You may want to include some traditional Kentucky dishes and try some dishes with flavors from Asia, Spain, Italy or Mexico. These foods will not only add spice to your meal, but also serve as a topic of conversation. If you have a good story about how you came across a certain recipe, be sure to share that with your guests. Some of your traditional Kentucky recipes may have been in your family for generations. Maybe a friend from another country has acquainted you with new foods or ingredients.
People like to talk about food as well as eat it.
Tapas come from Spain, where the idea originated in the nineteenth century. One story tells that drinkers in a tavern in southern Spain started putting slices of bread on top of their glasses between drinks to keep the flies out. Then a bartender with a bright idea put a slice of ham or sausage on top of the bread. Soon small plates with food on them were being used to cover the glasses. The Spanish believe the tapeo, or tapas ritual, requires many hours of relaxed conversation with plenty of food and drink.