Easter is celebrated in many places. Among smaller hotels, conference facilities, and not least in schools, healthcare, and social care. A smorgasbord of delicious Easter treats is often as fun to cook and serve as it is to be invited to. A buffet is appreciated by most people, but unfortunately often leads to a lot of food being left over and ultimately thrown away. To avoid this, we would like to offer you some tips.
Planning is essential
Often when there is a buffet, it is counted carelessly, which leads to far too much food being prepared. If you plan well and calculate carefully how much food needs to be bought and prepared, a lot is gained right from the start.
Diet the buffet
At a rich buffet table, the guest is often full after the first portion. Which in turn leads to more leftovers and unnecessary work. Therefore, try to reduce the table of dishes. To reduce the risk of food being thrown away the next day, you can make less of what is best freshly prepared and more of what is good the day after.
Offer a buffet plate
A daring alternative is to break the buffet tradition altogether. Instead, offer a plate with 5 small classic dishes or spend your time putting a festive meal on a plate. Think outside the box!
Cool the food quickly
How far in advance can you prepare your Easter food and how long does it keep in the fridge? Easter food is generally quite durable and the fridge is your best friend. Both sausages, salmon, and meatballs are prepared and last a long time if you make sure to work with the right hand and with temperatures according to the Food Act. Warming should be shortened as much as possible and cooling to 8°C should not take more than six hours. If you then heat the food as the guests arrive, you can drastically reduce your serving waste. Be sure to clear the table of the leftover food as soon as the guests have finished eating.
How long does food last in the fridge? If you store the leftovers in the fridge at 4-5°C and have handled them correctly, you can keep them in the fridge for almost a week. As always, we recommend that you as a chef use your senses to ensure the quality of the food. Look, smell and taste the food before and after you reheat it properly and serve the food again.
Offer guests to take food home
Buy a couple of lunch boxes at the same time as you do your shopping. Then portion out the leftover food in the boxes and offer the guests to buy to take home.
The old man's mess is made on Easter Sunday
Yes, the old man's mess is of course made the day after Easter Eve, it's a long time ago. Namely, it is made to be cooked with the leftovers that are usually left over from the Easter lunch.
Skip the buffet
A recommended method for both elderly care and preschool activities that serve food outside inwards is to pull out the Easter table over the entire Easter week. That is, serve Easter food all week, one dish per day instead of all in one day. The method can also work well in a school restaurant. See our proposal for an Easter menu below.
If you also start each day with eggs and herring as a side dish for breakfast, you have not only increased your intake of vitamins A and D and omega-3. By the end of the week, you may have succeeded in getting more of your slightly younger guests to dare to taste the herring.
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