I'm always fascinated by the way that my friends and family entertain in their own homes. Sometimes I get the sense that the host is catering to the taste and palate of their guests while others seem to only cook the foods that they enjoy. Which kind of host are you?
For myself I always look first at who I am cooking for. When I entertain greek people for example I know that their palate is limited and stick to basic greek food with a few twists thrown in to maintain my sanity. I'm not a huge lover of lamb but I tend to serve lamb a lot simply because I know most of my guests love it. After I have established who I am cooking for I try to make a menu that is cohesive. I don't follow the traditional greek-american menu plan (phyllo dough triangles stuffed with cheese or spinach hors d'oervres, greek salad, meat with potatoes, pasticcio, and some kind of dessert drenched in syrup) which I've seen and eaten so many times it makes me want to scream. I try to come up with things that are a little different but still cater to a greek's perception of an adequate meal. When I cook for non-greeks I step out of this limiting box.
I never cook for myself though, I always think of others first. I am disappointed when I eat at a friend or relative's house and they serve me things that I don't like, even though they know I don't like it. I don't want to sound like an ungrateful guest however I go through a lot of trouble to make things especially for the people I invite, how come others don't do that?
