Gourmet Food

For those of you not familiar with that term, gourmet food refers to haute cuisine or culinary arts. You usually find in that category luxury items such as lobster, caviar, salmon, foie gras but also elaborate cuisine such as French food as well as sophisticated dishes with an aesthetic presentation.

Of course, this means that you will need a pretty large budget, with prices starting around $80 per person and going as high as $300 a pop. When it comes to service, this is one where you will need waiters as you just can’t serve gourmet food buffet-style (it’s called etiquette). You should also make sure that your guests are familiar with these types of foods, as these dishes have distinctive flavors and texture.

There is no typical gourmet menu as those plates are very varied but we can certainly give you a few menu ideas by listing some of the most popular gourmet dishes across the board:

When it comes to seafood caviar, smoked salmon, scallops and oysters are a sure bet while French foie gras (liver paté) should satisfy meat-lovers.

For entrees, lobster is probably a favorite, but it can also be salmon with a champagne sauce, an expensive steak prepared with a sophisticated sauce (wine sauces, reduced sauces, truffle sauces) or, a duck comfit. Popular cooking styles include nouvelle cuisine (smaller dishes emphasizing presentation) , fusion (mixing various ethnic styles) or any innovative dish created by a gastronomic chef.

If you’re going for a gourmet wedding lunch or dinner, you will probably order your cake from a higher-end pastry shop, but you should know that you can also find gourmet desserts, which usually are small dessert pieces presented in a very fancy way.

As a side note, a gourmet meal should be accompanied by fine wine (usually French) and champagne so you will also need to pay special attention to your alcohol selection – sorry that one-buck-chuck won’t do the trick!