Rita's Culinary Trickery How to Get Dinner on the Table Even If You Can't Cook

Introduction This is a book about friends, food and eating -- not about being a great chef. Having people to dinner is about so much more than being able to produce a great feast. You can go to someone's house and eat a delicious dinner but have an awful time. On another occasion you can have a great evening and can't even remember what you ate. What is fun is who else is there.Culinary Trickeryis about entertaining as a whole. It takes a look at the bigger picture: who you have to dinner, how you create an easy and relaxed environment for them to be in, and how you get something good to eat on the table. Obviously you will want to offer your guests some delicious food, but you don't have to be a "great cook" in order for people to have a good time in your house. There's always room for some culinary trickery, whether it is laying a beautiful tray at teatime or getting breakfast ready.My main advice is this: keep it simple. Don't do five different vegetables because it's very difficult to have them all ready at the same time. Learn how to cook the perfect roast chicken in a style that suits the season and the occasion--roast chicken is a personal favorite of mine and a culinary confidence builder. Discover something you are happy to cook over and over again, and you'll find that the more you cook it the better you get. Who wants to start learning how to cook something new an hour before six people are arriving at your house for dinner? Learn how to shop -- this is as simple as taking advice from your butcher, fish seller, wine merchant and greengrocer -- and buy good produce in season. Don't be afraid to cheat and buy preprepared dishes, but learn how to mix them in with other things that you have cooked.The way you serve your guests tells them as much about how pleased you are to see them as the number of hours you've spent in the kitchen. Culinary trickery is partly about finding special treats, how you present and serve things, shopping and styling--and a little bit of cooking. Don't bother to use the oven if all a beautiful dessert or salad requires is clever arranging. Entertaining is as much about your home and the environment you create as the food you cook, and while what you provide must taste good, you don't necessarily have to have struggled over a hot oven in order to put something on the table.While abundance is important, it can be a little overwhelming. I remember as a child going to visit my mother's friend Marge. She is a woman of enormous style and a fabulous cook. I cannot remember a single meal that she cooked, but I do remember the small glass plates of figs that she once served at the end of dinner and how enticing they looked, much more so than an overflowing fruit bowl dumped on the table. If your produce is good, it will sell itself, so let it. Allow food to be its simple, glorious self, and oddly enough people will think you're terribly clever, when all you did was choose a pretty plate and an unexpected time to serve it. Amazing, isn't it?I hope you enjoy this book and it inspires you to invite people over for supper or to visit for the weekend. Text copyright 2004 by Rita KonigKonig, Rita is the author of 'Rita's Culinary Trickery How to Get Dinner on the Table Even If You Can't Cook', published 0016 under ISBN 9780743271028 and ISBN 0743271025.