What would you rather served at a wedding? Hog roast or paella?

[TheLuckyPearlCat]

Trying to decide on the cuisine for 100 people!
Thanks!

Love a hog roast! Paella feels more 'meh' to me for a wedding.

If it was hog roast I wouldn't go.

Why are they so popular?

What if you didn't know?

I've only known the food at weddings if I've had to make a selection.

Paella is tricky because there are so many things in it, a lot of people may not be able to eat it. Hog roast plus sides is much easier to "assess" - just make sure there is a veggie option too.

I think paella, less chance of dripping gravy down myself

Wow to all the people who wouldn't go to a wedding if they didn't like the food. Really? 😂

I'd go to the wedding and skip the reception. No way do I want to see and smell a hog being roasted.

If I didn't know I guess I'd be going home when I found out!

Having both just made me hungry

I love paella but have an allergy to mussels so it would need be chicken or rabbit for me, not seafood or mixed. Quite a few people have selfish or mollusc allergies

I dont think either is ideal tbh. But Paella would be better if there was a vegetarian option. But I absolutely wouldnt have a seafood one.

I agree neither is ideal, but of the two paella is better.

Hog roast but it has to have things like roast potatoes as sides and a few side dishes that could be mains for anyone who doesn’t eat pork

I wouldn’t go if it was a hog roast. Nothing to do with not liking the food, I just find seeing an animal’s entire dead body offensive. Any other food I disliked wouldn’t stop me from going as long as it wasn’t so visually grotesque.

Neither! I love pork but seeing a whole pig roasted makes me feel ill, my friend had a hog roast for her wedding and the smell of the whole pig put me off eating.

Good grief, so many people with food fads / issues / ‘allergies’ / fussiness / disorders etc. It’s so depressing to read so much fear, squeamishness, negativity & paranoia over one of life’s great pleasures.

I’m an enthusiastic omnivore, perhaps I should have been born French or Spanish rather than British. Are there really so few of us left?

Food you don't like is very much not one of life's treasures.
Food at a wedding should be absolutely excellent, divine, plentiful, sadly the weddings I've been to have had shit food. It's a real kick in the teeth to guests.

The last one had undressed, slimy leaves unpicked beetroot and half a cherry tomato, then some fluorescent slop with raw vegetables bobbing about. I spent 6 hours driving that day, and 18 hours away from home.
Paella or a pig corpse aren't hugely appealing.

I don’t eat much meat, & I’d definitely order paella over anything porky in a restaurant.

But I genuinely don’t get the upset over the hog roast unless you’re a vegetarian - in which case, fair enough, but you’re going to be averting your gaze quite a lot of the time when attending social events or travelling.

It’s one animal, being consumed from nose to tail - better than 50 battery chickens, surely?

Anyway - neither option sounds ideal.

The hog roast won’t work for vegetarians/Muslims/Jews/people who dislike pork/squeamish people who like eating meat but are aghast at it being, like, bits of an animal.

The paella won’t work for people who are terrified of rice, & will require multiple versions to accommodate all the people who wouldn’t have liked the hog roast AND the shellfish allergy people just joined the chat…

Street food with options sounds much better, honestly.

I don’t think I’ve ever attended a wedding in my life where the food was good, & I’m not fussy, but a couple of street food vans sounds like the likeliest option for everyone to grab something they’re happy with.

Not a vegetarian, but hog roasts are grim. They smell nasty. I have nothing against spit roasting animals that smell nice as they cook though. Like cows, chickens, etc.

Hog roast is boring and very casual. Paella is hardly fine dining either but at least a it’s got some flavour!

Neither 🤮

I know, I'd no idea there was so much hatred of rice and the fear is way out of proportion to the actual risk of food poisoning.

Likewise seafood, I know it's a common allergen, but the comments on here make it sound like everyone is allergic.

I'd be in heaven if I went to a wedding and there was paella on offer.

I'd prefer a seafood one but accept that it would probably have to be boneless chicken to be as inoffensive as possible.

And then add a vegan one unless you know there's no-one vegan/vegetarian coming.

Taste wise, it's entirely subjective (although I find the Mumsnet anxiety about paella rice bizarre - do they think Spaniards live in a permanent state of gastrointestinal upset), but Hog roast has the disadvantage of being very off-putting visually, so if definitely go Paella.

The idea that the French and Spanish eat anything sounds like a fantasy, they will only eat good quality food generally. And at a wedding it has always been considered polite to serve something that will upset the least number of guests. Mass catered seafood is unlikely to be fresh and delicious it will probably be pre prepared and heated up and dry hog roast stuffed in a roll with apple sauce is hardly the height of good food either.

I find a hog on a spit really upsetting to see. If the wedding is in summer, I think Paella would be classier.