Food is an integral part of any celebration. It has the power to transcend boundaries, inspire conversations, and bring joy to both the palette and the soul. A well-crafted meal not only brings people together but also leaves a lasting impression. On your wedding day, this is especially important.
Creating a tasty wedding menu that tantalizes the tastebuds will have your family and friends reminiscing about your nuptials for years to come. Your menu is also a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and showcase your culture. By curating cuisine that resonates with you and your partner, you can share your love story through the flavors and traditions that matter most to you.
To help guide you on this culinary journey, we’ve enlisted the expertise of three Muna Coterie Chefs: Juan Hernandez of Delivering Experiences, Christa Lynch of Brooklyn Braised, and Grace Odogbili of Dining With Grace, Inc. These talented chefs offer invaluable tips on how to incorporate cultural elements into your wedding day through food and beverages.
Specializing in Latin American and Fusion Cuisines, Sustainable Comfort Classics (with a twist), and Pan-African Cuisines, each of these culinary experts brings their unique cultural insights and distinctive flavors to the table.
Keep scrolling for more culture-fusion food and beverage inspiration for your wedding day menu!
*This exclusive Food Experience article was first featured in Munaluchi print magazine, Issue 32. Click here to purchase a copy on our Muna Shop.
Juan Hernandez of Delivering Experiences
Juan Hernandez, a native of Colombia who later migrated to the USA, has dedicated over 30 years of his life to the hospitality industry. His journey, spanning hotels, restaurants, and upscale events management, is not just a career path but a testament to his unwavering passion for this field.
From a young age, thanks to my mother’s business, I was immersed in the world of catering. I vividly recall assisting her with food preparation, a role that instilled in me a deep-rooted catering orientation.
I came to the USA nine years ago. After being denied many opportunities, I told myself ‘I’m going to start my own business.’ So, I did deep research on the existing caterers in the New York Metropolitan area and we found there were no elevated Latin cuisine catering businesses. We saw an opportunity and this is how Delivering Experiences was born.
How to incorporate culture:
The weddings and events industry, in general, has evolved so much, and now we do not talk just about events; we talk about experiences.
At Delivering Experiences, we believe the most important tip for couples is to incorporate their background and nationality into the food experience. This adds a personal touch and makes the event more memorable. We encourage couples to think about their favorite food from their childhood, the food they had on their first date, and more.
We always love to have a menu consultation with our couples and clients to ensure that we create a menu that reflects them. Of course, sourcing fresh, local, and native ingredients is key to serving unique dishes. We are always thinking about how to elevate traditional dishes.
The possibilities in terms of menus are endless, and we love creating customized menus for each celebration. Our artisan flavors combine unforgettable tastes and great emotions, taking you and your guests on a cultural food journey.
Christa Lynch of Brooklyn Braised Events
Brooklyn Braised Events is a NYC-based luxury catering company that leads with sustainability. Over the past 7 years, the company has offered full-scale event services in the NYC area including staffing, bar services, event planning, and pastry + desserts.
Owner Christa Lynch is a classically-trained Chef specializing in the art of elevated comfort food. In her work, she champions equity in the culinary space with 100% of Brooklyn Braised vendors being minority and women-owned. Her extensive culinary talent is currently enjoyed at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens where she is the Executive Sous Chef.
Chef Christa is also passionate about giving back. In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Brooklyn Braised team engaged in creative ways to reduce hunger in the community they call home. In the company’s most recent charitable project, Meals On Us, they raised over $30k to benefit Brooklyn families providing 4000 meals over the course of 8 weeks.
How to incorporate culture:
Think about how you would like your food to fit your wedding theme.
Use food stations to highlight different cuisines.
For example, serve Caribbean fish stew shots with chiles and red potatoes or camarone fritos with coconut and lime as an appetizer instead of salad. You can also include traditional foods, such as those from your home country or culture but possibly with a modern spin.
Create a signature cocktail that reflects your culture.
