We haven’t written one of these for a while…Pa Graham was the man in charge of this blog and for some reason he has got behind on his writing…..but never fear for he has his pencil back in hand so here is a small piece from our first supper club of September straight from the table…..Enjoy! (Thanks to supperclub regulars, Rosie & Jamie for this photo X)

Photo credit: Jamie & Rosie Partin

Tales From The Green Room ~ Saturday 1st September 2018

After a summer recess, the first supper club of the new season was held on Saturday 1st September. We had 10 guests at the table, including a quartet from St Albans, a couple from nearby (their first visit to us) and two of our friends. After a glass or two of some bubbles, everybody was seated and chatting to each other and across the table, ready for Saira’s welcome briefing for the evening.

One of our guests asked about the origins of the supper club and how it has evolved. It all started in November 2009 as a joint idea from Rani (Head Chef) and Saira (Sous Chef). The aim was to provide an authentic home cooked Punjabi meal at one table for a small number of guests usually, total strangers. Our supper club is in memory of Rani’s mother, Joginder, who sadly died a number of years ago but would have loved to be in the kitchen with her daughter and granddaughter. She continues to be a great influence for Saira & Rani in their cooking and family life with our two sons, our daughter in law, our granddaughter and our extended families.

Joginder with her granddaugther Saira.

Over the years the concept has remained largely unchanged although the menu has been modified to provide natural gaps in the evening for a stroll in the garden, a tinkle on the baby grand piano in the living room or a chat with Rani & Saira in the kitchen. We now seat a maximum of twelve guests around the table, cosy not cramped.

As per usual early chit-chat was fairly random. There was some discussion about supper clubs and the general opinion was that they seem to be less common now – at least in certain areas of the UK.

One of our guests regaled us with tales of the life of a bus driver in Brighton and how he dealt with difficult passengers. He went on to describe experiences at Glastonbury as a regular reveller in the comparative luxury of a camper van (with a shower!). Our son went to Glastonbury in 1998 when Blur were top of the bill and it rained most of the weekend. On his return home he had to be hosed down at the front door and sent straight to the bathroom and his muddy clothes straight to the laundrette!.

For some reason the conversation then turned to high quality television….more wine was poured as most of us glazed over at this stage but the conclusion was that to appreciate high quality definition you need to have high quality eyesight (not many of us do!). Everybody was enjoying the food and conversation continued to flow along with the wine and lager. At the end of the evening, our guests left extremely full but happy from the variety of food served up throughout the evening!

Our next supper clubs are to be held on 15th September and 6th October with more dates for November and December coming soon….We look forward to welcoming you to Joginder’s Supperclub soon.