Buffet table

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

In Russia, about 80 national holidays are celebrated every year. If we add to this also birthdays, family celebrations, professional days, it turns out that we spend a quarter of the year at a laid table, drinking, having a snack, making toasts, singing drinking songs, dancing until we drop and having fun.

Sometimes we celebrate holidays at work, but more often at home. It is good - when with relatives, friends or acquaintances. And if this New Year is expected to invade your apartment? How to accommodate them all, what to feed, what to do to surprise the guests and amaze them with their economy, insight, resourcefulness, etc.?

There is a way out: it is necessary to organize a reception, a buffet table! Then you get rid of the need to borrow tables and chairs from neighbors, take out almost all the furniture from the room where everyone who came to be treated (so that there is more space) and are not afraid that most of your unnecessary friends will come late when everything is hot, and you urgently still have to look for a place for them and clean plates …

A buffet banquet is usually organized when a large number of guests need to be received in a relatively limited time. The name "buffet" comes from the French "a la buffet" (fourchette), which means "for a fork", since the main working tool during a meal is a snack fork.

The buffet has its own. I already mentioned some at the beginning of the article, but the main thing: it makes it possible to invite many more guests than can be accommodated at the dining table. Secondly, at a banquet of this type, everyone serves himself, and the hostess does not have to make sure that all guests have their plates full. She also does not have to ply the whole evening from the kitchen to the room, warming up something, somewhere reporting … And thirdly, during such receptions, a freer atmosphere usually reigns. Guests are grouped according to their interests, move around the hall, choose food and drinks placed on the table, eat and drink, and communicate. You don't have to puzzle over who and with whom to sit at the dinner table: here everyone chooses a campaign to their liking and, tired of discussing the political situation in Ukraine, they can go to a group that has a nice conversation about musical preferences, fashion, children, etc. The originality and convenience of the buffet table also lies in the fact that thanks to the variety of dishes that you offer, each of the guests can find something to their liking - both vegetarians and omnivorous gentlemen.

When organizing a reception a la buffet, you must remember:

It is important that the table is located to the side, but it would be convenient to approach it from all four sides and, moving one after another, fill your plates. That is, if possible, do not push the table against the wall.

There should be only such dishes on the table that you can pick up with a fork or eat with your hands, while standing or sitting down for a while in an armchair / sofa.

This is one of the options for a buffet table or, as it is called in our country, a buffet. Therefore, there should be nothing edible on your table that would have to be cut for a long time and painfully with a knife.

If you insist on hot dishes, then they should be extremely simple and portioned: chicken fillet, fish in batter, beef fried in dough …

The table is covered with a large tablecloth. Choose a tablecloth to your liking - bright or pastel, plain or patterned. Linen or lace tablecloths in white or neutral colors always look elegant and go well with any tableware. But they quickly get dirty, and it will be ugly when the table is covered with a white tablecloth with red stains from spilled wine all evening. Therefore, give preference to dark cherry, blue, green, blue tablecloths: they are more practical.

The correct sequence is important. Place stacks of plates, forks, glasses on both sides of the table to avoid fuss and confusion. Then arrange symmetrically (that is, equally to the left and right of the middle of the table so that guests do not have to run back and forth with plates in hand) snacks, hot meals, salads, fruits and desserts. Put on the sauces, jars of salt and pepper.

Small plates are placed in the first row, followed by deep salad bowls.

Cutlery and napkins are placed at the end of the table. The edges of the table are left free so that guests have where to place their filled plates.

The best solution is to put a tray or mobile table nearby especially for dirty dishes and tell guests about its purpose.

As an option: only food is laid out on one (large) table, on the other - dishes and cutlery, on the third - drinks and glasses. For simplicity, wrap each utensil (knife and fork) in a paper napkin. Or place the forks on the edge, one after the other, and cover with a cloth. And place the knives next to them on the same napkin covering their blades.

