No, Mr Bond, I expect you to dine.
November 9, 2009 5:38 AM Subscribe
What food goes with a "Detectives, Spys, Villians and Henchmen" themed party?
If you're willing to modify the actual food names a little, then for "villians", Eggs Benedict Arnold.
posted by Flunkie at 5:47 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by Flunkie at 5:47 AM on November 9, 2009
Fun! The early Bond books go into (sometimes excruciating) detail as regards 007's favorite breakfast foods, but I'm not sure how well those'd translate to party foods. You could go for faux-haute appetizers like caviar, or canapes served on a roulette whee.
Beverages are easy - martinis for the spies, bourbon and gin for the private dicks. Or coffee and doughnuts. Villains drink cognac while stroking their cat.
Awesome title, btw.
posted by jquinby at 5:48 AM on November 9, 2009
Beverages are easy - martinis for the spies, bourbon and gin for the private dicks. Or coffee and doughnuts. Villains drink cognac while stroking their cat.
Awesome title, btw.
posted by jquinby at 5:48 AM on November 9, 2009
Response by poster: runincircles, maybe I'm just dense, but can you explain why Spotted Dick matches the theme?
posted by jrishel at 5:50 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by jrishel at 5:50 AM on November 9, 2009
Response by poster: oh, spotted dick, private dick, I see, doh.
posted by jrishel at 5:58 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by jrishel at 5:58 AM on November 9, 2009
1970's buffet/party food. Prawn cocktail, barquettes, vol au vents, pinapple on a stick, jellies with elaborate arrangements of fruit and flowers inside.
There are some Bond related ideas here.
posted by fire&wings at 6:05 AM on November 9, 2009
There are some Bond related ideas here.
posted by fire&wings at 6:05 AM on November 9, 2009
Fortune cookies whose fortunes include clues to a party-wide mystery.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:05 AM on November 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by robocop is bleeding at 6:05 AM on November 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
The Brooklyn Grill has a neat menu you could 'harvest' for ideas.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:15 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by Frasermoo at 6:15 AM on November 9, 2009
yeah sorry, cheap pun! is tasty though!
posted by runincircles at 6:16 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by runincircles at 6:16 AM on November 9, 2009
oh yeah, who can forget the Goodfellas monologue...
In prison dinner was always a big thing. We had
a pasta course and then we had a meat or a fish.
Paulie did the prep work. He was doin' a year for
contempt and he had this wonderful system for
dicin' the garlic: he used a razor. He used to slice
it so thin that it would liquify in the pan with just
a little oil. It's a very good system.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:16 AM on November 9, 2009
In prison dinner was always a big thing. We had
a pasta course and then we had a meat or a fish.
Paulie did the prep work. He was doin' a year for
contempt and he had this wonderful system for
dicin' the garlic: he used a razor. He used to slice
it so thin that it would liquify in the pan with just
a little oil. It's a very good system.
posted by Frasermoo at 6:16 AM on November 9, 2009
Concoct a heavily chilled cocktail of your own design and call it "Revenge"
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:29 AM on November 9, 2009 [2 favorites]
posted by mcstayinskool at 6:29 AM on November 9, 2009 [2 favorites]
And of course, for dessert, the bombe surprise!.
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:31 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by Comrade_robot at 6:31 AM on November 9, 2009
Egg salad?
Also, hiding the secret recipe (preferably printed on microfilm) and encouraging the guests to find it would be a fun added element.
posted by burnmp3s at 6:44 AM on November 9, 2009
Also, hiding the secret recipe (preferably printed on microfilm) and encouraging the guests to find it would be a fun added element.
posted by burnmp3s at 6:44 AM on November 9, 2009
Strangely, I read that as "Detectives, Spys, Villians and Frenchmen," which gave me a very different sense of the guests....
Do you have to have menus for the different groups? -- I mean, I think of detectives eating bad sandwiches and equally bad (and cold) coffee. Spies should get caviar and martinis, Villains get their just desserts (whether this means they only get dessert, or it is a particularly moral treat is up to you), and Henchmen (and women), I am afraid, are lucky to not be killed before getting a speaking line. As a matter of fact, henchpeople should be serving the others and get fed in the kitchen.... I suppose any cheap and nutritous gruel would do for them.
