Hosting a Dinner

Hats off to people who host huge dinners!! When I used to watch Travel and Living's show, 'Nigella Feasts' and the dinners she hosts, I couldn't help asking myself as to how she she manages to be so calm and look as lovely as ever all the time. Be it shopping, cooking, baking and setting out the dinner table, not a strand of hair is out of place And she always comes up with the most deliciously looking fare. Seriously, it is a lot of work!!

This weekend, I set to host a dinner for 8. This wasn't the first time I was doing it. I've had my office colleagues , friends and family over for dinner for Christmas and a few times before that. And thanks to the number of recipe books that keep stacking up in my kitchen drawer, I haven't faced a disaster yet. (touch wood!) But all this doesn't defy the fact that each time I invite somebody for dinner - be it 2 or 20 people - it freaks me out. Listing out the menu, shopping, the time to prepare, and also thinking of all the things that could possibly go wrong - it is a lot of stress.

We had relatives coming in from Kerala. Obviously, the menu had to be a South Indian cuisine.
So I started my search for the perfect recipe and the perfect menu. Thats when I came across a cook book my cousin had given me, by Mrs. K.M. Mathew. (Ok, I'm sure all those Keralites who are on a constant look out for authentic Kerala cuisine have come across at least one of K.M Mathew's recipies. She was the chief editor of the popular Kerala magazine, 'Vanitha'. ) So the book in hand, I started off my quest to make a good Kerala dinner. It took almost the whole of my saturday and half of my sunday, which I generally use to catch up with my sleep, lazing around doing nothing and watching TV or a dinner out with hubby dearest or friends.So here I was slogging away on a hot summer afternoon, grating the coconuts, cutting the vegetables, washing the meat, flipping the pages of my cook book and what not. As a result of it all - VIOLA!! The fish was fried, the mutton was marinated and prepared, the curries were cooked and the vegetables were done(of course, my husband who tried his level best to get away from all the work helped too).

The guests finally arrived, table was set, the best crockery laid down and the food was served.
And guess who was all smiles and flying high and doing the rounds as if it was nothing, when all the guests went ga-ga over the food and kept showering compliments and praises? Now, honestly, this is the moment which may last for only a few minutes, and the ONLY reason I endure to host dinners even if it means a day of toil and hard work. It feels GREAT!!! I would love to be the person who calls people home for dinner all the time, holds a good conversation during dinner, shows off her culinary skills and makes people talk for weeks about the dinner. And I know people who do that. They have such a passion for food and love to share it with others. You always enjoy going to their place. I have a friend who is a Punjabi and any time you go to his house, his Mom makes sure to give lunch or dinner. Aunty's parathas are to die for and so are her pulav and rajma chaaval. Above all, its the sense of feeling-at-home that makes us wanting to visit them again and again. So I realized, more than being the 'hard-working-Marthas' in the kitchen, there is more to entertaining guests at home...

Coming back, our guests left and I hung up my knives and forks and and asked my husband to salute the 'chef' in the house and sat down to relax. But a look at my kitchen sink made me scream in hysteria. And to my rescue, came my Prince Charming(minus the white horse), with the offer to help me with the dishes, which I couldn't resist! Finally the last plate was put off, the sink was cleaned and we hit the sack, way past midnight. And so there went by yet another weekend! And yes, we are expecting some more guests next week... What to do the compliments are too tempting to resist...heh heh heh!!