Pick dishes that scale
Stews, curries, roasts and rice dishes grow easily from four to six or eight. Food fried to order does not, so keep it for smaller tables.
Ask about allergies when you invite
Ask each guest about allergies and diets when you invite them, then leave out those allergens when you plan. Keep the packets until the meal is eaten.
Make the dessert the day before
Set desserts and bakes such as tiramisu or sweet potato pudding keep well in the fridge overnight, and free the oven and the hob on the day.
Serve the starter to share
Put the starter in the middle of the table while you finish the main. Guests help themselves, and nobody waits for you.
A Nigerian party table
- Starter: Mushroom and yam pepper soup (35 minutes)
- Main: Nigerian party jollof rice (1 hour 35 minutes)
- Side: Dodo, golden fried ripe plantain (20 minutes)
- Dessert: Puff puff with nutmeg sugar (1 hour 35 minutes)
A Caribbean dinner
- Starter: Saltfish fritters (accra) (40 minutes)
- Main: Jamaican curry goat with white rice (2 hours 50 minutes)
- Side: Caribbean rice and peas (35 minutes)
- Dessert: Jamaican sweet potato pudding (1 hour 40 minutes)
A Middle Eastern dinner
- Starter: Smooth hummus with warm flatbread and crudités (25 minutes)
- Main: Moroccan vegetable and chickpea tagine with couscous (1 hour 5 minutes)
- Side: Herby lemon couscous with pomegranate (15 minutes)
- Dessert: Greek semolina halvas with orange and cinnamon (1 hour 35 minutes)
Times are each recipe's own, as written. Diets and allergens are as each recipe is written: check every packet.