Culturally Inspired Dinner Parties
Do you feel like you always have the same, old dinner parties with the same food? If the Covid era taught us anything, sometimes you have to think outside of the norm and look for some global inspiration. Why not draw inspiration from a country, region or city you’ve always wanted to visit for your next dinner party?
It's so easy to fall into the trap of doing things the same way when you are entertaining, especially if you're short on time. But with a little imagination and inspiration you can create a getaway for your guests, to an exotic virtual location.
Here are some pointers for easily pulling together an international dinner party:
Choose a location you have visited or have always dreamed about visiting. That way you'll be inspired to research the location and have fun with it.
Surf the Internet to find out information about the location. There are many websites who specialize in international cuisine. But don't just look at recipe websites, look for travel sites, tourist information and travel blogs.
Take a trip to your local library or bookstore. Look in the international cookbook section as well as the travel section.
Go for a drive to your local specialty food shops or if you have ethnic stores in your area, take a look for some inspirational ingredients.
Get crafty - go to your local craft store and see if they have any items you can use to help create the environment for your dinner party. Also, check out your local fabric store for fabric that can be used for your table setting rather than your regular table linens, or can be used in conjunction with your table linens.
Find out if there is a particular food or vegetable that's grown in that region and use it as a centerpiece.
While it's nice to have everything within that theme and to be true to that country or region, you can also just use it as a base and then bring in other elements you are comfortable with, such as a dish you want to make that perhaps isn't from that particular region - it's up to you how much or little you do.
But, most of all let your imagination go and have fun!