intercultural cocktail hour

I'm getting married in December of 2019. We are having a Christmas-y, family style dinner, but also a cocktail hour with passed appetizers. I'm looking to merge my Scottish and Thai heritage, my partner's British heritage, and some Christmas-y touches. We also have a couple of vegans coming, and it would be nice to have something they could eat too.

Here are some things I'm thinking of so far:
- Scotched quail's eggs
- chicken satay skewers
- salad rolls
- stuffed fried tofu
- cranachan
- something with pork belly (partner's favourite)
- cheese, oatcake, plum chutney bite
- tattie scones

Imogen
  • Posted by: Imogen
  • December 16, 2018
  • 1495 views
  • 4 Comments

4 Comments

Nancy
Nancy December 16, 2018
Lightbulb time.
A way to have all your themes at the cocktail party would be to use 1 food or 1 technique throughout the cocktail reception.
Thus, chicken. Shots of Tom kha hai and coq a leekie soups, roast chicken, Welsh Rabbit.
Or fish. Smoked salmon canapes, mini fish-and-chips, Thai spring rolls with shrimp in the filling, vegetable caviar & champagne.
Or deep fried anything, starting with the Scots classic Mars bar...
 
creamtea
creamtea December 16, 2018
Just read Nancy's comments and agree, I would simplify. Also, you need to consider what it is that the caterer does well rather than having them experiment with something new and unfamiliar for your big day that you want to run smoothly. Of course, being professional they may do everything well! But just something to consider...
 
creamtea
creamtea December 16, 2018
For the British part, some kind of sausage mix in a pastry casing; a vegan version of that could be meatless with sautéed mushrooms instead. For the Scottish part, a lovely smoked Scottish salmon-based canapé on a bit of grainy bread with a smear of sweet butter (or, inside a tea sandwich). Mini mince pies for a bit of sweet. Vegan spicy Thai-style (Thom Kha style) soup sips (in a shot glass) (coconut milk, lime, chili, tofu etc.). Something along the lines of this: https://simpleveganblog.com/vegan-thai-soup/ (but I have not made this particular recipe myself). Congratulations on your engagement!
 
Nancy
Nancy December 16, 2018
FIrst, congratulations!
Second, I fear you're aiming to do too much in what is only one course of your after-wedding dinner.
Have a look at this guideline for how many appetizers to serve (different varieties, estimated servings per person).
Your eight varieties would do for a party of 200.
Are you having that many at a family-style dinner?
In practice, maybe 4 appetizers total for a party of 100, and so on.
https://twinoakscaterers.com/many-appetizers-make-per-person-dinner-cocktail-party/
Simplify: feature only one or two themes (Scots, Thai, British, Christmas) in the cocktail party, and the others in the dinner. It will also be easier in the kitchen if most or all of the appetizers are made from a similar range of ingredients.
To serve, have platters coded (by color or flowers or something) to distinguish vegan from omnivore, as that's the one people will most need to know.
Omit cranachan in a cocktail party (it's a dessert, I believe) and save for the end of the meal.
 
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