Prepare Christmas lunch like a pro with tips from Lorna Maseko

For Lorna Maseko, creating an undeniably appetising meal and unforgettable dining experience means putting your heart on the plate and having a little fun.

Prep like a pro

Do as much as possible before. That way, you get to interact with your guests, enjoy your time with them and be present.

Hearty things such as stew are easy to cook the day before, and it actually tastes better the day after, because all the flavours have absorbed into the stew.

Half-cook the fish before the event, then finish it off when the guests arrive, so it’s nice and hot but not too well done.

Desserts are easy to make the day before.

Gadgets such as warming trays are a blessing. Once the food is ready, you put it on the warmer, and your guests can serve themselves from there. Little things like that make entertaining a lot easier.

Lorna’s top entertaining tips

1. It’s nice to do special things for your guests. You can always buy pasta from the box, but you know when you make it yourself, it tastes that much nicer, and it's really something special.
2. Know what your guests like — there's nothing worse than your guests arriving, and they don’t eat certain foods.
3. Make the food look great. Colour speaks, so you can have a stew, but it doesn’t have to be all brown — add micro herbs or whole tomatoes instead of crushed, or add greenery such as raw spinach. People eat with their eyes. It doesn’t matter how great your food tastes, they need to look at it, and if it looks great, they’ll want to eat it.

This article first appeared in print in the Sowetan S Mag December 2018 edition.