Want to Start Your Own Cookbook Club?

Our first dinner was on March 10, 2006 with 10 members. I belonged to another cookbook club before I started my own so I learned from that experience and knew what changes I wanted to make. This club is for people who see themselves as gourmet cooks. Ours is not for novices but there is no reason not to set up a cookbook club for beginners who are interested in learning more about the "tricks of the trade" from each other.

In the beginning, we had no rules or guidelines. We had some lively discussions about who should dine with us (i.e. spouses invited or not?)? Is it a "supper" club or a "cookbook" club? How many members should we have? How should we serve the food: Plated or buffet style?

Living Guidelines (I hate “rules!”) that have evolved over the past 2 years:

• Membership is limited to 14 members. I generally count on 4 or more people not being able to come to the dinner and most dining tables can accommodate 8-10.
• Members are willing to be adventurous and learn new cuisines, ingredients and techniques. Our club is composed of gourmet cooks. A few are professionally trained but most are just darn good cooks.
• It is not a “supper club” so the diners must cook. Spouses/partners are not invited (unless they are both members). Each member of the club prepares an entrée for the dinner.
• Each course is generally plated so each cook can discuss his/her experience with the recipe. Each course is also paired with an appropriate wine so members also learn about wine pairings. Some dinners are served buffet style when it seems like the best way to show the food.
  
• We generally have a dinner every 2 months.
• The next cookbook choice is a group decision.
• The member who hosts the dinner at his/her home may invite his/her spouse/partner to join us, since we are, after all, invading their kitchen!
  
• Once a year, we plan a “field trip” to a nearby restaurant, specialty farm, or food event. If a restaurant field trip, the chef prepares a tasting menu for us. One of our members provide the wines for the dinner from his extensive cellar. The chef talks about his/her cuisine and answers questions about the various dishes. Spouses/partners are invited to this event
• It has become a “tradition” that December is a Holiday event and the dishes are either appetizers or desserts that can be eaten with a fork and are served buffet style, not plated as is our other dinners. Spouses/partners are invited to this dinner.

Notes and words of wisdom:

• Be patient if you decide to form your own cookbook club. We have a core group of 9 members and 5 “slots” that have been transient. This cookbook club is not for everybody, nor is everyone ready to make a commitment to culinary adventures and learning opportunities. People have come and stayed for a year but other commitments take them away because their lives change, priorities changes, family needs change, etc.
• The range of member skills in this club is from professionally trained personal chefs to very experienced cooks. There are no novices, but it could have just as easily been a group of novices who want to learn to be better cooks.
• There are more women than men but I have tried to keep it balanced (60:40). The age range is 30’s – 60’s.
• We first tried doing dinners on weeknights (since it is not a couples' dinner) but the preparations often took too much time for working adults so we moved to Saturdays.
• There are two couples in the group and each spouse prepares his/her own dish for the dinners.
• We are lucky to have a member who is willing to share his cellar but you could have each member bring a wine that goes with his/her entrée

If you decide to give this concept a try, post your questions and I or one of our members will answer you!