SAFARI SUPPER
Having a course at each guest’s house is the new way to socialise. So is it really wild fun to have a ...
HostING a dinner party for friends can be nerveracking enough, but now there’s a dining trend that ratchets up the pressure to new levels: the safari supper.
A big trend in the 1950s and 60s, safari suppers have made a comeback. Rather than one person being responsible for every element, instead the shopping, preparation, cooking and hosting are divvied up between a group of friends who live within walking distance, with each course served at a different house.
But while this may technically lighten the workload, safari suppers have the potential to add unwanted heat to the kitchen. After all, cooking for friends can be competitive enough, but with different cooks so quickly following each other course after course, culinary talents can be all-too-easily compared.
Here, one group of safari supperholders — Alisia, katie, Fran, Abi and Laura — invited the Mail to come along to their most recent meal, held on their cul- de- sac in Chigwell. so did all courses match expectations — and did the free-flowing prosecco overly loosen some of the guests’ lips? sADIE NICHoLAs finds out…
APERITIFS AND CANAPES: I BOUGHT FROM WAITROSE
AlisiA FAgelson, 44, an exam invigilator, is married to Alon, 43, who owns a textiles business. They have two children, Hannah, 16, and noah, 13. she says:
WE’vE been having safari suppers for almost six years and hadn’t realised they were a trend. I got off lightly with aperitifs and canapes, which was a relief as we didn’t arrive home from Mallorca till the night before.
ordinarily, sticking my hand up to do the main course wouldn’t faze me as I regularly host dinner parties for large numbers. I find safari suppers are a less labour intensive, more costeffective way of a load of us getting together with our kids without anyone having to slave away in the kitchen for ages.
there can be as many as eight families — around 40 people — taking part. so there are a few challenges: finding a date that suits everyone and, despite us all having lovely homes, no one has enough tables and chairs to seat such a big gang, so we have to carry spares along the road as we move from house to house. It all adds to the fun, though.
And despite what you might think, safari suppers can be good value. our most recent cost us £120 for the food, divided equally between us — not bad when you think we served five families on that occasion.
I admit there was a dash around with the vacuum and tidying before everyone arrived, but thankfully we’re always in and out of each other’s houses, so I didn’t feel on show.
Perhaps you think you have to slave over the stove when you hold a safari supper. Not a bit. this time, for the aperitifs, I served Aperol and prosecco cocktails, and cheated with canapes from Waitrose, including tortillas and dips, oriental balls, spring rolls and little veggie parcels.
I confessed it was all shop-bought and didn’t feel guilty, as the girls know I usually cook for the suppers from scratch, something there wasn’t time for having just arrived home from holiday.
We normally play to our strengths. katie’s chief organiser and treasurer — we set a maximum food budget of £30 per host. Abi tends to make desserts as it’s her forte, and either Fran or Laura usually does the main course. We’re lucky, there have been no disasters with the cooking.
We have a safari supper WhatsApp group and if any of us forgets an ingredient or runs out of something, one of the others will either have it in their cupboard or be passing a shop.
there’s one cure for any stress incurred due to a safari supper — a few tipples! By the time we get to the last house for coffee and chocolates we’ve usually drunk so much fizz that nobody has a care in the world.
STARTERS: WE DRANK EIGHT BOTTLES OF FIZZ
KATie Rose, 42, an agency trading director for a glossy magazine, is married to simon, 46, an iT manager. They have two daughters, sadie, 12, and Poppy, nine. she says:
FoR my starter I served a delicious mezze of homemade salsa, guacamole and hummus, with fresh bread from a local deli, plus olives and mixed pickles. With five courses to get through, I didn’t want to overfeed anyone. Plus, I was saving myself for Abi’s incredible chocolate mousse.
that’s the beauty of safari suppers — they can be as simple or extravagant as you wish.
We split the cost between us, and each provide the booze at our own home. I seem to remember
also carrying a bottle of Aperol with me from house to house at our recent supper! This time we were well stocked with prosecco, our current tipple. I hardly dare admit that we girls sunk at least eight bottles between us, which must sound dreadful!
We’re the newest neighbours on the street, and when we moved here five years ago the kids all made friends. I vaguely knew a couple of the mums, and was a little nervous the first time I cooked for them, but now they’re among my closest confidantes.
