Burns Night coming up...

General Cooking tips

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Stravaig
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...and I've invited about 30 people for a casual supper. As is traditional, to start I'll serve a hearty soup. Less traditional, but fairly common these days, next I'll do a starter of hagis, neeps and tatties (including some veggie haggis ones). For the main course I thought that chicken tikka masala would be a big crowd pleaser - some say it was invented in Glasgow - and it'll be easy to keep warm and serve from my big soup kettle. For dessert I thought I'd have a go at making a version of cranachan with Athol Brose ice cream. And I expect I'll do some canapes as well for when people arrive. It's a lot of work but I'm confident I can handle the logistics.

The problem is - what if a few people don't like curry? It'll be difficult for me to offer an alernative main course. The party is in a flat and I have limited space. Also if there's a choice, people tend to load up their plates with a bit of everything and that's not the idea here. The main course is the curry - not curry with a bit of veggie shepherds pie of whatever.

I wondered if I should put on the invite that people should let me know in advance if they require a special meal. Or maybe they can just fill themselves up with extra soup. Do you think that would look mean? What would you do in the circumstances?
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Catering for thirty is quite an undertaking.

As a life-long vegetarian, I would just have more vegetables. Again, only from my own experience and preferences, I find that those following a conventional diet expect there to be a central dish and things go around it. I don't look for a central dish in that way.

Please make sure the soup isn't made with chicken or other meat stock.
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Primrose
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Coincidentally I had a conversation with somebody only yesterday who holds quite lot of social gatherings and is good at catering but who said she,s getting thoroughly fed up with the number of people who have started making special requests for vegetarian, vegan or other food options. She,s holding a supper for about 15 people shortly - smaller than your group but she said said she,s now telling people what shes serving and if they want to bring a substitute course of their own choice would they please let her know in advance, as she,s not offering any menu alternatives.

Because her gqtherings are always very popular, and I suspect few people wouldn,t want to attend, I suspect any dissenters will probably find that for one evening they can manage to forego forcing their food preferences on her!.

Normally here haggis would be the main course rather than a starter after soup so I would tell people you're serving curry as the main course and if they want to miss out on this course they're welcome to have an extra top up of soup. Thirty people is a lot to cater
for with three hot courses so I,d tell people what the options are and ask them to alert you if they're going to miss out on the curry.

if they hate curry enough Burns night is sufficiently far away for them to decide to opt out altogether but it's YOUR Function and is meant to be a pleasurable evening so my advice would be not to twist yourself in knots trying to cater for everybody,s different tastes or you'll ruin the pleasure of the evening.

Apart from people who have toxic allergies to things like nuts which can be life threatening, i reckon most people can live wih one item in a menu thats not to their choice. After all, it,s not as if they're going to a restaurant and having to pay for it!

Good luck ! Are we all invited? I like haggis. And curry !
Stravaig
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Thanks, Stephen. Veggie cooking isn't a problem for me - I used to be a vegetarian, until I went and lived in a country where it was very, very difficult. (That was 30 years ago and things have changed a lot everywhere now.) The problem is likely to be with the few people who don't like curry. Obviously, I'll have to cater for them too but I'm keen not to add to my already existing workload. And it is a "casual supper" at home rather than an event in a restaurant where you'd expect a lot of choice.

Another thing, to help plan the catering and to prevent food waste, I'd rather know up front how many portions I need to make of the alternative for the ones who won't eat the chicken curry. I think I'll need to ask them to tell me upfront if they want the alternative. Either that or I'll have to do a buffet-style meal, which I really don't want to do. I only have one oven so feeding (nearly) everyone from big pots and a soup kettle is the way to go.

The soup is vegan, by the way, but I'll not be "advertising" it as such unless anyone asks. Omnivores sometimes seem to be afraid of vegan dishes in the belief they won't be tasty. But I can make a grand lentil soup with veg stock that everyone likes.
Stravaig
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Ah, Primrose. Many thanks. That's pretty much what I wanted to hear. "This is the menu. Take it or leave it." And it's not as if I've done nothing to cater for veggies. The planned soup is vegan and there'll be veggie haggis available. And some of the canapes to start will no doubt be veggie too.

I like the idea of suggesting they bring an alternative themselves but am afraid that would be a nightmare if they're going to need oven, or even kitchen, space. Maybe a jokey, "If you don't like the menu, please feel free to bring your own picnic." would work.

Honestly, I doubt I'll actually get 30 people. Expats come and go all the time. We were back in the UK unexpectedly last week for several days. That said, it'd be polite if people let me know their intentions. Last time I had a "do", even hours before it started I didn't know whether to expect three people or 25. As it turned out 16 people came. I'm not wanting that hassle again so I've already put out a "save the date" message saying the proper invite will follow nearer the time. I've had four replies so far - one knows she won't be here and three say they would love to come. Nearer the time it'll be more a case of "RSVP or we won't be catering for you". It seems like quite a bossy way to invite people to a party but I think people just don't realise what's involved.

One small dinner I hosted with lots of different dishes, one of the guests seemed to be astounded that I'd been cooking all afternoon. I was equally astounded by her surprise. I said, "How do the think all this food got here? It didn't just materialise." :roll: :lol: If they don't cook they often just don't get it.

