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There are so many different sorts of meals that you can cook, and you want to serve your guests something that impresses them. Unfortunately, this desire can cause you to take risks, which may or may not pay out. Keep these mistakes to avoid when cooking for guests in mind so that you can prepare a dish you’re proud of and ensure they’ll come back for more.
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Be Mindful of Allergies and Preferences
A big mistake that is easy to make in today’s world is forgetting about someone’s dietary restrictions. If you’re inviting your friends over, it’s easy to know what they do and don’t eat, but it’s much harder when cooking for strangers. On top of these restrictions, many people have preferences about what they do and don’t like to eat.
Ideally, you can cook for people who have the same diet as yourself, but this is often not the case. Make sure to take everything into account before planning a menu so that no one leaves unhappy and with an empty stomach.
Don’t Overcook It
It’s easy to get distracted and accidentally leave something cooking for too long, even when cooking for yourself. In these instances, you are the only one missing out on something delicious. When cooking for a group, this mistake is much more problematic.
If you’re trying to be fancy and serve expensive meat such as Wagyu steak, overcooking it is the last thing you want to do. The meat will not only lose everything that makes it great, but your guests will also wonder if you’re a terrible chef or even a lousy host.
Cook Something You’re Familiar With
Many dinner hosts do something that you should avoid when trying to impress people: testing a new recipe. If you are an incredibly competent chef, you may get away with this, but if you’re a home cook, it’s not worth the risk. New recipes can quickly go wrong, and you may not even like the final product yourself. Instead, make something you have a lot of experience with. That way, through every step of the process, you will know what you’re doing.
Understand Proportions
Another roadblock that many face when cooking for guests is being wholly unprepared to make a bigger meal. Cooking for yourself and your partner or kids is different from cooking for a large group of people. You often need more ingredients and larger pans, and the process that would have otherwise taken one hour now takes many. Take all of this into account as you prepare so your guests get adequate portion sizes and aren’t sitting around waiting while everything cooks.
When you have people over and are excited to cook for them, it’s easy to accidentally commit a cooking faux pas. After learning about these mistakes to avoid when cooking for guests, you should be ready to leave a good impression on your guests and prepare a fantastic meal!
