Page 5 | Grazing tables...wtf?

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 15/02/2023 07:50

The idea is to suggest a cornucopia of delights.

The reality is more like your street after the food refuse lorry has been.

Ultraninja · 15/02/2023 07:50

Pseudonamed · 15/02/2023 07:05

I have always found it funny how people think these are new things. My parents did these in the 80's when having get togethers. We still do them as a family here or with friends but nothing is just thrown onto the table and underneath there are dividers between different things like meats and things. We are all fairly hygenic people too!

If there are dividers then it's not really a grazing table, as people are discussing now. The fact that the food is mingled together on a grazing table is one of the main reasons why so many dislike them.

Pumpkin20222 · 15/02/2023 07:51

BiffChipsandKippers · 14/02/2023 22:39

I don't think this is the same. I often serve food 'family style'- ie everything in the middle and help yourself (with utensils!) and don't mind a family size sharing platter/cheeseboard with close friends or family... But a huge table shared with 10s of strangers...urgh

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I also think they can be nice as an occasional thing for a family at home, as a pretty way to make a cheeseboard healthier or a fun way to serve dessert. Seem gross at a big event, particularly as the weather warms up.

ChewtonRoad · 15/02/2023 07:51

I don't care if the table was crafted at a local co-op from sustainable locally sourced wood. I don't care that the box-fresh table covering was spun from organic flax to linen by the Weaving Nuns of Weaverville and washed in fresh spring water before use.

Those tables look a mess with an unappetising jumble of food on them, and are a hygiene omnishambles. No thank you.

maxi2100 · 15/02/2023 07:53

Disgusting. People are weird.

Picklewicklepickle · 15/02/2023 07:54

Oh god yes, thought it was just me. I’m not a food snob or a hygiene freak but there’s something a bit naff and gross about them.

What about vegetarians/allergies if everything is touching? Also I hate olives so does everything taste of love juice?

Plus I like plates.

Now butter boards, what in the living hell are they about 🤢

Picklewicklepickle · 15/02/2023 07:55

*olive juice/love juice, still no thanks 😂

ComfortablyDazed · 15/02/2023 07:55

Pseudonamed · 15/02/2023 07:05

I have always found it funny how people think these are new things. My parents did these in the 80's when having get togethers. We still do them as a family here or with friends but nothing is just thrown onto the table and underneath there are dividers between different things like meats and things. We are all fairly hygenic people too!

Really? Grazing tables…?

My parents did antipasto platters in the 70s and 80s. But no-one was doing the grazing TABLES that are being depicted on insta….

ComfortablyDazed · 15/02/2023 08:05

And really, nobody was doing them because it’s grim, and it didn’t occur to them.

And, of course, they couldn’t broadcast the images for ‘likes’ - which is the only reason anyone does anything like this nowadays.

newnamethanks · 15/02/2023 08:09

🤑

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 15/02/2023 08:10

magicthree · 15/02/2023 03:13

I agree, the appeal is eating the food. Every time you go back to the table you find something you didn't see the last time you looked. They are reasonably popular here, and presumably some people aren't quite as picky as others. I couldn't care less if some food is touching other food.

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Presumably those of you who think these are great are not bothered at all by the fact that these are a nightmare for people with food allergies and intolerances, people who can't eat certain foods for religious reasons, vegetarians, vegans and people with sensory issues about food touching. All airily waved away as just 'picky eaters' and therefore not worth worrying about.

I am not a fussy eater in the slightest but I find the idea of these grazing tables really unappealing. Am I right in thinking this is a trend that only arrived after Instagram? It looks to me like something done to generate an image that can be put on social media, rather than to give your guests some really lovely food.

Tessisme · 15/02/2023 08:10

I don't even like buffets, so grazing tables are my idea of Hell. I thought they had died the death by now though.

Museya15 · 15/02/2023 08:12

My idea of hell, I won't eat from a buffet or carvery.

plumduck · 15/02/2023 08:12

WE WANT PLATES

Fairylightsandstuff · 15/02/2023 08:15

Craze 😂 they’ve been around at least a couple of years now op!

BlondeBombshelf · 15/02/2023 08:20

🤮 My older sister has a penchant for these. Let’s just say that I’ve always ‘just eaten’ before I get there if I know she’s doing yet another one. I admit, they look gorgeous at first, but very quickly look awful.

butterpuffed · 15/02/2023 08:21

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 15/02/2023 07:50

The idea is to suggest a cornucopia of delights.

The reality is more like your street after the food refuse lorry has been.

Exactly ! It's just food dumped on a table .

Everyone is more hygiene conscious these days until it comes to trying something new just for the sake of it 🙄

TheChoiceIsYours · 15/02/2023 08:21

I saw someone advertising a grazing table on Instagram which she does for a business. All the salami had been folded into flower shapes and she captioned it ‘shoutout to my six year old for folding all the salami roses’ 🤢🤢🤮

Who on earth would eat sweaty slices of salami that have been manhandled into chintzy eighties roses by a snotty child?! It’s repulsive.

HelloTreacle9 · 15/02/2023 08:22

@ashitghost ”forlorn ham flaps” 😂

ComfortablyDazed · 15/02/2023 08:24

Who on earth would eat sweaty slices of salami that have been manhandled into chintzy
eighties roses by a snotty child?! It’s repulsive.

Right? It’s positioned as if it’s some how aspirational

Deluded.

Againstmachine · 15/02/2023 08:26

f done by a professional food stylist, it can look good before anyone starts into it, but it looks like the contents of a rubbish bin as soon as they do.

Come on a professional food stylist for a glorified buffet, if this is happening it's crazy anyone would pay for this.

TheFauxFighters · 15/02/2023 08:26

Also I hate olives so does everything taste of love juice?

Only if you've grazed far more than merely FOOD atop your table!!

NashvilleQueen · 15/02/2023 08:29

I really want to have a go at making one to see if it looked arty or, as I strongly suspect, a holy mess. But I don't want to eat it afterwards.

Lavendersquare · 15/02/2023 08:30

BiffChipsandKippers · 14/02/2023 22:20

Anyone seen this craze for just dumping a load of food in a table as the catering at a party? AIBU that this is unhygienic and gross?

I'm with you OP, I think grazing tables are gross. I can't stand the thought of eating a slice a melon that been up against chorizo and what about those with food allergies or coeliacs what are they supposed to do?

ComeTheSpringLobelia · 15/02/2023 08:32

WhoNeedsSleepNotISaidMyBody · 14/02/2023 23:00

No it's not, it's like merged good.

it was a 'thing' pre covid. I assumed civid had put an end to it, it's minging.

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Its making me anxious just thinking about it.

We have anaphylactic allergies and religious-based dietary needs in our family.

I don't think anyone in my family would even dare approach such a thing. Buffets alone are an issue with cross contamination anyway.