Otherwise canapes of various sorts (piing bag tips are your friend!) can be fairly easily manufactured, are relatively easy to store and serve, and fit the theme.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:50 AM on November 9, 2009
Do you have to have menus for the different groups? -- I mean, I think of detectives eating bad sandwiches and equally bad (and cold) coffee. Spies should get caviar and martinis, Villains get their just desserts (whether this means they only get dessert, or it is a particularly moral treat is up to you), and Henchmen (and women), I am afraid, are lucky to not be killed before getting a speaking line. As a matter of fact, henchpeople should be serving the others and get fed in the kitchen.... I suppose any cheap and nutritous gruel would do for them.
Otherwise canapes of various sorts (piing bag tips are your friend!) can be fairly easily manufactured, are relatively easy to store and serve, and fit the theme.
posted by GenjiandProust at 6:50 AM on November 9, 2009
How about chocolate cookies with a slight taste of bitter almonds?
posted by NewGear at 7:08 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by NewGear at 7:08 AM on November 9, 2009
Best answer: bowl of suicide pills
posted by bottlebrushtree at 7:53 AM on November 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
posted by bottlebrushtree at 7:53 AM on November 9, 2009 [1 favorite]
For some reason I immediately thought of submarine sandwiches. Kind of secretive, in a way. Also, ladyfingers, with mustaches drawn on with icing. Maybe foods disguised as other foods?
posted by attercoppe at 9:18 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by attercoppe at 9:18 AM on November 9, 2009
Food in disguise to look like other food.
posted by Billegible at 10:11 AM on November 9, 2009
posted by Billegible at 10:11 AM on November 9, 2009
What an awesome idea. I like the idea of a meal with things hidden inside of other things. Mashed potatoes mound nicely over all sorts of things; cakes can have pudding centers.
You could always dream up dishes based on classic spy or mystery stories: The Big Sheep (for a rack of lamb); Six Days of the Turkey; The Hunt for Red Cabbage; The Mysterious Pear at Styles.
posted by julen at 10:50 AM on November 9, 2009
You could always dream up dishes based on classic spy or mystery stories: The Big Sheep (for a rack of lamb); Six Days of the Turkey; The Hunt for Red Cabbage; The Mysterious Pear at Styles.
posted by julen at 10:50 AM on November 9, 2009
Definitely hardboiled eggs. When I thnk film noir private dicks, I think of delis--a good Reuben, pastrami on rye--or diner food; steak and eggs maybe, or a slice of pie and a cup of coffee as black as Satan's jockstrap. You might also wish to mine the books of Nero Wolfe for some ideas.
I always think of villains as having large appetites--huge plates of pasta (linguine with clams, spaghetti bolognese---yeah okay Mafia stereotypes sorry), whole loaves of garlic bread, vats of cheap red wine.
Henchmen, as mentioned above, should eat gruel. Possibly poisoned by one of the spies.
Spies... well it depends. Are we talking James Bond or Jason Bourne? If the latter, the food should look like scraps, whatever he can find.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:08 AM on November 9, 2009
I always think of villains as having large appetites--huge plates of pasta (linguine with clams, spaghetti bolognese---yeah okay Mafia stereotypes sorry), whole loaves of garlic bread, vats of cheap red wine.
Henchmen, as mentioned above, should eat gruel. Possibly poisoned by one of the spies.
Spies... well it depends. Are we talking James Bond or Jason Bourne? If the latter, the food should look like scraps, whatever he can find.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:08 AM on November 9, 2009
Response by poster: I think these are all best answers, so I just marked the two I did for the party. Pigs in a Blanket labelled as Cops Undercover and a bowl of Mike and Ike's labeled as Cyanide Capsules, which was also relabeled as "Iocaine Powder Training Capsules"
I was only a guest but the party also involved a scavenger hunt and ended with defusing a bomb by having to decide which wire to cut. My group was the only one to select "cut ALL the wires at once" it worked, but was perhaps a bit overkill :)
posted by jrishel at 7:24 AM on November 16, 2009
I was only a guest but the party also involved a scavenger hunt and ended with defusing a bomb by having to decide which wire to cut. My group was the only one to select "cut ALL the wires at once" it worked, but was perhaps a bit overkill :)
posted by jrishel at 7:24 AM on November 16, 2009
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posted by runincircles at 5:46 AM on November 9, 2009