Wherever you go in the world, you’ll find an array of different foods. From traditional Chinese stir-fries to simple but tasty authentic Italian pasta dishes, the different cultures around the globe all have a distinctive approach to their food. As cultures spread around the world and people bring their traditions with them, it can be exciting to learn from others and implement their methods and approaches in other societies.
Since food can be a great way to connect to others and experience new things, bringing cultural diversity into catering menus is a great way to expand your cuisine and your understanding of various cultures. Whether you’re catering for residents at a care home or students in an educational facility, there are plenty of ways you can introduce cultural diversity into your menus which we’ll go through in this blog.
What is a multicultural menu?
A multicultural menu incorporates food from other cultures around the world. Whether you take inspiration from cuisines in a particular region or include popular traditional foods, you can craft a multicultural menu in whatever way works for your business and those you’re providing food for. This can involve trial and error to find foods that people enjoy the most, alongside finding the ingredients that work best together to create exciting flavour combinations.
Benefits of implementing a culturally diverse menu
There are plenty of reasons why implementing a culturally diverse menu is a good idea. One of the main benefits of this is that it creates more opportunities to introduce new foods and branch out from your typical menu offerings. With this, caterers can bring in different ingredients containing higher nutritional value. The more varied the foods are, the more likely you are to provide a nutritionally beneficial diet to those you’re catering for while keeping the food exciting with new flavours and colours. For some, this can encourage a better appetite and increase food uptake.
How to easily introduce diversity into menus
Diversity can be slowly introduced into your menus so that the change isn’t drastic. Here are just a few simple steps you can take if you’re interested in improving the cultural diversity in your menu options:
- Training: Incorporate the chance to learn about new ingredients and cultures within your staff training to ensure everything you intend to offer is authentic and that everyone is respectful of the cultures.
- Speak to suppliers: Encourage your suppliers to offer more diverse food options. If this isn’t something they can offer now or in the future, it could be worth scouting other suppliers who can support you better.
- Experiment: Caterers should experiment with different foods, ingredients and flavourings and then ask for feedback from those you are catering for. This can help you create a unique menu that everybody is happy with.
- Understand who you are catering for: Ensure that while you’re making changes to the menu, you continue to adapt it for allergies, nutrition and food preferences. This will ensure you remain compliant with all relevant food safety laws and requirements alongside keeping everyone safe.
- Use technology to help organise and view nutritional value: Technology can provide plenty of support in everything from procurement to menu management. Our Freshmarkets procurement system and CaterCloud software with our live allergen and nutritional information database are ideal for staying organised and keeping an eye on the nutrition in your menus.
- Host cultural events: What better way to promote cultural diversity than by getting involved in events and holidays from cultures around the world? From Eid to Diwali, Thanksgiving to Chinese New Year, caterers can work with the facility to promote these holidays and provide authentic food associated with these events.
Fancy learning more about how our catering solutions can help your catering business expand into a culturally diverse menu and more? Head to our website where we have all the information you need.