It is customary for persons to usher in the New Year with family, friends and food, whether in a small gathering or a big to-do. Of course, the success of the party depends on the food served and the extent to which it is enjoyed.

The tradition of ringing out the old and ringing in the new started with the early Romans, but the celebration on December 31 is as a result of the Julian calendar devised by Emperor Julius Caesar. The month of January was named in honour of the two-faced Roman god Janus who looked backward to the old year and forward to the new. As a custom, the Romans held a festival each year in his honour and to exchange gifts and wishes of good luck.

Despite the economic climate, you can still celebrate the passing of the old year without too much strain on your finances. The concerns are usually the same every year when it comes to catering for the New Year's Eve party.

What will the menu be like? The best advice is to go with an appetiser party if you have a limited budget, keeping it light, culturally relevant and colourful utilising brightly coloured fruits and vegetables. Select a few foods and let them shine with creative recipes.

Interesting appetisers

Shellfish makes for fun appetisers and gives you room for creativity. - Contributed Photos

Look at what everyday ingredients you may have in your refrigerator and pantry and see what gourmet twist you can add to make interesting appetisers. You may want to create a theme to bring out the creativity in the food while exciting your guests. Appetisers should be light, few in number, but delectable. Include menu selections for carnivores (meat eaters), vegetarians and vegans. Menu items may include:

Tomato Garlic Bruschetta

Barbecued Chicken Wontons

Vegetable Spring Rolls

Spicy Ham Balls in Barbecue Sauce

Double Ginger Shrimp

Cheesy Callaloo Cups

Sesame Gingered Pizza

Grilled Bacon-wrapped Plantains

Pineapple Coconut Bites

Fresh fruits coated with chocolate

Fresh Fruit Tartlets

Fruit Salsa/Fruit Kebabs with Spicy Sorrel Dip

Pineapple Rum Punch

Champagne Sorrel Punch.

The flavours of Jamaica should be interwoven into dishes selected. Gingered foods use Jamaican ginger root, known to be the best in the world, to provide a spicy sweetness in savoury dishes and desserts and confections. In selecting the root, larger roots are more fibrous and spicy.

Garlic is still supreme in providing great flavours for the party. Its pungent flavour mellows with cooking and it is the cloves that are most pungent in flavour. Scotch bonnet pepper provides a gentle heat for a distinctive flavour in a dish, dip or sauce.

What is the level of preparation required? Critical to the success of any party is the preparation of appetisers, which have to be planned well in advance. It means making a plan by deciding what appetisers will be served and to how many people and the format to be used for the party.

To reduce the hassle, it's advisable to plan an appetiser menu that is simple, yet elegant. Choose dishes you can make ahead of time on the big day. Whatever you plan to serve should be something that you enjoy making if you are preparing the foods yourself.

The trend is to move away from serving heavy, rich foods to a menu that offers healthy fare with items like lightly sautéed shrimp, callaloo cups, Chinese spaghetti salad, vegetable frittatas or spicy pizza squares. Ingredients for these dishes such as raw or blanched vegetables can be kept in sealed plastic bags and kept in the refrigerator for a sufficiently long time. Keep herbs fresh in the refrigerator by cutting off stalks and wrapping in a dampened towel and sealed tightly in a bag.

Buffet-style arrangement

How should the food be presented? Appetisers should be attractively arranged on the table. If you have the space, a buffet-style arrangement allows you to set up in advance so you can spend time mingling with your guests. Large canape trays with a colour-coordinated set make appetisers come alive. For interesting tables, use an array of unmatched china and crystal from your collection over the years. Decorate your tables with what is close at hand, using baskets, satin ribbons, pine cones, fresh fruit and sprinklings of dried flower petals.

Platters should always look clean and food replenished as they run out. In proximity to appetisers, arrange napkins and forks as well as small platters as people help themselves and take a sip. Be sure to remove used plates regularly to keep your presentation area neat and hygienic.

How much food should I serve? It depends on the length of the party and the consumption of alcohol. New Year's Eve parties are usually lengthy and the host may want to show some extravagance in what is prepared.

If hors d'oeuvres are being served instead of an evening meal, seven to nine hors d'oeuvres may be eaten during the first hour, four to five during the second hour and two to three in subsequent hours. It is advised to serve six to eight hors d'oeuvres per person. On an average, each person will eat two to three pieces of each dish. Younger people tend to eat more than an older crowd and guests will nibble more at casual parties than formal functions.

Prepare safe foods

How can foods be kept safe? As you prepare for large numbers, care should be taken to prepare safe foods and keep them in top condition. Foods should be wrapped with moisture in vapour-proof freezer plastic wrap and bags or in containers with tight-fitting lids. Liquids, including sauces, expand when frozen so half an inch of space should be left below the rim of the container.

Meatballs, pastries and similar individual foods should be placed in a single layer in a baking pan and freeze for about an hour until firm and then transfer to a freezer container or bag. When ready to serve, remove only as many as needed. Appetisers may be stored in the freezer for up to a month and thawed and reheated for serving.

Whatever you plan for your New Year's Eve party, make it celebratory with delectable appetisers prepared economically to provide a variety of tastes and aromas to bring the party alive.

Heather Little-White, PhD, is a nutrition and lifestyle consultant in the Corporate Area. Email comments to saturdaylife@gleanerjm.com or fax 922-6223.