I'm a bit afraid of getting some big hungry people hoovering up all the other food because they're missing out on the main course. Of course I don't mind if all the food gets eaten, I'm just keen that the curry-eaters should get their fair share of the other courses.

In ye olden days people would just take what they got and be thankful.

Shall I put you on the guest list, Primrose? It's a long way to come for a wee bit of haggis and a curry. :wink:
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Hi Stravaig!

Like Primrose Haggis appears as a main course side, rather than a separate course in the deep south, which if you adopted would make life easier! Maybe roast some beef for the carnivores or a veg 'meat loaf' type of thing for others & leave the curry out.
The other alternative is make a curry sauce & have bits of chicken or prawns or veg that people could add to the sauce to fit their diet preference?
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Stravaig
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Hi Westi,

Haggis as a main course is out of the question. It was difficult enough to bring in enough haggis in coolbags with ice in suitcases to do it as a starter. It's not just a case of getting it from a local butcher, online, or Waitrose as you would in the UK.

That's probably why it's now the norm overseas for a small portion of haggis to be served as part of the starter. It's just a token bit of haggis. And then, naturally, people expect a main course. If the Burns Night overseas is in a posh hotel, and I've attended many of those, the main course is usually roast lamb or similar. That's completely beyond what I could achieve in a flat with one oven. That's why I had to think along the lines of getting a crowd-pleaser into a 10 litre soup kettle. Curry seemed to fit the bill, and, as I said, some people claim that chicken tikka masala originated in Scotland. I think most people will be very happy with the curry, but I'm keen not to have any disappointed people.

I do like the idea of saying upfront what the "Bill O' Fare" is so they're not surprised.

Edit:
Oops, I just noticed, you said "main course side" not "main course" but even so, with my kitchen facilities, I doubt if I could do such a meal for more than eight people.
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Primrose
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I,m amazed you managed to export any haggis at all. Reminds me of the time years ago when I was seconded to get several haggises over to the U.Sa for some ex pats over there who wanted to hold an American Burns night bash. You try telling them that regardless of their desire to parade the haggises round the room in a platter, the U.s. customs will not allow fresh haggis to be imported !! Tinned stuff just didn't cut the mustard!

I,d tell them what the menu is and add something on the lines of. "For non curry lovers, Please let me know how many will be bringing their own picnic main course, which you are welcome to do although regretfully my oven will be fully occupied for the evening"

Then everybody knows what the deal is I,m sure other ex-pat hostesses will LOVE you for setting a new trend which will make life easier for everybody who entertains going forward.

pS. Love the "RSVP or we won't be catering for you" ! Some people are so rude these days and never reply to invitations yet expect the poor caterer to have a crystal ball. I know of one wedding where, about a week beforehand around 15 guests still hadn,t bothered to reply. I think the only thing to do in situations like this is to contact saying, "sorry we haven't,t heard from you so regretfully have been unable to reserve a place for you".
Stravaig
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Haggis is banned in the USA because it contains sheeps' lung, one of many meat products they don't allow there. The USA is notoriously difficult for imports of many types, especially meat. Lots of companies who send stuff internationally won't send certain things to the US, or won't do it at all because of various other restrictions including insurance.

In most countries I've ever been, it's been possible to put two or three of the beasties into your suitcase for personal use. I've no idea how the big hotels do it (import haggis).

In places where there aren't many good restaurants, expat hosts can expect nearly everyone to attend almost any invitation - that's what I'm more used to. But Kyiv has an abundance of good restaurants so there's much less focus on entertaining "at home". I seem to be one of the few who does it. Old fashioned, probably. I really like cooking, which is why I'm up for it. But I really don't need the stress of not knowing how many are coming and what I might need to do over and above what I originally had planned.

You're right. I can only cater for people who've said they're going to attend. Thanks for the moral support!
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oldherbaceous
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Your candle lit supper will be a huge success, Stravaig, nice to hear some people still prepare there own food for parties or events.
I have been to too many just lately, where it is all pre-packed frozen stuff, either microwaved, or just warmed up....pretty disgusting stuff really.
Kind Regards, Old Herbaceous.

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Stravaig
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Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, OH.

Come to think of it, I wouldn't normally serve just curry with rice/bread anyway. There'll be side dishes too so, as Stephen suggested, I'll just add extra (and non-spicy) veggie sides to go with the curry. The curry-haters can have them with the flat breads, as can the veggies. Problem sorted.

Now, I wonder how many people will be coming...
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Geoff
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Is the Ukraine calendar ahead of ours, we seem to be preparing for a different 25th?
Stravaig
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Hi Geoff,

When it comes to religious holidays, the Ukrainians follow the Julian calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar like we do. Thus our Christmas day is on the 25th of December and theirs is on the 7th of January. That's quite handy for us as their shops are open as normal if we run out of anything on our Christmas. By the time their Christmas comes, we're probably still eating leftovers. :lol:

Burns Night is on the 25th of January - as I'm sure you know - I'm just planning ahead early so people can save the date and pencil us into their social calendar.
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We are all waiting to hear how Burn's Night went!
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Primrose
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Stravaig is probably still lying prone on the sofa with exhaustion and wishing she'd had a host of magic elves to do all the clearing and washing up!
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