No party is complete without the smell of good food to entice the guests while the celebration is ongoing. As the planner or the person assigned to prepare the food, you’re probably stressing out over how you’ll be presenting the meals and which food items will you be putting on the menu? Your guests don’t share the same stomach, and they sure as hell don’t share a single and unified palate either. Some have allergies while others have a dietary need they want to fulfil. As such, it is a must to visualize what you’re going to serve.
No worries though, because here at PlatternBoe, we want to help you with your food preparations. As fellow food lovers and so here are our grazing table menu ideas just for you.
Get to Know your Grazing Table: Where will You Eat?
Though we do not know the origins of a grazing table, there is a distinct kind of grazing table found in the Philippines that could be the origin of grazing tables. Long before the grazing table became a global trend, Filipinos already have what they call a ‘Boodle Fight’. Instead of using cutlery and plates, they serve the food on top of a table that has a banana leaf separating the food from touching the table itself. Rice would run along the middle of the table with a variety of Filipino delicacies and food staples like squid, red eggs, roasted chicken, fried fish, tomatoes, pancit, and many more. Their grazing table is one that everyone loves because of how everyone enjoys the time spent together with good food.
With this in mind, the components of a scrumptious grazing table are: a variety of scrumptious flavours, food, and a table. No matter how big or small, as long as you have a table to set the food upon and masterfully arrange the food and make them look appetizing, then you have what you need. Organized chaos is the best way to describe such a setup because of the placing of the food. It’s a beautiful mess of cheese, meat, fruits, crackers, and many more that adds to the value of the food itself. The food could be placed on top of wooden boards, platters, a counter or any flat surface that you could think of.
Now that you have a clearer idea of what a grazing table is, here is our collection of ideas for your table.
Grazing Table Ideas: An Arrangement to Chomp On
Each of these ideas will surely give your dining table the attention it deserves when eating food, and capture the guests’ full attention.
A quick and friendly reminder: You can always customize and enhance any of the suggestions you fancy in this list. But more importantly, make sure that you choose the appropriate types of food and that your venue is safe and convenient enough so that insects will not flock to your servings. Make sure that they can easily be covered when served outdoors and are under a shade to ensure the quality of the food is not degraded by the heat.
Also, be mindful of the fact that your guests may not eat everything on the table. Avoid feeding your guests too little or too many.
- For the Carnivores
- For the Vegans
- For the Omnivores
- For the Sweet Tooth
- For the Thalassophile
- For the Pescatarian
- For the Turophile
1. For the Carnivores
The most common of all the grazing table ideas is a Charcuterie one since it’s all about the meat. Pick some produce from your local deli provider and assemble your cured meat on the table. The wooden boards and glassware give your table that rustic dining feel. Picture a peaceful atmosphere washing over your palette as you try out the various selection of meats that range from Salami, Jamon, Serrano, Bresaola, Prosciutto, Mortadella, Chorizo, Pate, and many more kinds of meat. Pair them with crackers and a variety of fruits like grapes or oranges to counter the meaty flavor. A glass of red wine refreshes your guest’s thirst as they all chow down on the savoury food.
2. For the Vegans
For your health conscious guests, here are some simple grazing table ideas that would surely satisfy both their stomach and their palate. Create a pretty grazing with some foliage to adorn the table and some baskets to put the finger sized veggies in. Baby carrots, vegan pate, butternut squash pasta, and possibly some vegan ice cream are some of the nibbles you can serve your vegan loved ones. Also, add some garlic bread, crackers, nuts, pickled radish, and breadsticks to add volume to your table. Want something more flavorful and enticing? Try veggies wrapped in rice wrap and lettuce and enjoy them with a variety of sauces. The lovely array of colors will surely stimulate the appetite of your vegan guests.
3. For the Omnivores
This is a grazing table for both the vegan and carnivore in you and your guests. Add meat and veggies on the table and watch as your guests flock to it, and get a bite out of the many choices of deli and produce. A slice of salami with garlic bread and salsa sounds like a scrumptious choice. With a bit of ranch-dipped baby carrots, we could feel our mouth water just from imagining the foods you could put on your table. Add small pizzas on the outer or inner part of the table to add that bit of beautifully mixed cheese, deli, and possibly veggies.
4. For the Sweet Tooth
Who doesn’t want dessert? After every meal, it is the grand finale that people would gladly make space for no matter how much food they’ve already stuffed their bellies with. From candies to pastry to chocolates, make sure your grazing table has it all. Just be careful with placing the food where children can easily reach it, as they may finish it even before your adult sweet tooths arrive. A stack of brownies with piles of blueberry and strawberry muffins paired with ice scones and a chocolate fountain sounds like the perfect sweet tooth haven that your guests are ever going to taste.
5. For the Thalassophile
If your theme is Under the Sea, here is the grazing table idea just for you! Your sea lovers are definitely going to love this with your aquamarine plates and silver cutlery paired with an array of seafood like mussels, oysters, lobsters, shrimp, lemon, and olive oil. A sushi platter is also a definite addition in a seafood-inspired grazing table for that extravagant and uniquely Japanese experience.
6. For the Pescitarian
Want fish and no meat? No problem! Make fish the star of your table with sushi or thinly sliced salmon paired with bread, hummus, nuts and bite-sized vegetables. This is a mixture of the ideas in numbers 2 and 5, since you never know whether your pescitatians want something purely veganor if they care craving for a selection of seafood. Combine both creates a new kind of grazing table, fit for any theme you want for your party.
7. For the Turophile
We saved the dairiest for last. As a fellow turophile, we know how pleasing it is to just munch on cheese without any other condiment, meat, or vegetable in sight. Think of it like a cheese haven that you can eat with bread, sticks, or crackers. Or, perhaps you can pair it with a few meat selections, and complement it with the nutty flavor of Asiago cheese. Add some blue cheese, brie, bocconcini, cheddar, curds or Colby Jack Cheese. Here’s the best part: You can pair your cheese selections with a bottle of wine for your “Cheese Tasting” themed party.
Best Grazing Table Ideas: More on the Menu
These are our finest grazing table ideas! We focused more on the menu since they can be utilized in any kind of themed party especially when you consider the individual dietary choices of your guests. It’s an array of sweet, savoury, and a mix of anything and everything in between the food spectrum.
Planning the menu, theme, and design of your next party tends to be exhausting, so why not celebrate with us? We’ll handle the part of satisfying your guests’ tastebuds with our grazing table choices here at PlatternBoe. We’ll handle your visually pleasing table and provide you with locally sourced and quality food for your next party.
Happy celebration!