Buffet & Smorgasbord by A Class Catering.
Today I would like to give you some fun facts & history of the Buffet & Smorgasbord.
https://aclasscatering.com.au/weddings/cocktails-light-meals-menu-weddings/ The word Buffet comes from the french language meaning a furniture sideboard from where food is served from.
From a historical point of view however it is hard to say when & where people began eating food from the buffet or smorgasbord ??
The first 2 countries to adopt this style & concept of eating was Sweden & France.
For the Swedes its origins began as a way of feeding out of town visitors who’d arrived unexpectedly & offered a bread & butter board (smorgasbord) & over time their smorgasbord offered more courses like salted fish,eggs,boiled vegetables to cold cuts of meat,warm entrees & salads ending w/ dessert & coffee.
The French however offered a more lavished buffet as a sign of prominence & more of a way to focus on entertainment rather than the cooking.
The buffet/smorgasbord really became popular in the 18th century & the concept soon spread across Europe.By the 19th century especially in England & USA the buffet became very popular for meals especially at lunch & became traditionally known as ‘One O’clock’ Lunchtime.
As a rule back then all food was to be eaten w/ a fork or spoon as the knife was strictly forbidden at these buffet luncheon’s.
Typical menu selections included
All types of beverages
A beef or chicken bouillon https://www.thespruce.com/homemade-beef-bouillon-recipe-1809042
A variety of hot entrees
A selection of cold entrees
Hot rolls & finger sandwiches
A selection of small cakes & pastries
By todays standards nothing much has changed.
All around the world today the buffet/smorgasbord is still very popular whether its at a ‘All you can eat Restaurant’ a ‘Hotel or Cruise Ship buffet’a ‘Breakfast buffet or a ‘Wedding buffet’ as it gives people a variety of foods to choose from at a reasonable price.
They are great for families w/children as well as those w/big appetites 
?Its definitely a different dining experience as people can choose what they want to eat & eat as much as they want to eat.
At A Class Catering we are finding that the weddings we cater for nowadays are leaning more & more to our buffet menus like our Roast buffet https://aclasscatering.com.au/weddings/roast-menu-weddings/or Gourmet BBQ buffet & the ever increasingly popular the Grazing Station.https://aclasscatering.com.au/weddings/gourmet-bbq-menu-weddings/
Why ??? Well I think todays Brides & Grooms still want the traditional Wedding Ceremony etc but when it comes to the reception they want amore relaxed atmosphere & ambiance where everyone mingles & are having fun as opposed to the full on formal reception.
The Buffet/Smorgasbord which basically started as a bread & butter board has really come a long way & w/ todays fads & trends will continue to be apopular dining option for years to come
Til next week
Buffet Set up using Bay Maries
Buffet set up as seen on website https://www.google.com.au/search?q=buffet+table&tbm