Catering IS a calling — serving others via food 

Train up a child in the way they should go, and when they grow older, hopefully they will not depart from good advice.

At an early age my sister and I were engaged in the art of catering. We were often the labor force pre-child labor laws — and do they really apply to a mother’s request for help from her children?

Preparing the extravagant bite size food delicacies was highly anticipated. We didn’t consider it work. My mother enjoyed serving the ladies club or at an adult gathering of couples in the New Orleans oil and gas industry.

She liked to do the fancy and simple. She taught me the secret of making finger sandwiches was to freeze the loaf of bread first. While frozen, with a serrated knife, quickly cut the edges off, four slices at a time was optimum. Next spread the topping, open face or sandwich, and slice for the final shape — oblong or triangle — before the bread got soft.

In the 1960s, oil field wives were entertainers. It was a heyday for parties especially in our neighborhood. The next door neighbor was employed by Michoud, part of the NASA program in east New Orleans. Men were the active breadwinners in that era and women were quite capable with household duties and wifely entertaining responsibilities.

They had to be. Entertaining was an art and one they were proud to do.

As a child who loved to play pretend in hand-me-down Mardi Gras ball gowns that had seen better days, getting to help in the kitchen was part of growing up. Those tiny hors d’oeuvres — still have to look the correct spelling up by the word appetizer — were a great invitation to experience the social graces I still enjoy as an adult.

They also were a lot of work and the reason paid help or daughters were necessary. Until our lives became too busy with other things, my sister and I would joke — in earnest — whether we’d open a restaurant or catering service. Now we realize how hard the work is in the food services business.

Favorite Foods

Most hosts and hostesses start with their favorite foods. The easy solution is cheese and there are so many different varieties now everyone at a party can bring something different and still have a smorgasbord. The selection of crackers is just as wide and adding fruit to the mixture makes it easy to understand why a fruit and cheese tray is often the first choice for appetizers. Homemade or store bought.

Vegetable trays are likewise the “always popular” item for game days, family gatherings, cast parties and more. When a cook takes the time to chop up all the vegetables, slicing and splitting, peeling and preparing a tasty dip, the guests notice. Again, convenience from the grocery store has made even this healthy snack a quick food item perfect for any occasion.

Through the past two years some favorite recipes like tuna dip — served hot or cold — have been featured on this page. As a lover of good foods it is interesting to find a unique combination of simple things making something quite ordinary, extra special.

For example, last year at one of the Go Red kickoff events, the caterer served a shrimp salad on cucumber slices rather than crackers. The freshness of the moist vegetable complemented the mayo-based seafood mix.

One friend locally is known for petite potatoes perfectly boiled, stuffed or sliced in half and stuck back together with a boursin spread. Whether store bought or homemade, a recipe is provided today so if you’re caught in a pinch with guests stopping by, you can ad lib. Ingredients normally found in your refrigerator can be mixed together to give you the same result as pre made.

Past Winners

Finalists for previous Cajun Creole Cookbooks have come up with some really fun appetizers. Last year’s winner, Mini Bell Pepper Poppers with Shrimp by Darnell Delcambre, was made with mascarpone cheese. Gigi Kerns did a great lettuce wrap with Asian sauce and turkey. Fancy is the look of these dishes, but the taste is even better. Both women can tell you, it takes time to perfect the presentation as well as the preparation.

If you missed your copy of the 2016 cookbook, we still have them available at the front counter, but not many remain. We’re looking at the next one and hoping Teche Area cooks are getting ready, too. If you don’t have the cookbook, the recipes will be online as a bonus this week.

Is it Worth the Calling?

Finding the right caterer to fit your perfect event is not an easy task. Who to call was a mystery when thinking about the recent “20 Under 40” event.

Great cooks have been interviewed, featured in stories, competed and won The Daily Iberian cookoff challenge, participated in area festival cookoffs like the World Championship Gumbo Cookoff, the annual BBQ Cookoff during the Live Oak Festival at City Park and others. But, who caters events?

Not just everyone can pull off these feats of culinary accomplishment. Many without financial remuneration — just the love of cooking — if they’re in a cookoff. Caterers paid for their service work even harder with the added expense of often providing decorations, serving plates and utensils, staff and beverages. Whew!

Couldn’t Do It Without Them

Special thanks this week to Richard and Lori Hurst with Little River Inn who helped make The Daily Iberian’s first “20 Under 40” event a success. The initial event for anyone is a challenge and working together is the only way to pull it off.

Jeanna Schwing at Parties Plus Bridals did a magnificent job decorating the open-air showroom at the Courtesy dealership in Broussard and Angelina Blaze’s flowers from Jolie Fleur Florist topped the mark for beauty.

Finding the right caterer — friends with great recipes or the professional — really does take time and a lot of effort to fully define what you want for your event. Can’t wait to see how our next one comes out. We’ll let you know in plenty of time to attend. It will be a joint effort for sure.

What is a caterer?

The formal definition is a person or company providing food and drink at a social event or other gathering. It is increasingly common to engage professional caterers rather than putting forth the time consuming effort to prepare the foods in advance.

It is a mystery how some people seem to do all the labor intensive prep for food as if it were nothing. If you’ve never prepared finger foods for 50 or more, you may not realize the number of steps it takes to make a canape — the number of possibilities are endless. Multiply that by the number of guests at a wedding reception and you’ll get the idea. Caterers are worth every penny. A good one is worth his or her weight in gold.

Next Up

This Saturday is the Hanson Memorial High School’s cookoff in Franklin, partnering with the Bayou Teche Black Bear Festival and Wooden Boat Show. Three categories include non-seafood gumbo, seafood gumbo and jambalaya. Eight teams will vie for bragging rights. Judging begins at 11:30 a.m. but eating starts as soon as a team finishes cooking, about 10 a.m.

Randy Hanagriff is in charge again this year — two weeks in a row cooking. Last Sunday the Hanson group prepared around 1,700 dinners for Easter thanks to Hanagriff cooker that featured 17 trays holding about 750 chicken halves at the same time. I don’t think he considers what he does as catering — but it is.