I’ve been thinking about the fast-forward lives we lead, driven by the need to do, do, do. Sometimes friends get lost in the shuffle of our responsibilities—family, work, health, and the general maintenance of life.
My husband and I’ve belonged to a supper club for a few years. There are twelve of us, and we get together once a month, taking turns hosting. Sometimes only eight of us show up, sometimes all twelve. The point is, we schedule a time to bond over food.
A small but lively party
Since two of us are vegetarian and one is allergic to seafood, we make vegetarian meals without fish. To challenge ourselves, we cook international. The host picks the cuisine. Among others, we’ve done Colombian and Russian, Syrian and Thai, French and Native American. The host prepares the main dish, and everyone else brings appetizers, soup, salad, a side, and dessert.
About to dig in
Our most recent meal together was German. (It turns out that Berlin, which makes me think of bratwurst, has been named not only the vegetarian, but the vegan capital of the world.) The hosts really got into the Oktoberfest theme, decorating with beer steins, trumpets, and dried leaves. For entertainment, the musician in the group coaxed us into singing a German tune in rounds of three. We didn’t get very far but we had fun.
Still life with trumpet
Eating in a restaurant from another culture gets your toe in the door to that culture, but making the food yourself gets your whole foot in. A meringue or souffle—that tricky combination of sweet or savory ingredients with just the right amount of egg white and air—is uniquely French. A Thai spring roll, so innocent in a restaurant, requires a feat of manual dexterity. Knafeh, a Syrian dessert that looks like a bird nest with pistachio eggs, is the most difficult dish I’ve ever assembled—also one of the most delicious. As I struggled with it alone in my kitchen, I thought of the long line of women who have passed the skill to their daughters, making the delicacy together until the girls can do it in one hour instead of four.
Carol and me
If starting a supper club seems like a good idea, who would you like to be in it? How often would you meet? What kind of food would you make? Trying new food is a lot of fun—even more so when doing it with friends.