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by Mary Crafts
Founder and OG Mama
Forty years ago, Culinary Crafts set about to change food service in Utah. Back then, catered events all looked pretty much the same: chicken salad sandwiches, casseroles, cream puffs, and a bowl of butter mints. We thought that with a little creativity, we could offer exciting, delicious food at an affordable price point. It turned out we were right, but we underestimated how much “creativity” it was going to take!
Boiling Water
I remember one of our first events that we catered in Park City. At that time, it was very popular to serve lasagna at social gatherings, but we didn’t want to do that; we were planning to serve our own fresh pasta. Don’t get me wrong, I love lasagna! The problem is, it never looks good in a buffet. Once that first piece is removed, the whole lasagna looks sloppy.
So, we had prepared some gorgeous handmade tagliatelle noodles we planned to cook fresh onsite. Topped with a light marinara, they were going to look and taste sensational. All I had to do was boil a big pot of water, drop in the noodles, and ten minutes later…voila! Simple, right? Well, no. What I didn’t realize was that in Park City, at 7,000 feet, water boils very differently, so noodles take longer to cook.
About the time that dinner should have been ready, our host poked her head in to see how things were going. I told her, “The guests really seem to be enjoying the hors d’ oeuvres. Maybe we should give them a little more time before we set out the buffet?” She agreed. But when she returned ten minutes later, I was still waiting for that darn pot to start boiling!
“I don’t want them to fill up on hors d’oeuvres,” our host said. “Can we set out the buffet?”
“Absolutely! We’ll set it up now. I just want to serve these noodles as fresh as possible.”
I still wasn’t seeing a good boil, but in desperation I dumped the noodles into the pot and hoped for the best. Just as I feared, they sank to the bottom and congealed. I stirred frantically, but it didn’t help. By the time I scooped them out, they were noodles no more. They were a giant glob of pasta paste.
From the Jaws of Defeat
Of course, that’s when the host reappeared.
“I just need to finish the pasta and we’ll be ready,” I assured her with a smile.
Hoping against all hope, I sliced and diced that blob of pasta into little pillows and gave them to my team to serve. Then I looked for a hole I could crawl into and die.
Ten minutes later, the host was back. “Ummm…the pasta,” she said. “It’s…different.”
I nodded and smiled.
“The guests want to talk to you about it,” she said.
Tail between my legs, I went out to face the firing squad.
Imagine my surprise when I realized that they loved it. “We’ve never had anything like it,” they said. “What’s it called?”
Shocked, I blurted out the first Italian word that came to my head.
“Mostaccioli!”
Smile
And that, in a nutshell, is the essence of building an off-premises catering company. When things go wrong—as they inevitably will at the most crucial times—you find a way to make it work. You take whatever fate throws at you, and you make something delicious.
And, the whole time, you smile.
In my defense, mostaccioli really is a type of Italian pasta. It’s often baked with tomato sauce, meat, and cheese. Much like lasagna.
