Pu-Pu Please

When I was young we went out for Chinese food almost every Friday night. Amongst the assortment of Americanized Chinese food we consumed, I always ordered the Pu-Pu Platter for an appetizer. A tantalizing assortment of greasy goodies were set before us: a few fried wontons, an eggroll cut into four pieces, some slices of bbq pork, and the piece de resistance-- shish kebabs of marinated beef, skewered on bamboo sticks, and laid upon its very own sterno of bright flames. And I loved it.

So I guess you could say my love affair with appetizers started early on, and it has only grown. My most beloved cookbooks are ones with chapters devoted to the cocktail hour. There is something deeply satisfying about a little bite of food, complex in its composition yet minute in its size. Homemade potato chips, topped with gravlax, sour cream and caviar; perfectly formed melon balls adorned with salty slices of prosciutto; a beautiful crudite platter, baby carrots crisply peeled with their greens still intact, and neat, little radish orbs with just a sprinkling of kosher salt-- I adore them all. But yet do I have anyone to prepare such delectable treats for? The answer is sadly-- not really.

When I go to a party now a days it's not the swanky croquette sort, it's the chip and dip, or the requisite cheese platter kind. Does anyone truly throw those glitzy, cocktail fetes anymore? Or for that matter, did anyone ever really throw those kinds of parties? I have thrown the occasional party where cocktails and proper nourishment is available. But it is simply not enough to quell my inner pu-pu yearnings. I could propose a dinner made entirely of appetizers. I could invite some friends and let the grazing begin. But I would fear that ominous question, "Appetizers were wonderful, now where is the rest of the meal?"

I suppose there is a solution to all of this appetizer envy, assuming there are people who have "proper" cocktail parties, scrumptious tapas included. I just need to find a new group of friends. I will take out an ad in the local paper, or on craigslist, and it will read: Do you love appetizers, long for a saucy martini, straight-up? MF, ISO people with similar adoration of the cocktail hour to enjoy plates and plates of appetizers (enough to make a meal of really). If this sounds delicious to you, call... Pu-pu's always appreciated.