Cooks' Question

I am holding a fund raising evening in aid of a local charity. I want to have an Italian theme. The event will be a dinner dance for 100 people. What can I cook for a 3 course meal that has an Italian theme?

Response

It is difficult to recommend a menu as we are not sure of the cooking facilities, but you could enter Italian or pasta into the search facility on the home page and see if there is anything that is suitable, also click on the recipe collections at the side after you have clicked to search to view other potential recipes.

Also Delia has written an Italian Lunch or Supper menu that serves 8 and consists of Antipasti, Traditional Lasagne Al Forno and Zabaglione Torta in her new book How To Cook Book Three. The starter and dessert are cold but obviously the Lasagne is hot. This menu is currently not on the site, you can buy this book by clicking on books on the left hand side of the homepage of the site, and then clicking on ‘click here for volumes of Delia’ to view Delia’s books.

Also we contacted Simon Hollingdale, our wonderful head chef at Norwich City Football Club, to ask him how he adapts Delia's recipes for the restaurant - Delia's City Brasserie. This is what he advises: 'This is how we multiply recipes at the club. Using Spanish Braised Pork with Potatoes and Olives as an example. The recipe serves 4-6 so we take 5 as an average and multiply the recipe by 10 to give us 50 portions. Meat/fish/vegetables weigh well when multiplied in this way. When it comes to herbs and especially spices and seasonings, we normally only increase those ingredients by 8, as the strength and increased cooking time for larger quantities can often alter the taste of the dish. We always taste the dish just before serving and adjust as required. Always try to multiply in round numbers.