Oliver: Food, Glorious–OPEN LINK IN  NEW TAB TO HEAR ONLY-

The Buffet as we know it today evolved from the Swedish Smorgasboard, however the Smorgasboard was cold fish (Herring, Smelts Smoked Salmon etc. on ice)Around 20 yrs ago when the Chinese buffet came on the seen, it was originally referred to as ”Hot Smorgasbord”. The catering halls always had a Hot and cold Smorgasbord at weddings and Bar Mitzvahs, . Every Jewish family int he 50’s and 60’s had a family circle and always had a buffet , hot chaffing dishes containing every specialty dish except soup . I remember my family’s Cousins club(family circle) the meeting rotated monthly from member to members house and each family tried to out do the other in the spread they would put out.Supermarkets and many places in the city have a buffet but you pay by the pound , the food is weighed after you plate it up.Today we have the Indian buffet a limited variety ,a collection of 8 or 9 fancy crock pots of great tasting curry dishes that you ladle over rice .I wonder what ethnic group will have an all you can eat buffet next years ago a few cafeterias had all you can eat , but it was served by mess man, one place like this that comes to mind is the Horn and Hardarts wild west room(1965-66). in closing i’ll just remark ”all you can eat buffets…what a concept!” …Don Lerman