# Help with Mining themed food



## jibbster (Jan 14, 2007)

Hey all! I have been catering for 10 years now, and I have a client who wants me to cater an afternoon business party, wine, cheese, passed apps, etc. The clients are mostly mining companies (silver mines, etc) and she wants me to come up with some themed food..... I am drawing a blank, so I figured I would tap the never-ending ideas from you guys!

Thanks in advance!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Props would be important......

Cheeses with pick like tools to hack at
Panning for gold....have a gold pan with sungold tomatoes 
Mining cars with tall shtuff.....
desserts with a touch of gold leaf or powder
Yukon Gold Potatoes with ?

Oops silver mine not gold.....new or washed silver coins surrounding platters....
I'd still look for a pick to use with the cheeses and have a hunk of hard parm or gouda with irregular chunks.....
Whatever old equipment was used for mining......maybe chunks of ore to use as bases for signage. 
Canaries were used in mines....maybe some boned quail....or confit bird (can be chicken) yes I do have a sick and twisted mind.

Maybe the passing trays can be mining pans used in water.


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## kiwisizzler (Jan 6, 2009)

Have you thought about mini-English Pasties? Pasties are THE most traditional miners' food - check out Pasty - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for more info.
If you do decide to try it (and it's well worth it!), here's my recipe:

Pastry - Rough Puff

450g flour
3g salt
350g butter
200ml water

1)Chill the water.
2)Freeze the butter.
3)Sieve the flour & salt together.
4)Grate the frozen butter.
5)Mix with the flour.
6)Add the water. Lightly knead on a floured surface until pastry comes together.
7)Roll out on a floured surface then fold together 4 times, with a quarter turn between each, making sure to brush excess flour from between each layer.
8)Clingfilm and chill at least 1 hour before using.

Cornish Pastie - Meat

Serves 12

2kg rough puff pastry
420g skirt steak
265g potatoes
265g swede
500g onions
12g salt
2g ground black pepper
75g flour
2 eggs
100ml milk

1)Roll out the pastry and cut into 12 rounds, 20cm diameter each.
2)Cut the beef into small strips.
3)Peel and slice the potatoes & swede into 1x2cm chunks.
4)Dice the onions 2cm.
5)Mix the vegetables, beef, salt, pepper and flour together in a bowl.
6)Place 100g of the mixture just below the center of each pastry round.
7)Brush the edges of the pastry with eggwash and crimp to seal, like a calzone.
8)Brush the pasties with eggwash.
9)Cut a small slit in the top of each pastie.
10)Bake at 170C - 180C for 40-50 minutes, until nice and golden.

Good luck!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

upscale some pasties, make them two bite if possible.
tracks, cars, lights, picks, dynamite, panning trays, elevators, ore, testing shtuff.....start thinking of all the things associated with mining silver, both current and past.....what equipment was used, who were the miners....good call on the pasties, what does the landscape look like, what are they proud of, raw product, finished product......ie are there silver ingots or bars, can you recreate them easily or purchase some or rent or borrow from the company.....check out their headquarters to see if they have props you can borrow for the event. 


Spicy hot something wrapped in cylinder pastry (fillo, springroll, eggroll) dynamite something or other, too fun....possibly a fuse coming out.....

This is so fun, thank you for asking.......gotta be one of my favorite things about catering.


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Turn the lights down low and have the staff wear mining helmets.
Shroomgirl is right, it will be about the props.
A gem/mineral shop should have some nice chunky rocks.
If you have the means, someone could cut a slash in them as card holders.

The Irish and Chinese did a lot of mining, so their cuisine would be good.


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## kiwisizzler (Jan 6, 2009)

Love the mining helmet idea! Chinese food ideas: crispy wontons (CHEAP!!!), steamed dumplings; Japanese gyoza


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## psywise (Nov 26, 2006)

Savoury Popcorn would look the part of nuggets.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

jibbster, let us know what you come up with please......and if you take pictures that would just be icing on the cake.


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## jibbster (Jan 14, 2007)

Hey guys, thanks for all of the great ideas!!! I did this even yesterday and the food was well received! The customer did a switch mid-stream (love when they do that) and decided to pass on the miner theme and move the event to an art gallery. They had wine they supplied and I did two savory cheese cakes (bacon & shallot and a sun dried tomato & pesto) and two savory dips with crackers (salmon & dill and a roasted red pepper). Still keeping all of your ideas in my back pocket, as I hope to get more business from them, and the mining theme will certainly come up if I do!


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

Thanks so much for sharing......bacon and shallot cheesecake reads yummy.


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## lechef (May 22, 2009)

I don't know if you will want to fork out for them but for the patisserie, you can get little sugar "diamonds" that look like cut diamonds and are completely edible. Just not cheap.

-L


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