What to serve for dinner party

Taiwan Living in Taiwan
1

Been thinking of organizing another dinner party at my house for some friends and was wondering what western dishes go over well with the Taiwanese. I mean besides pasta…

Last time I tried the dinner and movie evening I made a nice chilli and while my guests told me they liked it, most left their bowls half-full when they went home. I guess they didn’t dig the whole Texmex experience.

So I was wondering what other forumosans’ experiences are with the western dinner party.

Hans

2

Chilli does not seem to go down too well with the Taiwanese crowd. Steak of some sort seems to be a pretty good bet. One big hit I had once was with orange-glazed baby carrots. The Taiwanese guests raved about it and had helping after helping until it was all gone. I’ll never be able to understand that.

3
  • Salad is always good on the menu.
  • Both Cold and hot pasta. You can do a cold pasta as a starter or even as main dish, either way, it works fine.
  • Cheese & Ham on crackers
  • Baked Potato or Baked Pasta (well, I like pasta, what can I say)
  • Veggies with dips, good food to snack.

More to come…

4

huge pot of clams italian style

5

I prefer bearded clams myself :laughing:

Try the old 70s game of getting your guests to drop their keys in the punch bowl. Only make sure the girl/boy ratio is equal, unless you are a switch hitter. For the other type of food, tacos always are good.

Chewy

6

How about liver and fava beans, with a nice bottle of Chianti?

7

Nice suggestion Dr. Hannibal. Perhaps some sweet breads as well then too?

Hans

8

Shephards Pie

9

Last time I fed a bunch of Taiwanese I bought three pork tenderloins from Costco, marinated them in a chardonnay and rosemary vinegar marinade, rolled them in a crust of herbs and a small amount of Sichuan peppers and cooked them over charcoal. Served with potatoes dauphinoise and snow peas in a cream and bacon glaze. Starter was a smoked salmon & avocado remoulade and dessert was… can’t remember… could have been creme brulee – I know there was a blowtorch involved.

Anyway, I could hardly get the stuff on the plates. Gone in 60 seconds.
And the charcoal cooking makes a great conversation piece – Taiwanese ALWAYS freak out (in a pleasant way) at the idea of having “Kao rou” in an elegant setting. Sorry if that sounds like stereotyping, but its true.

10

Sandman, how come you’ve never opened your own restaurant? I’m sure it would be a smash hit and you’d be booked up weeks in advance.

11

Look at my profile. I’m listed as a semi-pro slacker. I have worked as a chef and restaurant work is haaaaard!

12

'Nuf said. You wouldn’t have much time for posting here if you were trying to run a good restaurant.