So you are throwing a cocktail party?

TRYING SOMETHING DIFFERENT. If the idea of throwing a cocktail party fills you with trepidation, well, if it is any consolation, you are not alone.

1: Make copious lists
I am not kidding. You might take this lightly, but there are no short cuts. Planning is everything and will guarantee avoiding disasters. Go through and study each recipe that you have chosen, making sure to write down all the items that you will need. These will include serviettes, toothpicks, ice, Ziplocs and if you are staying in an apartment heavy duty garbage bags that would fall under “stores to be visited.” Make another list of the food that you will be serving and what you are serving it on or with viz. trays, utensils, trays and little bowls for discarded wooden picks or olive pits.
Over time, one gets to collect a plethora of things and for a number of reasons these are kept locked away in a room. It helps if you collect everything in one place and clean them ready to be used for the occasion. When the event is over, it is as good a time as any to make a cheat sheet and when you tuck them away you will know exactly where to find them the next time you are having a party.

2: Get help
Entertaining 20 or more people can be tricky and I would suggest hiring a bartender and a waitress to pass around the finger food. Speaking of which, uniforms are a must and this is not debatable. Trust me, it is money well spent. Renting glassware (serve all drinks in the same kind of glass), flatware and plates will make your life so much easier and spare you unnecessary grief.

3: Serve simple but elegant things that offer high drama
Avoid time consuming items that you may not be familiar with and as much as possible stick with things that you know and feel comfortable doing. Come up with something novel such as having an enormous bowl of (unstuffed) cherry tomatoes. Another item that would go down well would be those wonderful toasted wafer of the Indian bread called poppadaums. Stack them on a plate as high as they will go and serve them with a cold dip and plan on having good olives, pate, cheese, baguettes with this additives allowing you abundance with minimal effort.

4: Maximise space
If you are staying in a flat or apartment; remove everything you don’t need from the kitchen. Clean out the fridge and the freezer and keep cold drinks and bags of ice in the bath tub or veranda and you can rent an ice chest from the same place where you will be getting your plates and flatware. Trays or baking sheets of canapés will stack nicely if you use juice glasses as pillars to separate them.

5: Timing is everything
Figure out how many hors d’oeuvres (or components thereof) can be made ahead of time, and then devise a game plan.

6: The food should suit the purpose of the party
At a more formal affair, don’t serve food that is sloppy or too participatory and this includes your much loved and famous Katogo of offals and beans. Make nibbles neat and bite size and save something like a beef fondue for a get together after a day at the beach.

7: You can never have too much ice
Running out of the all important cubes is mortifying and akin to running out of loo paper while hosting a cocktail party. Don’t embarrass yourself and run out; buy tons. Where I live a 50 kg bag costs Shs15,000.

8: Mix up batches of drinks
It’s festive, and guests will have one and then most likely switch to wine or beer. Again, running out is unforgivable and your guests will crucify you! Order plenty of good quality liquor and no cheap roadside gins please.

9: Do the math
Think about the variety of dishes you want and the richness of each one. Following is a very general (and very generous I might add) guideline: For eight to 10 guests, serve a minimum of four types of hors d’oeuvres; each person will eat three or four of each type. For 14 to 16 guests, serve five or six starters; each guest will have two or three each of one. For 20 to 30 guests, plan on serving at least seven to eight starters and (hopefully) each guest will have one or two.

10: So guests start arriving and you are not ready!
Indeed it’s kind of a metaphor for life, not so? Take a deep breath. Go mingle for 15 minutes and then slide back stealthily into the kitchen. (No one will notice.) You are giving the party, and everybody is thrilled to be invited and remember: you are the man (even if you are a woman...)!

editorial@ug.nationmedia.com