Review My Menu

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

I am Canadian and FI is Greek (but grew up in the Bahamas) and that is where we are getting married so I wanted to do a little taste of each place for our guests. I think there is a good balance of Vegetarian/ Fish/ Meat dishes but would love some feedback. I'm also thinking of swapping out the "Mini Tourtiere" item for a "design your own risotto" station so that can accommodate both meat and veg eaters.

The style of the reception is cocktail but with tons of smaller rounds and lounge seating (so everyone has somewhere to sit) but most things will be bite size/ mini to accommodate people eating while they mingle. Drinks will be 2 kinds of beer, a red and white wine and 3 signature drinks (2 alcoholic, one non) + water and soda.

Let me know your thoughts!

Passed Apps:

Prosciutto Wrapped Dates, Stuffed with Cheese

Smoked Salmon in Cucumber Cups

Curried Conch Bites

Stuffed Mushrooms (V)

Lamb Meatballs with Tzatziki

Coconut Shrimp

Spanokopita Bites (V)

Stations:

Canadian:

Pulled Pork on a Bun

Canadian Summer Corn Salad (v)

Mini Tourtiere (Or Risotto Station?)

Poutine, Duck, Lobster, or Vegetarian (V)

Bahamian;

Herb Grilled Wahoo

Garlic Fried Plantians (V)

Conch Salad Shooters

Cole Slaw (V)

Greek:

Chicken Souvlaki With Tzatziki

Greek Salad (V)

Crostinis, served with Meat Ragu, Traditional Bruschetta (V) and Roasted Artichoke(V)

Grilled Pita served with Humus, Scordalia, and Olive Tapenade (V)

ShesSoCold · September 2014

Sounds great to me!

Unsolicited advice - but I had to pay slightly more per person for my cocktail style reception than what was typical for a cocktail hour before the reception because it was meant to fill everyone up as a sit down meal would. Just please make sure that they account for that and they only have one of each option per person.

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

Thanks ShesSoCold !

I think the plan is to have 6-8 pieces per person for the cocktail hour and then at least one of each of the larger things and 2-3 of the small things per person for the actual stations. When I ran through eating all of it in my head I was full before I hit the Greek station.

We're also toying with the idea of midnight pizzas and there will be cupcakes too!

atlastmrsg · September 2014

All sounds good. I'd eat any of those things. I know quite a few people with a serious aversion to anything curry, even the scent of it. Know your guests, if they're into curry, good deal. If you're not sure, an uncurried preparation might be more pleasant.

jacques27 · September 2014

1. I don't really think of pulled pork as uniquely Canadian. If you are inclined to go with the risotto station, I would probably place it instead of the pulled pork rather than replace the tourtiere, which is uniquely Canadian.

2. For the vegetarians, there isn't really a good protein option other than the hummus (and potentially feta if your Greek salad includes it. I don't really think of cole slaw as Bahamian (or uniquely so, unless they have a version that defies all other cole slaws). Could you replace that with something like pigeon peas and rice (just make sure it's not cooked with salt pork) - so that it can serve as a side for those taking fish and provide some protein to the vegetarians? Or do they have a lentil or black bean dish you could add as shooters (like a soup or stew or curried lentils)? I know I've seen various Caribbean cuisines use lentils, but can't speak to anything specifically Bahamian. Or do falafel or some other variation of a chickpea fritter at the Greek station?

3. Just want to verify - the vegetarian poutine is actually vegetarian and not just "meatless"? Cause the killer for most veg*ns wanting poutine is the fact that 95% of the gravy out there is made with stock from an animal (chicken or beef) and it's hard to find truly veg*n poutine unless the place goes out of their way to make a separate mushroom based or other veg gravy using vegetable stock and not animal stock.

southernbelle0915 · September 2014

It all sounds great! The caterers did a great job of incorporating the three cuisines. I think your guests will be really pleased!

