HIRING YOUR OWN CATERER Hiring a caterer or personal chef can be a fairly daunting experience, especially here on the Costa del Sol, there are cowboys in every industry and catering is no exception. Here are a few pointers to help you find the right chef / company for your event and hopefully help you to negotiate a fair price with quality food and excellent service! 1.Who are your food suppliers? If the source of your food is important to you, find out where it's from. Is it local? Organic? From the supermarket? If so which one? If your being charged extra for organic vegetables and meats, make sure it is! 2.Are you catering any other events on that day? This may seem an odd question to ask, but depending on the size of your event/party and the size of the catering company, taking on too much can effect both the quality of food and quality of service. Remember a good caterer/chef will prepare as close to the date as possible. 3.How many servers to guests will you supply? Obviously this amount will vary greatly depending on the type of event. It is important that there is a sufficient number of servers supplied. If it merely states in your quote waiter/waitress service, find out how many that includes! a good rule of thumb is 1 per 10/14 guests at a seated, formal party, 1 per 20/25 at a more casual tray service and 1 per 35/40 at a buffet style event. Bar tending extra on top. Understaffing can lead to lower quality food, slow drinks, empty glasses and hungry guests! 4.What is included in the price? Any of the following may or may not be included..
5.Is there flexibility in the menus? Be particular, a good chef will accommodate, ask for a number of suggestions, allow yourself some choice. Maybe you have a favorite dish or dessert that you wish to have. 6.Can you help with a plan of timings? It's important to meet and discuss timings, the caterers need to know guest arrival times, length of canapes, length of dinner, length of BBQ, length of bar, whatever the timings maybe, they should consolidate this into a plan agreed on by you. This allows smooth service and punctual quality. 7.Have you catered at this venue before? It can take time for a chef or front of house manager to know his surroundings. It is not vital that they know the venue, it is however vital that they come pre-party for a scout, to find out seating, bar and kitchen arrangements. This avoids last minute panic! 8.Can you cater for kids, allergies and other dietary requirements? The answer to this should (except in extreme circumstances) always be yes. (N.B It is vital to notify your caterer of any extreme and severe allergies) 9.What happens to leftovers? Depending on the type of event it is more than likely there is food leftover. You've paid for the food, ask if it will be packaged and left if you require. 10.What will be the staffs attire? It's nice for the staff to be recognizable from the guests. If its a black bow tie event, it's probably not a good idea for the staff to also be in black bow ties....the attire should match the style of the party whilst at the same time being identifiable. Most companies have a variation on their uniforms.
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Private Dining experiences are becoming more and more in demand in Marbella and across the Costa del Sol. With increased pressure to create restaurant worthy dishes, hosts are turning to personal chefs to give them a wow factor at there next dinner party. We looked into some reasons why. 1. GUEST EXPECTATIONS In recent years, food has increasingly come to the fore as a talking point, hobby and art form. We are constantly reminded of new health fads, new styles of cooking, diverse ingredients, there's even reality TV cooking! With all of this in mind, hiring a private chef has become more desirable than ever. A personal chef takes the pressure off whilst giving you a top quality meal & allowing you, the host, to relax and enjoy your party. 2. LESS STRESS Your private chef handles all the meal prep, cooking and clean-up, meaning you don't have to spend all evening getting stressed in the kitchen! 3. IT'S A PRIVATE SPECIAL OCCASION Normally a dinner party is held to celebrate a special occasion, a private chef will take care of all your catering, leaving you free to eat, drink and relax with your family and friends in the intimacy of your own home. After all a crowded, bustling restaurant is not always what you want for your event or dinner. 4. VARIETY Everybody has their go-to recipes, hiring a private chef allows you as well as your guest to enjoy something new & interesting that you would not normally try at home. 5. KID FRIENDLY Anyone who has kids knows how trying it can be to go for dinner with the children! Hiring a chef allows you to wine & dine happily with friends whilst the little ones are tucked up in bed. It can also save you a taxi and babysitting bill! 6. WINE Not only do you not have to fork out for a taxi, but you also don't need to pay highly inflated prices on wine, buy from a store and you'll find prices at around 20% of what you would pay in a restaurant. If your interested in hiring a Private Chef for your catering in Marbella and surrounding areas, please get in touch.   When catering in Marbella or anywhere on the coast of Spain for that matter it´s vital to pick the freshest fish at the closest time to cooking. We tend to keep our fish iced at all times, this goes a long way in aiding in both flavour and texture. Often I will look around the whole market before picking the best stall, but be warned, you need to be early for the best catch! If the stall has an odour turn away! I find Marbella mercado municipal excellent, behind the old town on the top floor, also Estepona port in the morning (very early) when they´re bringing the fish in. A private chefs dream. So here´s a quick bullet point guide....happy fishing!
If your worried about preparing the fish for cooking, get the stallholder to do it for you, they´re normally happy to do so...I normally get them to at least clean and scale them, it´s a messy job and they´re better equipped for it!
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| A roast dinner is not complete without crispy roast potatoes. Pick floury potatoes such as a King Edward or Maris Piper, if you can't find in Marbella, look for "Patatas para cocinar" rather than "para freir". Parboil them (just until the edges are starting to soften) drain and spread on a tray. Season well with salt, white pepper, crushed garlic and any fresh chopped herbs you like (thyme and rosemary work well). Drizzle with olive oil or butter and leave to cool, this acts almost like a marinade and can be done the day before and chilled. Preheat the baking tray with a thin layer of sunflower oil and carefully throw in potatoes...this will give you the fluffiest, crispiest roasties in town. We did a recent Sunday catering job in Marbella and these were the star of the show! |  |
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GRAVY, GRAVY AND MORE GRAVY
There is no harm in using a bit of Bisto to thicken your gravy. It can be used as an effective base and carrier for a host of flavours, use vegetable trimmings, tomato bits, roasted onion, red wine, roasted meat trimmings, herb stalks....pretty much anything hanging around. Boil these up to make a simple stock and thicken to taste with your Bisto, don't make it too thick!!!
Place onion, carrot tops and garlic under your meat before roasting, this will enhance the flavours of the meat juice. Whisk the meat juice in to the gravy before serving. Again you can make the base gravy the day before ready for a reheat.
Place onion, carrot tops and garlic under your meat before roasting, this will enhance the flavours of the meat juice. Whisk the meat juice in to the gravy before serving. Again you can make the base gravy the day before ready for a reheat.
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THE MAIN EVENT
 | Treat your meat with the respect it deserves. Buy quality if possible, it is better to eat humane meat less frequently than inhumane everyday. Rub your meat of choice with butter or olive oil and season heavily with salt and pepper...remember you will be slicing the meat,the only part seasoned will be the edge, don't be shy! Add other flavours, Garlic, Rosemary and Thyme work very well on most meats, Mustard is great rubbed on Beef and Lamb. Leave your Meat to get to room temp and raise it off the bottom of the pan with some onion wedges and carrot tops. This will help your meat cook more evenly. |
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YOUR SIDES
| You can get a pretty decent roast in a fair few places in Marbella these days. A lot however let themselves down with thoughtless sides. A roast dinner is a dish in its own right, bringing some love into the 'trimmings' just brings it up that extra notch. Instead of just boiling some veg up, try experimenting with flavours and cooking techniques, look in your cupboards and your fridge to see what needs using up. That leftover rasher of bacon can bring a bit of joy to some butter steamed cabbage, some pine nuts in your stuffing or that half bag of dried apricots could sweeten up the dullest of stuffings! |  |
Alternatively you could just call us
and we'll come and cater it all for you!
Author
Neil Walton is an experienced chef with 25 plus years in the kitchen.
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