But are you getting the most from your meals this way? Will your catering be a talking point or something that passes guests by?
Food can add a real wow factor to any event. But the trick is serving up something that is both delicious and a little out of the ordinary. People don’t just remember great-tasting food. They remember great eating experiences, which has as much to do with how food is served, the atmosphere it creates, the story around it.
Picking a theme for the catering at your next event is a great way to capture the imaginations of your guests and serve up something they will look back on fondly. Here are four great ideas for hot catering themes guaranteed to inspire.
Jubilee Afternoon Tea
If you’re planning an event for May or June this year, then an obvious theme to go with is the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. As the country celebrates sixty years of Elizabeth II on the throne, we’re all being treated to a double bank holiday at the start of June - triple if you add the fact the extra holidays fall in the same week as Spring Bank.
Even if your event isn’t taking place in that particular week, you can still jump on the celebratory mood. A Jubilee theme is perfect for serving up Afternoon Tea - sandwiches, scones, petit fours and of course lashings of tea. It’s a traditional winner that goes perfectly with bunting and paper flags.
Power Breakfast
Morning events are nothing new in the corporate world. Whether it’s networking breakfasts, business brunches or early start times for conferences, people are well versed in making use of every available hour to do business.
What you often find, however, is less attention is paid to catering for morning events than for those that span lunchtime or head into the evening. This is a missed opportunity, as breakfast is in many ways the most versatile meal of the day. It can be everything from a light snack to a hearty meal, cold or cooked, to suit the circumstances.
It’s also the meal that really sets people up for a productive day - exactly what you want to get a day at work off to the right start.
Next time you plan a morning event, give your guests a timely boost with a healthy power breakfast of fruit pots, granolas, yoghurts and smoothies. For quick comfort food that puts a spring in your step and a smile on your face, nothing beats a cooked sandwich. Or put a new twist on the sit-down working lunch with a hearty Full English brunch.
Festival Street Food
There are many things that have been put more or less on hold for the past couple of years that will return in a big way in 2022. One of them is festivals. As the summer festival season cranks up into full swing, why not capture the vibe with festival-themed catering for your next event?
Perfect for outdoors, festival-style street food has the benefit of being versatile, fast and most of all delicious. Serving up flavours from around the world ensures there are options for all tastes. Street food is also perfect if you want something more informal than a sit down meal. It’s food made to be eaten on the go while people mingle, ideal for big crowds in big outdoor spaces
Country themed buffets
Sharing is an important part of most culinary traditions around the world. From diners sat round a table passing shared plates to banquet-sized buffets, sharing brings out the social side of food. From an event organiser’s perspective, it also leaves your guests to take the pick of the food they want.
A great twist on the sharing concept is to serve up a themed buffet based on a particular country. You could go for the original smorgasbord from Sweden, with platters of open-top sandwiches with a variety of different toppings. You could share the Italian or Spanish way with antipasti or tapas-style platters.
An Indian thali literally means ‘platter’ in Hindi and is a way of serving different curries, rice dishes, breads and chutneys that can be adapted for sharing or for single-serving meals. Or for a different kind of buffet experience altogether, how about a Brazilian rodizio, which sees roving waiters serving barbecued meats from large skewers.
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