Five questions that tell you whether your canapés will arrive in good condition — ask them of any caterer, including us.
You have been to the event where the pastry had gone soft, the herbs had blackened at the edges and the whole tray looked tired. It is nobody's fault on the night. By the time that food reached the room, the outcome had already been decided hours earlier.
Canapés are the most fragile thing in professional catering: small structures of wet things resting on dry things. From the moment one is finished, moisture starts migrating, pastry starts softening and cut herbs start oxidising. The single biggest factor in how a canapé tastes is not the recipe or the price. It is the number of hours between the kitchen and the mouth.
Which means you can predict the result before you order, if you ask the right things.
1. Where is the food actually made?
Not where the office is — where the kitchen is. A caterer with a production unit outside the M25 can still have a Mayfair address on their website. Ask for the postcode of the kitchen your food will come from, and work out the journey yourself.
Ours is 1 Hardwick Street, EC1R, just outside the Square Mile. Most City addresses are ten to fifteen minutes away.
2. When will it be made?
"Fresh" is not a regulated word. Ask for the day and, if you can, the time. There is a real difference between food made on the morning of your event and food made on Monday for a Thursday reception.
If the answer is vague, that is itself an answer.
3. Has anything been frozen?
This is the question that separates producers most sharply, and it is entirely reasonable to ask.
A great deal of what is sold as fresh canapés in London is made in batches, blast-frozen, held in cold storage and defrosted to order. It is a legitimate way to run a business — it allows short lead times and efficient production. But it constrains the menu to things that survive freezing and defrosting, which rules out most delicate pastry, most soft herbs used as an ingredient, and most purées. And defrosted pastry is never quite what it was.
4. How does it travel, and how long does it sit?
A van entering the City on a weekday morning is at the mercy of the road layout: Bank junction closed to through traffic, loading bays occupied, a slow crawl at every set of lights. Food that left the kitchen in good condition can spend an hour in a warm vehicle.
Ask what the vehicle is, whether the food is chilled in transit, and what time it will actually arrive relative to your start. Two hours early on a warm afternoon is not a favour.
5. What will my team have to do on arrival?
The hidden cost in a lot of catering is labour at your end. If canapés arrive loose and need arranging on platters, someone on your team spends twenty minutes plating food instead of greeting guests — and the arrangement will not be what the chef intended.
Ask whether it arrives ready to serve, whether platters are provided, and whether they have to be returned and washed. Ours arrive chilled and arranged, straight from box to platter, in biodegradable packaging with inserts that hold each piece where it was placed.
The practical things you control
Even with a good supplier, a few things on the day make a visible difference.
Keep the boxes cool and closed until fifteen minutes before service. Not in the sun, not next to the AV rack, not on a radiator. Cool and shut.
Do not put everything out at once. Hold back a third. It keeps the tables looking generous for longer and the later food is in better condition.
Serve the pastry first. If your order mixes tartlets and crostini with firmer items, the crisp things have the shortest useful life. Put them out at the start.
Give the sweet ones their own moment. Around forty-five minutes to an hour in, once the savoury has been picked over.
Frequently asked questions
How long will canapés keep once they arrive?
Chilled and unopened, they are at their best within a few hours of delivery. We time delivery to your service rather than to our convenience.
Should I refrigerate them?
If you have space, keep the boxes cool until shortly before serving. Take them out fifteen minutes ahead so the flavours are not blunted by cold.
Can I order the day before?
We ask for forty-eight hours so everything can be made fresh on the morning. If you are tighter than that, call rather than assume.
Do you provide staff?
Not for delivered boxes — that is what keeps them zero-rated for VAT. For staffed events, our sister company Mayfair Catering handles the full service.
Ask us the five questions
We have answered them above, which is the point. Have a look at this season's menu, or ask us anything at help@citycanapecompany.com or 0207 323 0112.