This easy quiz will help you determine whether something is a finger food: 1) Can you easily pick it up with your fingers without making a mess or social faux pas? If yes, then it’s a finger food
With a bit of creativity, there’s an array of foods that could fit into this category. What can’t be literally picked up and eaten, such as perhaps a soup, could be served in small bowls or mini glasses.
“That could also be a shot glass or espresso cup,” says Astrid Schmitt, who owns a catering business in Germany. For things served on a spoon, there’s no need to go out and get special finger-food versions of the utensil: Grandma’s silver or a bunch of soup spoons work just as well.
Schmitt uses spoons for a composition made from ham, apple, cream cheese and melon balls, for example, or a salmon comfit with black sesame seeds, horseradish cream cheese and caviar.
Cream cheese is a favourite with many caterers who provide finger foods. “Almost everyone likes the taste and it goes well with various flavours, from olives to strawberries,” says Schmitt. In addition, it’s a great adherent, holding a canape’s decor firmly in place.
Schmitt is a fan of serving finger food at events she caters: “It’s uncomplicated. You can munch on whatever you want, whenever you want, throughout the course of the evening until you’re full.”
There’s a few things to watch out for when coming up with your finger food menu. One way to get in the right mindset is to ask whether you could eat said dish while holding a glass of wine in the other hand.
To make sure your guests have enough to eat, Schmitt recommends about 10-15 finger food bites per guest, depending on how big the portions are. Since finger foods are meant for events where guests move around and socialise, you can invite more people than you have seats for.
Preparing finger foods for a large number of guests can take a lot of time and effort, so good planning is essential. The most important thing is to make sure the various courses can be easily prepared ahead of time: For example, plating the dessert ahead of time and then having it ready to be taken out when the timing is right. – dpa
