a theme. Themes can be anything; below are some ideas:

• Choose food from one region, e.g. Mediterranean, Mexican, or Southern United States - maybe from where an anniversary couple honeymooned or met. Dishes from these areas are inherently sympathetic to each other, but still offer a large variety.
• Celebrate the passion or interest of a guest of honor. A party for a baseball fan could offer food found in a baseball stadium.
• As mentioned above, a color theme could be chosen. For a graduation, design a menu around school colors.
• Plan a theme around a popular current or cultural event. I once designed a dinner based on The Lord of the Rings. The menu only included foods mentioned in the book.
• Look at your guests and their professions. A newly ordained minister could be honored by foods found in biblical areas.
• Celebrate a season like Spring or the first snowfall.
• A housewarming theme could be comfort food, particularly favorite foods remembered from your childhood.
• Prepare the favorite foods of the honored guest,

Obviously a theme can’t be too narrow or limiting – it would be hard to honor foods indigenous to Dubuque, Iowa, while a Prairie theme brings a number of ideas to mind. But by concentrating on the purpose of the party or the guest of honor, a lot of ideas will suggest themselves.

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