You have invited friends to a party or are hosting a dinner party for your husband's colleagues and it is important for you not only that everyone leaves well-fed and happy, but also that the cooked food does not go to waste. The organizers of banquets and celebrations have long worked out an algorithm on how to calculate the amount of products needed.
It is necessary
- A piece of paper and a pen
- Calculator
- Book of recipes
Instructions
Step 1
Ask the guests what food and drink they prefer. Create a menu avoiding delicacies that only some of your guests love.
Step 2
Estimate how many people are invited and how long your party will last. If you expect to only serve snacks, multiply the length of the party by the number of guests and eight. For example, suppose 20 people are invited to you and you assume that your party will last no more than 4 hours. This means you will need a total of at least 640 snacks (8x4x20). From the menu, divide this figure by the total number of snacks you plan to serve. Suppose you are going to prepare two batches of snack pies, salad baskets and three types of sandwiches, therefore, you need at least 107 pieces of each item. Now take the recipes and multiply the number of products for each of them so that you have 107 products in the output. List the foods you need by grouping by category. So, for example, butter for sandwiches and pies does not need to be written five times, but simply add up and get the total amount of butter you need. If you have a gala dinner, then you will need exactly half the snacks.
Step 3
Now let's calculate how many products you need for hot dishes. Calculate the total amount of meat or fish products so that in the finished form per person would be from 180 to 240 grams. If you serve hot pasta as a main course, then it should be 240 grams per person, but if you plan it as a side dish, then count on no more than 100 grams per person. If you are making risotto or paella, count on 180 grams per guest; if serving rice as a side dish, count on 50 grams per serving. Serve with 120 grams of vegetables, 250 grams of potatoes and 60 grams of beans per person. For leafy salads, the norm is 30 grams per person, excluding sauce. For desserts, prepare at least 100 grams of ice cream and a slice of pie, brownie, or cake.
Repeat the same procedure as with the appetizers - using the portions you calculated, make a list of foods for your planned meals.
Step 4
Now it remains to find out how many liters of different drinks you may need. For non-alcoholic drinks, there is a standard of 4 liters per 10 guests. Alcoholic drinks are calculated, as well as snacks, depending on the estimated length of the party. So, we multiply 20 guests by 4 hours, and now, since this is, after all, alcohol, we multiply by 2, not 8, and we get 160 servings of alcohol. If it is a wine or a cocktail, then one serving is equal to 100 milliliters, if we are talking about spirits, then each serving is 30 grams.
