Sorbet as a starter ?

I have been served an Earl Grey sorbet and a tomato sorbet, both delicious but no idea how to make them , or even buy them.
Avocado and cream cheese with a few prawns.
Gazpacho.
A small amuse bouche coffee cup of soup as the meal sounds quite filling.
Got it !
Grapefruit, grilled, with sherry and the final touch of sophistication, a maraschino cherry on top!

Soup is too heavy if followed by steak pie and trifle. How about eggs hollandaise with asparagus? You can buy a jar of hollandaise sauce and cook eggs & asparagus in advance.

Gin

Dates stuffed with a sharp goats cheese?

I like the Spanish tapas dates wrapped in bacon, a bit like pigs in blankets 😋

Rosie51

In hotels I've frequently been served a fruit sorbet as a 'palate cleanser" between courses, but not as a stand alone starter. Thinking about it, I'd not mind a refreshing lemon sorbet as a starter, light, non-filling and a clean palate for the main course.

I'm pretty sure the practice of sorbet eating comes from the French. You get it at French weddings and confirmation celebrations where the meal goes on for ages. It is referred to as a trou normand, a Normandy hole, because traditionally it was the gap between courses to clean your mouth. In Normandy it was a sorbet made of calvados, apple flavour.

Figs aren't necessarily easy this time of year. - sorry. Got carried away!

Gin

Dates stuffed with a sharp goats cheese?

Or baked figs with a blue cheese?

I'm another who may well go the antipasti route.
Lots of very easy options.

Or soup? I like carrot and coriander with orange this time of year - and it's not too heavy.

If you wanted something easy and warm you could bake camembert with or without garlic/thyme/walnuts/ etc - and serve with some breads/brioche/ breadsticks etc.

I like to do "easy" things so I'm not cooking all the time.

In hotels I've frequently been served a fruit sorbet as a 'palate cleanser" between courses, but not as a stand alone starter. Thinking about it, I'd not mind a refreshing lemon sorbet as a starter, light, non-filling and a clean palate for the main course.

RosiesMaw

How about just a platter of cold cuts like Parma ham, chorizo, olives, sliced pepperdew peppers (jar) anchovies or stuffed tiny peppers? With sourdough I think.
Not a sweet sorbet- the wrong taste in your mouth to start a meal IMO.

Oh, Pizza Express used to do this as a starter. About £8 and easily enough for two.

I went right off them when it disappeared from the menu.

winterwhite

True, Callistemon, but if a largeish party with much chat it takes longer than one might think. Then there’s the vegetables to consider…

A hostess trolley is useful

#Freda

True, Callistemon, but if a largeish party with much chat it takes longer than one might think. Then there’s the vegetables to consider…

winterwhite

Do you really need a starter before either steak pie or leg of lamb? Can play havoc re keeping the main course hot unless you have unseen help in the kitchen.
Nice canapés with pre dinner drinks instead?

I suppose if the starter is cold it can be ready to put on the table, then the steak pie can stay in the oven on a low heat and the lamb resting for the short time it takes to eat the starter.

Thanks for all the ideas folks .

Do you really need a starter before either steak pie or leg of lamb? Can play havoc re keeping the main course hot unless you have unseen help in the kitchen.
Nice canapés with pre dinner drinks instead?

Dates stuffed with a sharp goats cheese?

Oreo

RosiesMaw

How about just a platter of cold cuts like Parma ham, chorizo, olives, sliced pepperdew peppers (jar) anchovies or stuffed tiny peppers? With sourdough I think.
Not a sweet sorbet- the wrong taste in your mouth to start a meal IMO.

Oooh! That sounds delish.

DD often makes that - spread out on a huge dish or wooden board.

RosiesMaw

How about just a platter of cold cuts like Parma ham, chorizo, olives, sliced pepperdew peppers (jar) anchovies or stuffed tiny peppers? With sourdough I think.
Not a sweet sorbet- the wrong taste in your mouth to start a meal IMO.

Oooh! That sounds delish.

How about a sharpish sorbet after the starters? An amuse bouche sort of thing

How about just a platter of cold cuts like Parma ham, chorizo, olives, sliced pepperdew peppers (jar) anchovies or stuffed tiny peppers? With sourdough I think.
Not a sweet sorbet- the wrong taste in your mouth to start a meal IMO.

Sorbet is an in-between to cleanse the palate I think.

What about fanned melon with smoked salmon for those who do like it, with feta for the vegetarian? With a small salad
Or garlic mushrooms?

Melon, mentioned above, in some form, sounds nice if you want something colder.

I like sorbet, but not so much in winter.
Onion soup is quite light, you can accompany it with bread, and sprinkle with cheese.
Or stuffed zucchini with ricotta or brousse.

Mushrooms a la grecque, served cold, so can be made earlier.

I would probably just do something veggie, and probably not sorbet, tbh.

Soup with a couple of nice toasts;; bruschetta, melon in some form - melon balls, melon, feta and watercress salad; arancini; crostini; caprese salad; beetroot and goats cheese salad; panzanella, using root veg; vegetable tempura.

How about leek and potato soup which can be made in advance or tomato mozarella and rocket salad or any variation on this.