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COOKING, SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO
BY DEENA OMAR
With Ramadan fast approaching, it’s time
to start thinking about the social agenda that comes part and parcel
with the holy month. There’s family to visit, friends to meet
and a whole month of iftars and sohours to consider. For many companies
and individuals, there are also events to arrange. While some people
prefer to hold their events in a restaurant or kheima (Ramadan tent),
not all venues come with catering. Whether you’re organizing
the company’s annual staff iftar (fast-breaking meal) on the
eighth floor, or planning a sohour (pre-dawn meal) in your villa
for two dozen of your closest friends and family, you will have
to make a decision – do you cook and serve the food yourself,
or bring the professionals to do it for you?
Increasingly, say some of Cairo’s top caterers, Egyptians
with the space to do so are choosing to organize catered Ramadan
iftars and sohours at home. “People who have their own villas
in Mariottiya or Qattamiya Heights are holding more outdoor events
using their own space as a substitute for doing the same events
in five-star hotels,” a catering specialist from Le Pacha
1901 told Business Monthly. Companies are also seeking new options,
erecting tents outside their corporate headquarters in the Smart
Village, renting villas in Mansouriya, or holding iftars for their
clients in stunning historic locations, such as the forecourt of
the Baron’s Palace.
Once a venue has been decided, the big question is who will cater
it. Catering companies come in all types – some provide only
the food; others will supply the food, the service and even the
decoration, if needed. In addition, a number of luxury hotels and
restaurants lend out their catering staff to corporate and private
gatherings. There is no one-size-fits-all formula when deciding
on a caterer, but there are a few steps to ensure that your caterer
is up to the task.
But first, you will need to know where to look. “Word of mouth
is the most [reliable way] when choosing a caterer,” says
our source from Le Pacha 1901. He suggests asking your friends about
their experiences with different caterers or simply calling local
event organizers, who can tell you what kind of experience they
get from the catering companies they deal with.
“The brand name is also significant,” points out an
event coordinator at the Conrad Cairo Hotel. She says commissioning
a caterer with an established name can save you a lot of research
effort. And a lot of headaches. The pros have a reputation to uphold,
and are solid performers when it comes to service and food quality.
They also deal regularly with vendors who can provide entertainment
and special decoration arrangements, if required.
The biggest names in the catering business may be worth the price,
but they might be booked solid, or simply overkill for a modest
iftar in your garden. In this case, you might consider one of the
myriad of small catering firms – many of which have a proven
track record of managing small gatherings. Should you decide to
go this route, be sure to ask the catering company for its list
of clients. And don’t be afraid to pay the caterer a visit
to check out the kitchen and the level of cleanliness. In fact,
many clients insist on this before hiring.
While most people are apprehensive about revealing their budget
when talking to a caterer, identifying your budget up front saves
time and effort. Give the caterer a ballpark figure for the total
cost of the event. This will help eliminate certain options and
assist your caterer in providing the best food and service package
within your budget.
You’ll want to consider what you’re prepared to spend
per person and multiply this by the number of people you expect
to attend the event. Often that’s easier said than done. Caterers
that Business Monthly spoke to recommended that you include an RSVP
line in your invitations in order to know roughly the number of
people who will actually show up. But Egyptians are notoriously
delinquent when it comes to replying to RSVPs, and frustratingly
fickle, often waiting until the last minute to weigh their social
options, then pick the best.
Caterers are aware of this, and often have good advice on estimating
the actual turnout. They may also be able to make suggestions based
on an optimum price per person. However, a good caterer should be
able to accommodate last minute changes, whether an increase in
the number of guests or alterations to the menu items. “It
is indispensable to be extremely responsive in this business,”
explains one of the co-partners of Tandoori, a small Indian restaurant
in Cairo that does the bulk of its business catering local and international
fare to corporate gatherings and weddings. She affirmed that her
catering team can accommodate an increase in the number of guests,
even if informed about it on the day of the event. But other caterers
may need up to 48 hours to prepare if your guest list suddenly grows.