Everyone makes a real effort to dress their tables with everything from fresh flowers to fairy lights, and to lay them with lovely cutlery, crockery and napkins.
We do sometimes attract a few funny looks as we cart chairs, tables and booze from house to house. But far from it breaking the flow of the evening when we have to move between courses, it adds to the fun and frivolity.
MAIN: BOOZE DISGUISED MY LIMP ASPARAGUS
Fran Keizner, 43, a business change consultant, is married to Mark, 45, a recruitment manager. They have twin girls, Meghan and Lois, 12. She says:
CookIng the main course is the hardest work and creates the most washing up, not to mention laying a table for 30 or more people.
I roasted four chickens and served the meat with a white wine and mustard sauce. I also roasted five bags of potatoes, plus veg , which my children helped chop.
Thank goodness Abi had been kind enough to do the shopping for me while she was at the supermarket buying ingredients for her puddings, as the preparation took me all day.
Having responsibility for the main course is nerve - racking. While we were at Alisia and katie’s homes for canapes and starters I kept running back to our house to check on the chickens, worried they might be overcooked. It would be challenging if you don ’t live very close to each other.
of course, once ready, it’s quite a job to plate up all that food for so many people, which I did with help from my husband.
Unfortunately, my roasted broccoli was charred, while the asparagus was limp. But by then everyone had quaffed a lot of prosecco so didn ’t care, they just left those dishes untouched and I jokingly apologised for my soggy veg.
The biggest safari supper disas - ter was a couple of winters ago when, horror of horrors, we ran out of wine and had to switch to vodka. I’m not doing main course next time. I’m hoping to pinch the dessert course from Abi, although her puddings are so delicious, I’m not sure the others will let me.
DESSERT: I SPENT £15 ON INGREDIENTS FROM LIDL
abigaiL rapp, 44, is divorced and works as a learning mentor in a school for autistic children. She has two sons, Harry, 17, and Freddie, 13. She says:
WE Try to have at least one safari supper a year — which doesn ’t sound much, but it takes us that long to find a date.
Each time, we vow we’re going to be super-organised and have it all planned in advance, but never do. The girls and I often get together for coffee or wine, full of intentions to discuss our next safari supper , but the conversation gets hijacked by chatter about everything from the kids to the peri-menopause! So, as usual, the recent supper was preceded by a last-minute flurry of WhatsApp messages saying, ‘We haven’t organised a thing, what are we each doing?’
I’d heard of the concept of people gathering for dinner and each bringing a different course, but actually moving from house to house makes it even more inter - esting. I love the conviviality.
My youngest son, Freddie, enjoys helping me make desserts. I’ve done a chocolate mousse by nigella Lawson, which katie said was the best she’d ever tasted, plus meringues, and an apple crumble filled with fruit from my garden.
Despite also offering whipped cream and ice cream with the puds, I spent only £15 on ingredients, including a brilliant low cocoa solid dark chocolate from Lidl that ’s only 35p a bar, which doesn’t make the mousse too rich. Thankfully I’ve never dropped a pudding or had a cake flop — yet!
FRUIT & DRINKS: THEY’LL THINK I CAN’T COOK!
Laura MarKS, 41, a marketing officer at a secondary school, is married to richard, 44, who works in the City (he was unable to attend the safari supper). They have four daughters, Chloe, 15, twins Olivia and Sophia, ten, and amelie, nine. She says:
Do I feel guilty that I got the easiest course? Absolutely not. We arrived home from a Mediterranean cruise the night before so I was relieved to spend only an hour rustling up a platter of strawber - ries, blueberries, peaches, passion fruit and grapes, plus a side order of after-dinner chocolates.
However, ordinarily I’d be first in line for the main course. Although it’s hard work, I’m most comfortable cooking staple family meals such as meatballs or chicken.
I don ’ t think there’s any competition between us but Abi’s known for her incredible desserts and beautiful presentation, and although Fran’s really busy with a full-time job, her home and food are always immaculate.
Because I don ’ t know the husbands as well, sometimes I find myself worrying that they might be thinking, ‘oh, she can ’t cook!’ or ‘This isn ’t how my wife would cook it!’ But there wasn’t much to fret about with a platter of fruit this time.