A French-style Party That’s Actually Easy to Pull Off

Above: these verrines in our kitchen (stored on a vintage wine drying rack) will be pressed into service for our next fête.

Forget those fancy five course, sit-down French dinners: the chic way to entertain in France these days is the apéro dinatoire. Which is very like a small cocktail party, except that everyone sits down, usually gathered around in the the living rooom, instead of à table. For the formal French, this change is énorme.

But change only goes so far in France, and the French hate eating with their fingers. So finger food is not necessarily a big feature of the apéro dinatoire.

Instead, the French often serve verrines. A verrine is literally a small glass, but the word has come to also mean a small portion of something yummy, served chilled in a small glass or dish, and garnished in a pretty way. So if you have a party with les verrines, you are going to have to buy a set of small glasses, or fish around in your cabinet to find some. Maybe you have some small wine or champagne glasses or espresso cups which can be pressed into service. 

Above: I went shopping in my cupboards for sets of dishes that can be used as verrines for a party. I found quite at few choices.

But the search will be worth it, because this is a easy, pretty, crowd-pleasing way to entertain, and you can do it all beforehand, the day before if you  like. Even something ordinary like a little scoop of egg salad looks special in its own glass, fluffed up with a bit of chopped tomato and a sprig of a fresh herb on top.

Above, ready-made verrines in the window of our gourmet shop in Beaune

Most anything tasty can go into a verrine. We went to an apéro dinatoire at our friends Françoise and Mike’s house, and this was the menu: 

They started out with a little gazpacho. Then there was a divine shrimp salad (recipe below) . There was something they called a crab tower, which was layered avocado, crab salad, and chopped tomatoes.

Above, Françoise served “crab towers, with layers of avocado, crab salad and tomatoes, garnished with rosemary.

Françoise made a wonderful verrine of slow-cooked, multi-colored, julienned bell peppers and garlic. She served these with a little crown of soft goat cheese, The recipe is based on Makbuba, a Tunisian dish. There was also a tabouli with a pretty garnish.

Here are the pepper and goat cheese verrines, along with smoked salmon toasts with capers and onions.

The possibilities are endless. Any sort of protein salad works: shrimp, tuna, or steak salad, layered or mixed. Any kind of pasta, chpped veggie, or rice salad would work as well. Something pre-prepared, picked up from your gourmet grocery, can fill in here and there.

And of course a little glass of cold or hot soup in an espresso cup is a nice addition to the mix. 

Most verrines are served cold, so make these ahead, pop them in the fridge, and spend all your time with your guests. You can even put dessert into a verrine if you want to go all out. And if you have enough glasses!

Here are some more verrine ideas, and I bet you could come up with a lot more:

—Layer sour cream or creme fraiche with smoked salmon, capers, and dill.

—Make a caprese verrine, with small balls of mozzerella, tomatos, basil, and drizzle it with olive oil or pesto.

—How about chopping up some scallops with orange sections, and topping it with chives?

—Layer chopped cucumbers and red onions with feta and top with parsley or dill.

—For dessert, crumble some brownies or cookies and layer them with strawberries, whipped cream, and a garnish of mint.

…And enjoy your facile fête!

To read more about l‘apéro dinatoire, check out this post.

RECIPE: Shrimp Salad with Grapefruit

This makes 8 verrines

1 cup mayonnaise

2 tablespoons Dijon mustard

Dash of salt and pepper

3 pink grapefruit

32 medium shrimp, steamed, peeled, and cut in half

6 scallions, white and green parts thinly sliced

Garnish: paprika, chopped chives, lemon wedges

Mix the first 3 ingrdients together for dressing. Section the grapefruit, reserving juice; mix with shrimp and dressing and enough of the juice to thin the dressing, adding more salt and pepper to taste. Spoon into verrines and garnish.

Favorite READS and VIEWS: We’ve discovered a great crime series (in French) called Deadly Tropics. Set in Martinique, it has great scenery, 2 single female detectives, colorful characters, and doses of humor too. You can stream 5 seasons in the US or France.

Danielle Steele is not one of my favorite authors, but if you want to live the fantasy of up and moving to France, check out her novel, Never say Never. Susanna Kingsley IS one of my favorites, and she has a new book out, called The King’s Messenger.

And don’t forget, Kristin Espinasse’s wonderful new book is now out in paperback, A Year in a French Life.