1920’s Themed Dinner Party

[NoLongerATeacher]

DH and I are hosting a 1920’s gangster theme murder mystery night soon. There will be 9 people.
3 people are vegetarian.
1 person needs gluten free.

I was thinking of making chilli con carne. One for the veggies/gluten free and another for everyone else. DH says this is not very 1920’s themed.

Has anyone got any ideas of what I could do - starters/mains/desserts and recipes.

Thank you so much x

I love murder mystery dinners! I used to organise one every 2 or 3 months before I had children. I miss them badly.

Most games will provide menu suggestions, have you checked if there are any in the guide booklet? Is the pretend-location in the UK or another country? That can help decide what to cook more than an era

Think Downton Abbey for 1920s dinner party.

Something like a baked ham for the meat eaters, Waldorf salad as a main for the vegetarians and a side for the rest, and a selection of nice breads, Duchesse potatoes sort of thing?

And a chocolate mousse in a gin glass for afters?

I get that it's thematically accurate, but I would feel I had the short straw if I was veggie with salad when everyone else was tucking into hunks of ham.

Food from the Colonies was popular in the 20’s so a meat curry and a vegetarian one, poppadoms are gluten free.
A good starter would be a feta,watermelon, chilli and mint salad on a bed of salad leaves.
Mango and Cardamon syllabub for pudding.

Here’s the pudding recipe, www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/mango-cardamom-syllabub

Thanks -yes it does but it’s a beef stroganoff dish and DH hates mushrooms!

Love the chocolate mousse idea - thank you

A curry is a good shout - easy to prepare and easy to serve up.

I second @Sago1 idea of curry. Lots of scope for catering for different diets whilst keeping many shared elements.

Please don't give your vegetarian guests a large portion of a side dish whilst the rest are tucking into a full meal. It will just make them feel like an inconvenience.

I'm vegetarian and make my dish the star of the show, and then make a joint of meat to go with it so others can have it as a side should they choose to. It works brilliantly when catering for lots, especially at Christmas.

I did a massive HFW stuffed cabbage leaves as the veggie main for Christmas last year, and it went down so well as a side dish too with a large gammon and separate veg.

I've never thought of myself as an inconvenience