Caterers usually provide you with their preset menus to choose from,
but you can also create a custom menu to suit your individual event.
The menu you select will determine the cost of the catering. For
instance, if you want a whole roast lamb for your guests, or a greater
variety of entrées and desserts for your buffet, the price
per person will definitely increase. “We sit with the customer
and go through the items of the menu and [explain] how each item
is prepared and using which ingredients. This also helps the customer
to decide upon the price relative to the menu items,” our
Conrad source explains.
A Ramadan theme menu might seem simple enough, but getting down
to the smallest details is essential. For a typical iftar menu,
most caterers will provide you with a menu that includes traditional
drinks such as qamareddin or kharoub; one or two types of soup;
hot and cold mezzat (appetizers); entrées such as roast lamb,
mixed grill or veal shanks; and oriental pastries such as konafa,
basbousa and balah al sham. Some caterers are also able to provide
shisha and hot drinks (including mint tea and sahlab) after the
meal.
Our source at Le Pacha 1901 says most clients prefer an open buffet
over a set menu for their Ramadan events. And while Oriental menus
are the norm for the holy month, an international or hybrid menu
can be arranged. Some people may even prefer an international menu
as a break from the Ramadan routine, especially during the tail
end of the month.
Regardless of the menu theme you choose, it’s the quality
and the taste of food that your guests will judge. “The quality
of the food is the key criterion that distinguishes a good caterer,”
explains our source from Tandoori. She advises that customers inquire
about the ingredients and recipes that will be used. Some caterers
may even agree to arrange a taste panel, which gives both the caterer
and the client a chance to fine tune the menu before the event.
Caterers usually prepare the food in their own kitchens and use
gas cookers to keep the food warm at the venue. The crew may also
include a few chefs, who cook barbecued meat or prepare pasta dishes
at the venue itself. “Cooking the food in front of the guests
is also a part of the show,” says our Le Pacha 1901 source.
A catering line is usually divided into two lines – a cold
line, which includes refrigeration and freezing units for the ingredients
or cold dishes to be served at the venue; and a hot line, which
includes ovens, steam boilers, boiling pans, frying equipment, baking
equipment and grills. Additionally, there is the service equipment,
which consists of serving trays, chinaware and cutlery, as well
as back area equipment for washing dishes and preparing food.
Your caterer should provide all necessary equipment. This is particularly
important for outdoor events, which require more logistics. If you
are hosting your family or friends for an iftar or sohour at your
home, you may prefer to use your own chinaware and silverware. Small
caterers are usually more flexible in this, but larger caterers,
which often require a minimum number of guests, may be reluctant
to risk their reputation on the possibility of finding mismatched
plates or running out of cutlery.
Whether you are using your garden or the company’s meeting
room as the venue, a good caterer will insist on doing a site inspection
before accepting the commission. “We always do a site inspection
before the event in order to see if there is enough space for the
number of people invited,” says our source at the Conrad.
“Also, the inspection helps us to decide upon the best set-up
and the optimum number of people that would fit in the available
space.”
The site inspection allows caterers to identify any space limitations
in the venue. A small family gathering in the client’s home
may not have enough open area to set up a barbecue station, while
a small kitchen will mean the caterer has to prepare everything
in their own kitchen before the event.
Finally, if you really want to have the best service from your caterer,
you need to contact him well in advance. You might be able to organize
a caterer for smaller events on 24 to 48 hours’ notice, but
for events with more than 50 people, a full week to 10 days’
notice is recommended. “Sometimes we have several events at
the same time. Some of these events are very big so we need enough
time to plan for an outside event and to check the availability
of our staff,” our Conrad source explained.
Last minute planning can jeopardize your event as your preferred
caterer might already be booked, especially during the busy Ramadan
period. It might also force you to make compromises in the menu,
as some dishes need to be prepared in advance, such as marinated
food items. And your guests, well, they probably have a dozen other
Ramadan events to choose from. If you don’t give them enough
notice you could end up with great food and service, but nobody
to appreciate it.
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