Memories of motherhood and my pot luck supper roasted hispi cabbage with tamarind and ginger dressing
Potluck gatherings are the best.
They’re a no-effort way to bring your friends together to catch up over food and wine.
I hosted a potluck supper earlier this year to bring my mum friends together. These are friendships forged at the school gates, at PTA meetings, organising a rota of events like the summer fair where I honed my skills as a face painter, slathering on blue and red paint for a queue of Peter Parkers eager to transform into Spider-Man.
Over these short few years, our lives followed the same morning flight path: the school run. This daily race, only comparable to The Hunger Games, saw us duck, dive, and swerve through a series of obstacles, getting children washed, fed, and clothed while hunting for matching socks, lost homework, and clean PE kit. Then, out the door for a mad sprint to the school gates before the bell tolled at five to nine. Only then could we breathe, head home, and start washing up the breakfast dishes.
Our children are older now. Playdates have become parties. They manage their own homework. Breakfast is a glug of Actimel before they saunter out the door with headphones on, off to sixth form or university. I no longer face-paint Spider-Man onto young, hopeful faces.
Mum friendships are built to last.
We’re still navigating obstacles, more serious than lost homework, as our lives move into new territory. Some are building lives after divorce, a few are charting new careers, and all of us are dealing with menopause.
Our lives now run in different time zones, and our gatherings are less frequent. That’s why a potluck supper is the perfect way to come together, with minimal effort, to enjoy each other’s company over wine and food.
My potluck supper rules are simple:
Bring yourselves
Bring wine (if it’s fizzy, even better)
Bring a dish of food
The "bring a dish" part may need a little coordination so we don’t all show up with the same thing or end up queuing to warm food in the oven. There’s always a good spread of snacks, salads, mains, and desserts.
For those who don’t want to cook, they’re usually assigned snacks or desserts which are often shop-bought (I’m cool with that).
I’m not prescriptive. I don’t organise my potluck suppers by theme. I like the surprise of finding out who’s cooked what. But if you want a more curated potluck, take a look at Kitchn’s rules for a potluck supper or Martha Stewart.
For this potluck, I made roasted hispi cabbage (sometimes called sweetheart) with tamarind and ginger dressing. It’s a simple recipe with only a few ingredients and very little cooking. And when it’s laid out on a platter, it’s a scene-stealer and a crowd-pleaser.
Though not a traditional Sri Lankan recipe, I do use Sri Lankan ingredients: garlic, ginger, soy sauce (check my recipe for devilled prawns), fresh lime juice, and jaggery. (If that’s hard to find, muscovado sugar is a great substitute.)
Let me know if you’re hosting a potluck supper and send me photos of what you make!