"So what we were thinking was street food...... but English....." said the bride and groom to be when I met them at the beginning of this year. The bride had Malaysian family, while the groom had english - so this was the perfect way to suit both families. The Malaysian contingent would expect having a number of dishes on the table from which they could serve themselves, so this seemed a good way of introducing them to some more english styles of food.
A few years ago we served a thai menu as overlarge canapes - a cross between canapés and finger buffet but served like canapés on individual mini plates by waiting staff as guests stood chatting. The bride and groom to be wanted to go for very much the same kind of idea for this event, but for the guests to be seated at the table.
What was more this was to be served up from an open kitchen - while we do lots of events in houses where the dining area is open plan with the kitchen so you're effectively cooking in front of the guests it is not so common for marquee weddings - but we'll try anything! The guests seemed to love looking over at what was coming to their table.
"I love the sky in this one!" said Alys - part time chef, part time photography student. This was the real colour of the sky at around 2pm. You can guess what happened next.......
Weddings in tipis - I love them. This was the bar/ lounge/ dancefloor area with a more traditional marquee tacked on to the back for dining. So much more character than just a normal marquee!
As guests arrived we served mulled cider - a great winter warmer!
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| Open kitchen - almost ready to go........ |
English street food
If only street food was as popular in this country as it is in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and so on. If it was, I think these dishes might be something street vendors might serve.......
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| Mini beef wellington with red wine sauce |
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| Beef wellington around midnight the night before. |
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| Beef wellington - before the top - spinach, wild mushrooms and chicken liver pate inside |
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Chicken in Herefordshire
cider and apples - served in individual
bread tartlets
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With so many different dishes I wanted to serve each on a different style of plate - this one we served in bread tartlets - 1 per person. You butter the bread, mould them into yorkshire pudding tins and bake them. So if you're really hungry at the wedding you can even eat the bowl!
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| Lancashire hot pot |
Bubble and squeak cakes on watercress salad in bamboo boats
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| Found these bamboo boats for the bubble and squeak above - looked quite good! |
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| Good old english fish (goujons) and chips |
There was also leek and potato pie which we served on mini sur le plate dishes with a heart shaped puff pastry lid - but unfortunately with so much going on we didn't manage to snap that one.