We made in-house sorrel and incorporated it into a cocktail for a client last year.
Grace Odogbili of Dining With Grace, Inc.
Dining With Grace has been in business for 13 years in Brooklyn, NY. Nigerian-American Chef-Owner, Grace Odogbili, was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, and developed her passion for food and celebrations at an early age while hosting community service parties at her parent’s church.
After attending culinary schools, studying the catering and special events market, and seeing the lack of representation of West African and Diaspora cuisines, she developed a passion to focus on leading a culturally inclusive catering service highlighting the excellence, tastiness, and authenticity in African and multicultural cuisines.
How to incorporate culture:
Eclectic hors d’oeuvres – TELL YOUR STORY
The ceremony is over and everyone has love on the brain; it’s time to wipe away the glossy eyes and celebrate! We love to wake up people’s taste buds right away to let them know dinner will be memorable! Incorporate bold flavors and colors to engage your guests with food telling YOUR STORY.
We have a Nigerian Chili Slider that utilizes tender pulled goat and oxtail in a traditional spicy tomato stew, topped with our house slaw and scotch bonnet spiked pickles. It’s uncommonly delicious and craveable, and for the Nigerian often invokes a memory of a commonly enjoyed dish of meat stew typically eaten with rice.
If you are dreaming of having grazing tables or stations, work with your caterer to create one that has the classic elements but also incorporates your favorite cultural snacks and dishes.
TRANSPORT to a favorite memory
It’s no wonder when people want to go on a vacation they are usually thinking of a coastal place with delicious foods. Think of the shacks by the beach that had the best local Dishes. I love to incorporate my couple’s favorite international food memories.
Whether they fell in love with tuna tostadas in Mexico City or they have a mission to order fish cakes everywhere in the Caribbean, we aim to fall in line with what lights them up. We have a crowd-pleasing hors d’oeuvre, our Bajan Style Salt Cod Fritters, that our clients all fall in love with. We think it’s top-tier, too!
Be Flexible to Ditch the Salad…
Disclaimer: Salads are great and refreshing. First Courses also present an opportunity for cultural representation in a formal plated wedding.
Typically, there are so many dishes the couple enjoys that they can’t truly fit all of them on the dinner menu. We explore ways to include these as an appetizer or first course. Of course, for a buffet, there is more flexibility.
We have a Nigerian Pepper Soup, a spicy broth-style soup typically served with fish or goat, that we serve in shot glasses if for passed hors d’oeuvres (a tease I know) but we also serve it as a first course in lieu of a salad, if preferred.
Feel free to experiment! We recently created Roti Canai, a Malaysian dish of roti served with a curry sauce, as a first course and that was very exciting! We lean towards what engages the happy emotions of our clients.
Tropical Inspiration & Nostalgia
Dining With Grace is highly inspired by “Cuisine of the Tropics.” Work with your Caterer’s beverage team to create innovative specialty cocktails and mocktails to excite and transport your guests. Consider a bar of fresh green coconuts or frozen tropical drinks for a summer wedding.
Consider what elders or those abstaining from alcohol would be transported or refreshed by. Be open to including nostalgic soft drinks such as Malta, Fanta, Bitter Lemon sodas, Ting, Kola Champagne, Cream Soda, etc. A twist on the popular zobo or sorrel beverage is nostalgic for Afro-Caribbean weddings and is always fun to play with. I personally love the brightness of passionfruit and am always thinking of ways to incorporate it into new beverages and desserts.
Sweet Endings to a Sweet Beginning
Be sure to make dessert exciting! We offer specialty desserts like our 4-Layer Deluxe Carrot Cake, a “carrot cake X fruit cake” for a special plated treat but we also offer exquisite mini desserts (including carrot cake bites!) which can be passed while guests are mingling and dancing!
A special shout-out to one of our favorite dessert partners, Brownstone Cheesecakes, a local business that makes exquisite mini cheesecakes! We are working with them on a passionfruit pineapple recipe to lean into the tropical!
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