Our second ‘tale from the table’ comes from Ian who was born in Twickenham, England and who’s formative years were vastly influenced by British pop music of the 1990s – think Oasis, Blur, Pulp and The Smiths and you’ll be getting warm.
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Since I started Chairman of the Breadboard I’ve been truly blessed with my clientele. They are people I genuinely enjoy working with who understand that the Breadboard team will always go the extra mile to make an event successful and special. I get a lot of repeat business and referrals and for that I am truly grateful.
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It’s not just the delicious, gorgeously presented food that made me LOVE working with Kellee Douglas and her team at Chairman of the Breadboard.
Kellee was incredibly helpful from the early planning stages, and was very clear about what she needed in the space, how to set up the function and so on. She worked with me to create a run-sheet for the event so that food and socialising and entertainment all converged cohesively. With absolute attention to detail she also talked us through our options for other kinds of support that we needed – party and cold room hire, sourcing well priced beverages etc. which helped us to lessen the costs.
Kellee’s insight and wisdom from experience helped create a most memorable and stress-free event!
Because the backstories to the events I cater are so interesting, I decided it’s high time I shared a few of these ‘tales from the table’ with you, highlighting a featured dish that went down a treat with guests at the do in question. The first in this series is from a Scottish-themed 50th birthday party of all things. Why the tartan trend? Well, you’ll have to read on to find out…
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Chairman of the Breadboard recently catered a surprise wedding. Yep – you heard right. The nuptials were a surprise to all the guests apart from the bride and groom, the party organiser (in this case the bride-to-be’s sister), me and my helpers on the day.
I’m not sure how long the lady who engaged us as the caterer at this event (originally billed as an engagement party) had been in on the secret. My guess is a lot sooner than we were told about it, which was pretty much at the last minute.
I can’t say I blame them for late notice, though. It seems any time one mentions the words ‘bridal’, ‘wedding’ or ‘marriage’ the price of everything jumps by at least 30 percent. And the fact that this was to be a wedding instead of an engagement party really didn’t change the menu or the serving scenario at all. All we had to do was keep mum and not spoil the surprise for the guests.
It went off without a hitch – the guests were suitably taken aback yet delighted at the surprise and the happy couple were clearly more interested in getting married than staging an expensive, stressful wedding. And as I watched the brief but love-filled ceremony I was reminded of Billy Crystal’s line from the movie When Harry Met Sally:
“I came here tonight because when you realize you want to spend the rest of your life with somebody, you want the rest of your life to start as soon as possible.”
Here’s to more surprise weddings, I say.
![Summer_Salad_Tarts[1]](http://chairmanofthebreadboard.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Summer_Salad_Tarts1-e1485907760181-169x300.jpg)
June, 2016 – Helen says: “Oh my goodness if you want a stress free party call Kellee. Professional, blends in, beautiful food, heaps of it, great price. I will be calling on you again, a big big thank you.”
Thai Chicken – with Asian flavours of coriander, ginger & sweet chilli
Turkey & Cranberry – served with spicy plum sauce
Preparation Time – 10 minutes (the day/night before baking) 10 minutes (assembly on the day of cooking)
Cooking Time – approximately 45 minutes
Ingredients:
Method:
Serves 8-10
I watched that movie The Hundred Foot Journey again on the weekend, marvelling as I always do that food brings people together more often than it drives them apart.
I saw something else this time too – the young Indian chef’s (Hassan’s) willingness to break with tradition, not just those of his family and homeland but the almost sacred traditions of French cuisine as well.
The best example of this to my mind is the exchange between Hassan and Helen Mirren’s character, Madame Mallory, the stitched up restaurateur bent on obtaining two Michelin stars.
Madame Mallory: What is this flavour that is fighting against the chicken?
Hassan: I added some spices for flavour to the sauce, and coriander for garnish and freshness.
Madame Mallory: But why change a recipe that is 200 years old?
Hassan: Because, madam, maybe 200 years is long enough.
Long enough indeed. And with that, Madame Mallory turns away as if no other explanation is necessary.
Relive the moment here.
Yours in good food and great events.
Kellee
There’s a quote from the 1990s film Mermaids about cocktail food that never fails to makes me smile. Rachel Flax (played by Cher) is an unconventional, embarrassingly sexy single mother of two headstrong girls, living in a conservative Massachusetts town. Her teenage daughter, Charlotte (played by Winona Ryder) describes Mrs Flax like this to one of her mother’s potential boyfriends: “…..a word on Mrs. Flax and food, the word is hors d’oeuvres. Fun Finger Foods are her main source book and that’s all the woman cooks. Anything else, she says, is too much of a commitment.”
That may not be as crazy as it sounds. I get asked all the time if cocktail food is going to be enough to satisfy hungry guests, particularly when the function is in the late afternoon or evening and alcohol is being served. How many times have you attended a cocktail party when the trays of drinks are brought around more frequently than trays of food?
There are various subliminal signals an invited guest receives about whether or not there’ll be enough to eat – such as the timing of the event, for example. A 5.30 to 7.00pm timeframe definitely indicates that this is technically a ‘cocktail’ function with a drink or two and a nibble on offer, as opposed to a meal. You’d expect that guests would heed that signal and limit their alcohol intake at such a function, knowing there won’t be too much in the way of food. But how often does that not turn out to be the case?
My view as a gourmet caterer is that if you are serving alcohol you need to vary your cocktail menu to include some substantial items in addition to the light nibbly pieces. This can be done very easily and cost effectively with items like:
You don’t have to put on a full meal for your guests just because you’re serving alcohol – a clever selection of light items and more substantial cocktail food will do the trick. You will have done your part as a responsible event host/hostess and no one will ever suspect that you may, like Mrs Flax, feel that a full meal is too much of a commitment.
Yours in good food and great events.
Kellee
Call Kellee : 0412 577 323
Email Kellee : kellee@thebreadboard.com.au
Connect with Kellee and Chairman of the Breadboard