If necessary, place small plates for olive pits, cocktail sticks, etc. So that the invitees understand what these plates are for, put in them one bone or stick at a time.

Based on the calculation of a triple supply of dishes, cutlery, glasses and wine glasses, thus you will not have to leave your guests in order to wash the accumulated dirty dishes. In addition, according to etiquette, it is supposed, when a second approach to the table, to take clean appliances, and to make up dirty ones in a place specially designated for them.

By the way, it is better to use white or plain dishes for a buffet table, avoiding excessive variegation. Color accents on the tables will be a variety of snacks, salads, pyramids of fruits and fresh vegetables.

The peculiarity of the buffet table lies in the appetizers themselves: slices, tartlets, canapes, toasts, salads - everything is beautifully laid out, decorated. In terms of the colorfulness and solemnity of serving, the buffet table will not be inferior to the festive table, if you try to revive the dishes with flowers of vegetables and herbs, olives and olives, grapes, green and red peppers, lemons …

It is best to arrange the prepared dishes on different levels. True, hardly anyone in the house has such structures. To do this, you can put cardboard boxes, caskets and any other supports or upside-down dishes on the table. Drape them with napkins to match the tablecloth.

Candles, napkins, as well as confetti and serpentine will be useful.

Try to refuse to set the table with candles and vases of flowers, then there will be less chances that an awkward guest, reaching for some dish across the table, will knock it all over the tablecloth.

At the buffet table, after cold appetizers (salads, canapes), hot dishes of your choice are usually served. Then dessert is served. The buffet table ends with coffee or tea.

Up to three meal options are always offered. For example, side dishes: boiled potatoes with parsley, dill and onions, vegetables, rice with saffron; meat and fish dishes: kebabs, red fish steaks, chicken breast in sauce. And as for salads, tartlets, puff sandwiches and canapes - there are countless ways to make them. I will not dwell on recipes for buffet meals in detail in this article, take a look at Cleo's culinary encyclopedia: there is all the necessary information.

I will only say that the hostess should not forget about pickled cucumbers, tomatoes, corn cobs, mushrooms, bell peppers, cauliflower, as well as spicy salted olives and herring.

Don't forget the cheese platter. Cheese is a high-calorie and delicious product. And now there are so many types of cheese on sale that you can easily lay out several plates with hard and soft varieties. And on top of that, please your vegetarian guests. The cheese is cut into pieces of 25-40 gr. The varieties are placed not too close to each other in a clockwise direction, for example: first a spicy blue cheese, then a soft cheese with a penicillin crust like Camembert, then a hard, mild and sliced spicy one. A classic addition to cheese is grapes. Combine with cheese pears and melon slices.

The hostess should also monitor empty food trays and refill them periodically.

Choosing drinks for a festive party is a very important and responsible task. Of course, it is nice to serve vodka with the herring, but in a small amount. And make sure that guests are not very fond of her. Put on the table also good champagne, punch, fruit juices, red and white wines. We advise you to stock up on mineral water for each guest. Do not forget to put a corkscrew next to the bottles.

If possible, arrange in the living room several small folding tables, bedside tables, just stools covered with tablecloths, put chairs in a row: not all guests can eat while standing.

Serve fruit well in a multi-storey platter. If you don't have one, use trays, small baskets for this purpose. But again: don't put the fruit platter in just one place.

Think about the music for the evening. Guests will communicate a lot, so the music should only serve as a background for the conversation. Light instrumental compositions are perfect for this case.

To pay attention to each guest, prepare some signature dish that must be served by yourself. For example, mulled wine (see Cleo's Culinary Encyclopedia for a recipe). When you serve it to your guests, you will be able to say a few pleasant words to them and thank them for accepting your invitation. In addition, with this "ritual" you will unite the guests and you can greet each newcomer with them.

It should not be forgotten that man does not live by bread alone, so come up with an entertainment program for guests as well.

Have a lot of fun!