The Concept: Supper Club

When you Goggle "supper club" you learn the term refers to restaurants that offer a social atmosphere.

Wikipedia shares that

A supper club, in general, refers to a dining establishment that also functions as a social club. The term may describe different establishments depending on the region, but in general, supper clubs tend to present themselves as having a high-class image, even if the price is affordable to all.

Only part of that above description applies to what I thought I was getting myself into when Tara invited me participate, the social club part. I wanted to take a little bit of time to share with you the concept, and maybe you will be inspired to start one of your own.

Recipe for Supper Club, Six Kitchens-style

Frequency: Monthly
Participation: 6 families
Location: Rotates between the 6 families participating
Menu: Established by host family with the goal to pushes us out of our cooking comfort zone

Can I be honest? Anything that involves cooking is pretty much outside my comfort zone. However, for the more advanced culinary participants the comfort zone is a little more narrow. This involves trying not ingredients, spice profiles, and some other than I don't recall (and have not watched enough Food Network shows to pretend to understand. Spice profile? I take it that isn't the shape of the bottle the spices are packaged in ).

1. Once the host family develops the menu for the evening, the items are divided among the participating families.

This is how I ended up making Mango Pudding for our inaugural supper club. The menu was listed, everyone picked. And I got to choose between the Baked Salt Chicken, Shrimp, and Mango Pudding. Recall, cooking in general is outside my comfort zone? Though the recipe description for Baked Salt Chicken included the word "simple," the thought of cooking a WHOLE chicken and simple did not compute in this cook's mind. Mango Pudding, now that looked simple and something I  and my four year old sous chef could pull off.

2. Each participating family prepares and brings their contribution to the meal on the scheduled night.

It's a potluck meal with a predetermined menu.

3. Everyone enjoys the food and the camaraderie.