Snack-TASTIC

Make stars of your snacks and you might be surprised by the results

SPANISH FLAVOUR

Sharing dishes and boards are a continuing trend and small plates go down well with a pint or glass of wine, so maximise on this with a selection of tapas dishes, such as croquettes, patatas bravas, meatballs, goats’ cheese and chilli bonbons, crispy squid and soft tacos.

CRISPY PORK BITES

There are various ready-made options but it’s easy to make your own, and home-made always carries a premium price tag. Simply cut pork skin into bitesize pieces (about 2.5cm), add to a pan of cold water, bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain and pat dry, then lay out flat on a baking tray and dry out in a low oven for 1 hour. Remove from oven, season – ground fennel mixed with sea salt is a tasty option – increase oven temperature to 240˚C/220˚C fan/gas 9 and bake for a further 20 minutes. The pork pieces should start to puff up and become crispy. When crispy, leave to dry out and then serve.

NUTS

Bowls of nuts are one of the best snacking partners with a drink. Up your game with honey-roasted almonds, hazelnuts and pecans, curry roasted pistachios or rosemary salt and pepper cashews. There are plenty of brands with premium offerings out there but whip up a homemade selection to stand out.

Make a batch of sweet and spicy nuts by tossing a variety of nuts, such as pecans, almonds, walnuts and cashews, with salt, black pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper. Heat sugar, water and butter until melted and drizzle over the nuts, then scatter on an oiled foil-lined baking sheet and bake on a low heat for about 6 minutes until sticky. The perfect bar snack to accompany any drink.

Top tip

CREATE A BAR SNACKS MENU AND PRICE SEPARATELY OR AS A MULTI-DISH OFFER

CRISPS AND SNACKS

With so many flavour combinations and premium ranges, crisps are a low-cost, low-effort offering with good margins, but go with unique flavours. With government HFSS legislation coming into force later this year, brands are reformulating their products, so make sure you highlight this. KP’s premium, number-one Tyrells Lightly Sea Salted flavour will be available as non-HFSS in sharing, multipack and singles formats, along with its Mediterranean Herb flavour.

Don’t dismiss vegetable crisps as a premium offering and go beyond standard crisps to offer roasted chickpeas and jerky, which comes in beef and salmon variants and in different flavours. Go upmarket with olives, anchovies, cured meats and sun-dried tomatoes with buffalo mozzarella balls.

HOT NIBBLES

Elevate your snack offering further with a selection of hot snacks – sweet potato fries and dip, pitta chips, sliders, individual mini nachos bowls, beer-battered chips, soft salted pretzel sticks, gourmet Scotch eggs and breaded whitebait with aioli.

SWEET TOOTH

Consider sweet snacks too such as chocolatedipped pretzels, cinnamon apple chips, popcorn and mini brownie bites.

Top tip

BE CREATIVE WITH HOW YOU SERVE, SUCH AS IN JARS AND ON SLATES