Ideas for a Tasting Party

Tasting parties are popular now, and today we offer several ideas for organizing one. 

The whole idea behind organizing a tasting party is that you sample a large variety of foods, but only small portions of each type of food.  At least 5 or more types of food should be provided for guests to sample.

For convenience you'll want to serve all cold or room temperature foods.  And you can have a tasting party even in winter as you can serve cold and room temperature foods and also serve a hot drink or some wines and spirits to warm you up! Or how about small cups of hot conommé, self served from a coffee urn? Or you can serve coffee or cappucino if your group is into that.

If you really want to go all out, buy or rent tasting dishes, including any of the following:

• Small square or round plates
• Rectangular plates
• Porcelain tasting spoons or half holders
• Mini martini glasses (we serve our new Garlic- and Black Pepper-Roasted Shrimp Cocktail Martinis this way)

But these special tasting dishes aren't, strictly speaking, necessary.  What's more important in organizing a tasting party is that no serving pieces be piled with food.  Put out fewer pieces of food and spread them out a bit.  You'll then need to refill with food as needed.  For this reason, a tasting party is best for small groups, no more than 40, say.  So if you don't want to refill too many times (or pay someone to do it for you), don't invite more than around 20 guests.

And you can also mix the specialized "tasting" dishes with small to medium-sized regular trays or platters. 

One idea we like and use, and it's always very appreciated by guests, is to put one bloom in the middle of a tray and then put the tasting hors d'oeuvres or tapas around it in a circle or square (see photo of Shrimp Martinis, above).

The final element in a tasting party is to have a written menu of some type, printed or on chalkboard, and to put it on the food table somewhere.  Guests enjoy tasting the food and matching up what they're tasting to the foods listed on the menu.

Enjoy!

Kristina

Fandango Catering and Events
(713) 522-0077
www.fandango-catering.com