Seafood tips for your holiday season menus and buffets

The holiday season, or simply the holidays, is an annual four-month festive period that surrounds the Christmas holiday, as well as other different holidays. It is usually said to occur between October and January. The exact definition, name, and celebrations during the period vary from culture to culture.

Which seafood is perfect for the winter holiday season’s festivities?

Seafood for the winter holiday season's festivities

At the festive winter events, many different exclusive fish and shellfish will make any meal delicate and delicious.

Canadian lobster, snow crabs, king crabs, scallops, shell-on prawns, together with smoked salmon and halibut, can all give an exclusive and elegant touch to any buffet or dish, thanks to their sophisticated look and colours and since they are generally associated with exclusive, fabulous and delicate dining.

Social dining & food sharing

Shellfish also bring the play and fun to the table that is one of the current food trends – allowing your guests to use their hands to eat, cracking claws, sucking the juice from the claws and dipping the meat in delicious shellfish sauce.

This playful aspect matches the trends for “food sharing”* & “social dining”. It is popular to share large platters or tapas-like servings, and also to sit at long tables with friends or strangers, where the sharing or sitting experience promotes socialising and communication.
*foodserviceforum.dk, Birthe Linddal

Buffet and menu tips

Seafood for the winter holiday seasons menus and buffets

Fish and shellfish are excellent servings for the buffet. Arrange the shellfish in the shell to show off the elegant snow crab legs and claws, or the breath-taking Canadian lobster. The Canadian lobster has some of the world’s largest claws and looks simply amazing when displayed whole. Otherwise you can cut it in two halves, sprinkle a mixture of melted butter and garlic onto the halves of lobster and grill until they are golden, for about 3 minutes – and then serve!

TIP - Try stylish shellfish

TIP - Try stylish shellfish

Lobster always adds style to any dish – cold or warm, as a starter or main course.

See the recipe here!

Top-three buffet tips – how to succeed with seafood on your buffet, by Jan Zoutenbier, Senior Chef & New Product Developer, Royal Greenland:

• Make the exclusive fish/shellfish visible
• Have a great colour combination
• Create an excellent flavour combination

The sight, scent, taste and even the sound of food are all factors in one's decision to choose to eat a certain food – and are all part of the total seafood experience at a buffet. All the senses are in play when guests are tempted by an exquisite buffet.

Visible fish and shellfish

Visible fish and shellfish

“We eat with our eyes first” is an old, but very valid saying. To emphasise the seafood experience, make the fish and shellfish visible. If there are layers of ingredients, put seafood on top, and garnish with the seafood, e.g. garnish with a claw or the legs of the lobster or crab. This assures an appealing look that triggers the appetite.

Amazing colour combinations

Amazing colour combinations

The colour combinations of a seafood serving also entice the eye and contribute to an amazing buffet look. A great colour mix adds to the taste of the dish. Mix the marvellous red lobster, crabs or prawns with green and yellow garnishes, or try black lumpfish roe with yellow pumpkins and green beans.

Excellent flavour combination

Excellent flavour combination

To serve a well-composed seafood dish, the aim is to include all five basic tastes for a satisfying and balanced meal. Most fish or shellfish has an umami flavour and therefore mixes nicely with spices and foodstuff that are sweet, sour, bitter and salt.

See more flavour combinations here

To make the seafood stretch further on the buffet as well, we have collected a bunch of tips here.