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

jacques27 said:

1. I don't really think of pulled pork as uniquely Canadian. If you are inclined to go with the risotto station, I would probably place it instead of the pulled pork rather than replace the tourtiere, which is uniquely Canadian. - I'm not a big fan of Tourtier and my sister had the same reaction to cut it when she saw the menu(FI didn't know what it was and when I told him a kind of meat pie he went "hmmmmm"). It is mainly a french Canadian dish that is more popular in Quebec (none of my family and friends are from there). Hence why we wanted to cut it. The main idea with the pork would be to maple brine it or use a maple BBQ sauce, plus, everyone loves pulled pork!

2. For the vegetarians, there isn't really a good protein option other than the hummus (and potentially feta if your Greek salad includes it. I don't really think of cole slaw as Bahamian (or uniquely so, unless they have a version that defies all other cole slaws). Could you replace that with something like pigeon peas and rice (just make sure it's not cooked with salt pork) - so that it can serve as a side for those taking fish and provide some protein to the vegetarians? Or do they have a lentil or black bean dish you could add as shooters (like a soup or stew or curried lentils)? I know I've seen various Caribbean cuisines use lentils, but can't speak to anything specifically Bahamian. Or do falafel or some other variation of a chickpea fritter at the Greek station? - Having lived here now I can tell you unequivocally that cole slaw is a huge staple dish in Bahamian meals, Bahamian slaw is very similar to regular though the sauce is a little thinner and there is a bit of a spice to it. It is also just about one of the only "salads" that Bahamians eat regularly (aside from potato salad) and conch salad (which we have already included) Peas n' Rice are a possibility to include but we are trying to keep things to portable sizes (cole slaw in a little shot glass etc.) so would have to ask the caterer how they would present it.

3. Just want to verify - the vegetarian poutine is actually vegetarian and not just "meatless"? Cause the killer for most veg*ns wanting poutine is the fact that 95% of the gravy out there is made with stock from an animal (chicken or beef) and it's hard to find truly veg*n poutine unless the place goes out of their way to make a separate mushroom based or other veg gravy using vegetable stock and not animal stock. -LOVE the Falafel idea, will bring it up to my caterer. That also gives a great protein option for the vegetarians (there is only 2)
Yes, I have specifically asked for a vegetarian gravy for the poutine, it will likely be mushroom.

lmcooper86 · September 2014

PPs covered pretty much everything I was going to say, but I wanted to add (as a Canadian): I wouldn't switch out either of your Canadian "mains" for risotto. I think doing a maple pulled pork and tourtiere are both perfectly Canadian, and risotto wouldn't make a whole lot of sense there.

In addition to asking your caterer about falafel (great idea), have you asked your caterer about maybe doing some of the tourtiere with ground soy or textured vegetable protein instead of beef/pork? It may not be entirely authentic, but it would give your vegetarian guests another option a well.

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

I would probably avoid that imcooper86 as the vegetarians we have (one bridesmaid and 2 cousins) don't like the fake meat or anything that looks/ is supposed to taste like meat. I think they would avoid it if it was done that way, defeating the point.

[Deleted User] · September 2014

Holy shit, I want in on this wedding.
Duck Poutine.

Duck.

Poutine

and conch.

If my mouth could get aroused...

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

Thanks pinkrevenge! I'm a huge foodie and home cook so I want the food to be awesome.

SachaBee · September 2014

This all sounds AWESOME.

Re: the risotto, if you think you and your guests would prefer it, that would be more important to me than it being "authentically Canadian". The poutine and maple are good for that anyway! I love risotto. And maple pork. And smoked salmon. And...on and on.

This sounds amazing.

[Deleted User] · September 2014

Can I come?

bahamabride2015 · September 2014

Thanks everyone! All are welcome

Let's play a little game called "if you can find it, you can come!"

Jen4948 · September 2014

Yum! I like your menu. I'd like to attend!

Review My Menu

Re: Review My Menu

Choose Another Board

Search Boards