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What to do when you invite someone round, how to set the table, how to arrange the
seating.
A few simple rules for you to remember.
It is common knowledge that all recipes should be tried out before offering them to others and only an experienced chef who has great confidence in his own abilities, should risk anything more.
Furthermore, the menu should be chosen according to the tastes and eating habits of the guests. If the guest's eating habits are not fully known, a simple menu should be decided upon with flavours that are generally accepted, avoiding, therefore, hot or spicy dishes, raw meat dishes and strongly flavoured vegetables such as aubergines and spinach.
Diets
It would also be kind to take note of vegetarian or slimming diets, many of which mean avoiding certain foods. If, someone has health problems, respecting their needs is not merely kind, but compulsory.
Religious precepts
Then there are religious precepts. Many people, above all those who are of religions different to Christianity, follow religious precepts very strictly, but not for this, must these people be considered anachronistic or out of place. Practising Muslims neither eat pork nor drink alcohol, and practising Jews cannot eat foods that have not been prepared in a kosher manner.
However, to avoid uncertainty,
should not be served pork dishes, or those dishes which combine parts of the pig (salamis etc.) with milk, shellfish, rabbit or hare.
Foreign guests and Italian specialities
One mistake which is commonly made through a mistaken interpretation of hospitality, is that of offering foreign guests food from their own countries. Unless the chef has spent a long time in the country of which he is copying the food, and has therefore learnt the recipes and techniques in order to reproduce the dish well and is able to find the correct ingredients, it is better to avoid making an approximate imitation, as this will certainly not be successful.
Many foreigners are, in fact, curious to try something different and typical of the country they are visiting. However, also in this case, if you don't know the people well, or if these people are not already familiar with Italian cuisine, it is better to serve simple and easy dishes.
In choosing, you should also consider that certain ingredients may be changed or omitted. For example, Eastern guests will find even the smell of milk or dairy products, unpleasant and, in this case therefore, cheeses should not be used.
Dilemmas relating to unknown guests and theme invitations
When the guests are unknown, or when they have difficult tastes, it is advisable to give an idea of the menu in advance and, if necessary, alter it should the reaction be less than enthusiastic.
When you have a theme invitation, as for example, a fish-based or mushroom-based menu, you must say so. In this way, you allow the guest to refuse the invitation, should the theme not be to his taste. It is not polite to oblige a guest to suffer a lunch which he does not like and which will then, inevitably, ruin his good humour, and with it, the atmosphere and the success of the evening.
Seasonal products
Today, thanks to rapid forms of transport which bring fruit and vegetables from the greenhouses of distant countries, it is relatively simple to find all products, all year round.
On the occasion of a dinner party, however, which is always a special moment, it can be a refreshing change to rediscover the pleasures of preparing products that are in season and, furthermore, which are more suited to the period of the year.
A light, and maybe cold, menu, particularly suitable for the summer, should consist of many fresh, raw vegetables from the vegetable garden and a sorbet at the end of the meal.
In the winter, hot dishes are much appreciated, particularly if accompanied by seasonal oven-cooked vegetables and a true dessert at the end of the meal.
When designing a balanced menu, you must always remember, even in winter, to alternate filling dishes with lighter dishes. A well-studied lunch will allow the guest to leave the table feeling rewarded but not over-full.
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