Posh buffet for 100 - general ideas & special diets

jackyann

I agree that I wouldn't do paella - but a rice salad can look lovely, so consider that.
And I have been to "dos" where cold burgers were served - not good - think about mini-rolls with things like cream cheese topped with a dreid tomato, olive, sliver of smoked salmon.
I do think you need to find out exactly what people mean by kosher / halal - I know this sounds daft! But most of my Muslim & Jewish friends are happy to be treated as vegetarians, and some will eat some fish. Some however (who don't tend to eat at my home) do interpret dietary laws more strictly with regard to preparation. I think you need to be very clear.
Good luck!

jjblondie

Thanks for all the replies. RE some of the foods being basic like sausage rolls etc, I was planning to jazz things up with herbs and more elaborate fillings - I won't be buying ready made things. Most of the Jews will apparently be ok with pretty much everything bar eating pork, so I don't have to worry about using their kosher kitchen for preparation. Good point re the gluten - I didn't realise it was in soy sauce too. I believe the food budget is £500, and most people are likely to come pretty hungry as we treat the evening as a meal, open bar and dance each year.

meritaten

You have a decent budget there - so put in a few luxury items.
a small tin of caviar is expensive for everyday - but to top some nice salty crackers spread with some cream cheese and a sliver of smoked salmon - it will go a long way. and most of the supermarkets do packs of smoked salmon offcuts - perfect for these!
King prawns - many veggies will eat seafood. so a platter of king prawns and a few dips.......marie rose (which is equal quantities of mayo, salad cream and tomato ketchup with a couple drops of worcerster sauce if you have some ). Sweet chilli dip and perhaps a soft cheese and garlic dip?
- I think a huge fruit plate is always popular! Strawberries, Grapes, and Fresh Pineapple chunks! every one I have done for parties has always been emptied first!

edit to say - don't buy packs of frozen king prawns from a supermarket - find a fishmonger and ask for price per kilo for a large order and if they could cook them on the day for you. or how much their frozen king prawns are.

as for quantities - the more choice you have the less you make of each! don't make the mistake of making a hundred of EVERYTHING!

Kevie192

Just as a side note - some people have real issues with eating halal meat. A lot of people who are concerned with animal welfare believe the halal method of slaughter causes unnecessary suffering to the animals involved.

So, depending perhaps on who will be attending, you might want to do some non-halal meat dishes too...

Lilyplonk

It sounds as though this is an annual event .........................

Could you get in touch with whoever presided over last year's catering and ask them for some guidelines?

Just because 'you've agreed to accept the overall responsibility for catering', it doesn't mean that you have to do all the work yourself ................

Even Professional Caterers wouldn't attempt to do a buffet for 100 on their own without full catering equipment/kitchen/assistants.

Thinking on a more personal level - first of all, I'd be asking for a 'planning meeting' to involve members of the various faiths/diets/allergies involved to make sure that you've got all eventualities covered. It would be awful to consider most situations, and then find that you've 'accidentally' left somebody out ......................

Good Luck! - you can please some of the people some of the time etc etc etc - but I do feel that you've '[STRIKE]drawn[/STRIKE] been given (?) the short straw' on this one ...........

daisiegg

Lilyplonk wrote: »

Thinking on a more personal level - first of all, I'd be asking for a 'planning meeting' to involve members of the various faiths/diets/allergies involved to make sure that you've got all eventualities covered. It would be awful to consider most situations, and then find that you've 'accidentally' left somebody out ......................

.

Just to give another perspective from someone who does have allergies (eggs, dairy, nuts). I would never expect to be catered for at an event like this. I would make sure I had eaten something before I went, and then I would be pleased if I could nibble on some plain bread/undressed salad/plain meat/fruit etc, but equally wouldn't mind if I couldn't. If I wasn't sure about anything I would leave it and I wouldn't be upset/annoyed - I'm totally used to it.

Also, please don't take this the wrong way, but I wouldn't necessarily trust even if something had been labelled as being suitable for my allergy. For example, in your original post you mentioned an oil based dairy free cake - lovely idea, but I think I just couldn't bring myself to eat a cake that was labelled dairy free (my allergies are life threatening btw) unless I could talk to the person who made it, find out EXACTLY what was in it and feel confident that it wasn't stirred with the same spoon as the dairy cake or wasn't cooked in a cake tin that hadn't gone through a dishwasher at a high heat to get rid of possible contamination, etc. For example, people will sometimes tell me something is dairy free but then it turns out they mean they have not put milk or butter in it, but they hadn't realised they needed to check the ingredients of the other things they put in - like, lots of vegetable margarines actually contain dairy.

I suppose what I am saying is maybe don't worry TOO much about catering for people with different dietary needs. If they are anything like me they will be used to fending for themselves and will not expect to be catered for. And in fact some of your careful efforts may even go to waste if their allergies are severe and they follow the 'better safe than sorry' mantra that I do, whereby I won't necessarily eat something even if it is labelled as being suitable for me, because I have had too many bad experiences.

Good luck with your catering - I'm sure it will be a huge success

GlasweJen

I don't keep kosher but some of my family do and they wouldn't eat halal meat. I would stick to offering your halal/kosher eaters vegetarian options - not pescetarian as there are kosher restrictions on what fish are edible.

sharnad

you could go to a halal butcher for all your meat then inform your kosher friends and ask them wghat they would like

Lizling

Just wanted to add that if you're going to cater for different diets, it's important to label things and to make sure it's accurate or people will avoid things to be on the safe side.

For example, I'm a vegetarian and I'll avoid taking a piece of quiche or a sandwich or whatever at a buffet if they're not labelled, otherwise I might come across a bit surprise bit of bacon or something. I pretty much never get any crisps in these situations because I won't be able to tell until it's too late if they're the nasty non-veggie cheese and onion!

In fact, if you possibly can, I'd get a vegetarian or ideally vegan friend involved to double-check.

PasturesNew

People with special dietary needs won't mind too much if there's nothing "specifically for them" - so long as there's PLENTY of other food that they can eat. All people want is enough food to eat. There's nothing worse than, say, being a vegetarian and discovering the only thing you can eat is 2 slices of cucumber from a garnish, one leftover egg mayo sandwich and a bread roll that was kicked under the table, while the table's piled high with bacon in a quiche, half a dead animal, sausage rolls and fishy nibble things.