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How To Choose The Best Servingware
While how the food tastes is important, how it looks can affect the entire dining experience - after all, first impressions are very important in all aspects of life, and its the same when it comes to food. You can put heaps of effort into creating some incredible-looking dishes, but some of that lustre will rub off if you just slap it into a paper plate and call it a day - so why not elevate your dining experience with some beautiful servingware from Spotlight?
At Spotlight we have an amazing array of serving boards, platters, bowls and utensils you can use to show off savoury snacks and slices, plus some beautiful cake stands for your sweets. But picking the best servingware for the job can be tricky - there's a lot to choose from! This buying guide will walk you through what kinds of servingware sets you can find at Spotlight, as well as how to arrange and present your food to make it look as delicious as possible!
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When Should I Use Servingware?
If you are having guests over for a casual stand-up event, servingware makes feeding them so much easier! Servingware lends itself to small, bite-size snacks perfect for when you've got a drink in one hand and not much space to sit down, unlike a formal dinner event. Whether you need to create a charcuterie board, serve your favourite dessert slice or just have a bowl of chips and dips at the ready, servingware will have you covered!
Servingware is also useful for simple family dinners, as it can help separate the elements of your dish when you need to. Pop the spicy dipping sauce for your chicken tenders into a bowl so people can choose how much they want, instead of having it pool on the side of your plate. Or keep your crusty bread in a stylish serving basket when having soup, instead of leaving the bread to soak. Think of ways you can use your servingware every day to improve mealtime!
Types Of Servingware
You can find so many useful kinds of serving ware at Spotlight, from individual pieces to pad out your current collection to entire servingware sets perfect for big events.
Serving platters & serving boards
One of the most popular pieces of dishware used at a party will be your serving boards and serving platters. Flat and spacious, serving boards and platters are perfect for assembling a cheese board, showing off your chips and dips, or just piling high with classic party foods like sausage rolls, party pies and pastizzi.
Wooden serving boards are ideal for baked goods like fresh bread, quiches, savoury biscuits and slices. Avoid placing damp or oily food on wooden serving boards, as the liquid can soak into the grain of the board and be very hard to remove at the end of the night (or the next morning when you decide to clean up).
Metal, plastic and ceramic serving platters and boards will make a great backdrop for any other tasty snacks, as they are easy to clean and provide a bright, smooth surface for your more colourful snacks to rest on. Create a rainbow fruit platter, set out some tasty deli meats and cheeses or present your guests with a tray full of delicious seafood!
Serving bowls
A quality serving bowl is ideal for when you want to serve food that can easily spill or separate. Serving bowls are often nice and tall, with a dependable rim standing up or even curving inward to help prevent any mishaps. Use them for food like chips, zingy dips, creamy pasta or even soup!
Like with your platters and boards, use wooden bowls for solid foods and plastic, metal or ceramic bowls for any oily or wet foods.
Serving utensils
The right serving utensils and kitchen gadgets make getting food from plate to mouth easy! From servingware classics like salad servers, tongs and toothpicks to specialist tools like ice-cream scoops, pizza cutters and tea infusers, whatever you need to take your spread to the next level is here!
Dessert stands
Desserts are often the visual highlight of any spread, so show them off on any of our handy cake stands or cake plates. Tiered stands can be used for cupcakes, macaroons, slices, lollies, chocolates and even small savoury snacks like tea sandwiches and fruit. They make a great centrepiece on your table, and smaller tired stands can also be placed on side tables around your space.
Servingware Tips And Tricks
There are a few simple rules to keep in mind when plating food onto servingware.
- Odd over even - we don't know why, but when it comes to groupings of food odd numbers seem to look better than even ones. So if you have larger snacks you wish to group together on one platter, like garnished strawberries, roses of meat or mini sliders, group them in bunches of three, five or even seven if you have room. Something about the odd number just looks right!
- Pile it high - there's something so inviting about a platter piled high with tasty goodies! Piling your snacks up in an attractive pyramid will make your snack table seem full and almost indulgent, encouraging guests to eat and enjoy.
- Make it colourful - just like how berries and fruits are brightly coloured to attract animals to eat them, an eye-catching snack table is sure to entice your friends and family to take a bite. And if the natural colour of your snacks won't cut it, add colour using patterned servingware, edible flowers and plenty of colourful dips and sauces on the sides.
- Use toothpicks - a great party is fuss-free, which means ensuring your party food is easy for your guests to eat. This means bite-sized portions and food your guests can pick up without making a mess! If any of your snacks are a little saucy, greasy or moist, provide toothpicks and napkins for your guests to use when handling them. Not only will it minimise any mess, but make it easy for even the slipperiest of snacks to be easily eaten.
How to arrange a cheese board
Cheeseboards need their own section, so let's address two of the most important points you need to know - how to arrange a cheese board, and what to put on a cheese board.
- When deciding what to put on a cheese board, cheese is going to be your main feature. Popular cheese varieties include creamy brie, tasty cheddar, tangy blue and delicious gouda paired with your favourite crackers. Be sure to have small cheese knives for each variety. In addition to cheeses, add some grapes, sweet berries, olives and nuts to round out the platter with their sweet, bitter and sour flavours.
- One of the best things to keep in mind when deciding how to arrange a cheese board is colour. Most cheese colour range from white to yellow, so separate your cheeses using the other snacks on your cheese board to keep colours separate and ensure they stand out from each other. And while a full-to-bursting cheeseboard looks great for photos, you may like to leave some room for practical reasons - trying to cut a slice of cheese on a busy cheeseboard is more difficult than you think!
Discover The Best Servingware At Spotlight
Ready to impress at your next event? Find amazing servingware sets at your nearest Spotlight store, or online with home delivery available! For everything else you need for the kitchen and dining room, check out our diningware hub online.
