3. Choose global containers for global foods
To enhance street foods and ethnic dishes—a big draw at catered events—use serving containers that reflect the cuisine. Andy Cox, director of dining services at Smith College in Northampton, Mass., serves Chinese dumplings in an oversized bamboo steamer, placing a small bowl of dipping sauce in the center. Poke, the trendy Hawaiian-inspired prep of raw fish cubes, veggies and rice, makes a statement served in a small bamboo bowl lined with mango or papaya leaves, while skewering beef, pork and chicken satays on thin stalks of sugar cane before grilling makes for an authentic presentation.