Everyone wants their party to be the best anyone has attended, but how can you ensure it’ll succeed? One of the most important places to impress is at the food table. By constructing the perfect party spread, you can make a table of snacks and other delicious and amazing treats that will keep everyone excited for more.
These are the items every party spread should have and why they matter!
Savory
This is a basic flavor for every party and can be combined with almost any other on this list. At the average party, this can look like a meat tray, pizza, wings, or dozens of other meat-based recipes. Savory doesn’t have to mean meat, though, since you can also fulfill this with veggies, cheesy bread, and other fantastic flavor elements.
Salty
The most common salty item at any party is potato chips, but you can make other delicious salty options! Pretzel buns for sliders and sandwiches, salty fried foods, and other options revolving around this flavor will ensure your party-goers feel sated and enjoy the flavors. Make sure your salty foods are near the drinks so they can make a quick bee-line if they find they’ve had too much.
Sweet
Sweet is another easy flavor! This can be your dessert table, your drinks, fruity cheeses, cakes, or anything that’s classically sweet. This is another flavor that’s best when combined. For instance, if you were to combine the three flavors so far, salty, savory, and sweet: you could make candied bacon. Sweet is complex and fun, and you can make almost any dish and meal so much more appetizing with the addition of it.
Heat
Heat is something many people leave out, either because they’ve forgotten about it or they’re not sure how to include it. You don’t have to make the entire party spread blazing hot, but you can give guests the option of adding heat by leaving out a nice dish of pepper jelly dip or giving them the chance to pick out of a large assortment of hot sauces. Heat throws a curveball of fun and excitement into a party and allows people to make more daring flavor choices. This can also be combined with every other flavor on here.
Sour
Sour is a lone flavor that can be mixed with the others on this list: but it should only be one at a time. Sour brightens the flavors and cleanses the mouth for another bite of something else. Sour can be anything from pickled peppers and cucumbers to lemon treats or lime-flavored drinks. Don’t overwhelm the table with sour options; instead, make sure they’re no more than five percent of what’s available. Although sour is delicious and important: nobody is trying to just eat sour foods. Everyone wants a balance of each of these.
Your Party Can Succeed If You Include All Five!
Although snacks may not be a big deal at every party, a party with bad snacks will be remembered. It’s important to include some of each of these flavors and keep everyone excited for more!
Alton Clarke was born and raised in Syracuse. He has written for MSNBC, The Business Insider and Passport Magazine. In regards to academics, Alton earned a degree from St. John’s University. Alton covers entertainment and culture stories here at Diving daily.