Recipe for friendship

Meet the cooking club inviting joy into their lives with regular dish dinner parties.

For over 10 years, a group of Auckland women have been meeting to catch up and cook dinner for each other from dish, once a month without fail.

Hannah Sellars, Jaime Perera, Jayne Mercier, Maresa Cosgrove and Jo Yearsley formed the dish Club in November 2011, in a very different stage of their lives. But in the 10 years they’ve been together, the dish Club women have shared their lives, in all their gloriously messy variety, over delicious home-cooked food.

“In our time together, our group has had eight babies, one grandchild, one dog, one marriage and no divorces, four new houses, five family weekends away, five major birthdays – four fortieths and a thirtieth – and a family event every year involving our partners and kids,” reveals the group’s unofficial leader, Jo.

Over succulent Mini Prawn Tostadas – Olivia Galletly’s recipe from Issue #102 – and generous margaritas, dish Editor Sarah Tuck and I heard the history of the dish Club and were so moved by the connection the women had formed over food, we felt it deserved a wider audience.

Bright beginnings

The dish Club was the brainchild of Jo, a keen home cook. As Jayne puts it, “She was definitely the connector for all of us.” Initially, Jo was good friends with Maresa and Hannah separately. She and Maresa, who knew each other through work, used to attend the Epicurean Workshop, the cooking school run by original dish Editor Catherine Bell and our enduring Food Editor, Claire Aldous. “That’s probably where we got interested in cooking, and really expanded our skills,” Jo remembers. “We both used to do dinner parties for each other and our partners, and I was also doing dinner parties with Hannah and her partner – and suddenly I just thought, why not bring them all together?”

Once the group had been established, they decided six was the perfect number and set about recruiting some other members. Jo asked Jayne, another keen cook she knew, which Jayne remembers as a very formal request. “She said something like, ‘I’ve got something very important to ask you, and it concerns Mark [Jayne’s husband] too’,” Jayne laughs. “I was thinking, oh no, what’s this about? And then she asked me to join her cooking club.”

The dish Club, from left to right: Hannah Sellars, Maresa Cosgrove, Jaime Smith, Jo Yearsley and Jayne Mercier.

Jaime entered the club having met the others through her time at Youthline, where a number of members worked for a period.

There was also a sixth member of the club, who left to go overseas. The club decided to stay as five as the women found their small group to be perfect for a cooking club – big enough to add variety, but close enough to remain intimate.

dish Club rules

The dish Club’s longevity comes down to its regularity and restrictions, say members. The women meet religiously on the third Thursday of every month, at each of their houses in turn. For 10 months of the year, the dinners involve just the women themselves; for the remaining two, partners and kids are also invited and everyone chips in. “It’s a great balance,” says Jo.

The group meets around 7.30 – sometimes, post-kids, closer to 8.30 – and generally wraps up by 10, given it’s a school night. Their partners and families know it’s inviolably set in the diary – so it actually happens every month. At every gathering, a copy of dish is set outside the front door; at every gathering, there are two or three courses, all cooked from dish recipes, two wine matches and nibbles beforehand. There’s also a budget for every evening, so it’s not about outperforming each other.

The hostess of any particular evening is responsible for every aspect of the gathering: not just buying and prepping the food, but also cleaning up. “When it’s your turn, you’re totally in charge, you do everything,” says Jayne. “It sounds like a lot of work, but actually with the rotating schedule, you only end up hosting twice in a year, and it’s nice to be able to sit back and relax entirely when it’s not your night. We’re too busy to all be doing it every month. I think that structure is what’s given it its longevity.”

At the same time, there’s a little flexibility built into the structure – because sometimes, life just gets in the way. “We’re allowed a ‘wildcard’ night occasionally,” says Jo. “One night, I made my mum’s cheesecake for dessert rather than a recipe from dish, just because I felt like it. And another time, Maresa just bought takeaways, and everyone went round to help her with a jigsaw puzzle.”

What to cook

When it comes to the menu, the dish Club members try to keep things interesting. In the spirit of the gathering being something special, the women like to roll out dishes they may not have tried before. “We wanted it to be that you wouldn’t just cook something ordinary, you’d go a bit outside your comfort zone,” explains Jo. “That being said, it’s never a competition.”

Mini Prawn Tostadas, prepared by Hannah from a recipe by Olivia Galletly in Issue #102.

On the day we were visiting, the group was meeting at Hannah’s home and the menu featured our Market Fish with Rocket, Fennel, Preserved Lemon and Currant Salad, our Tomato and Roasted Capsicum Salad with Tomato and Smoked Paprika Dressing and our Tiramisu Espresso Martini No-bake Cheesecake (all from Issue #101), as well as Mini Prawn Tostadas.

Some of the women admitted to doing test runs of their menus before the actual gathering, especially in the early days, and Maresa swears by a run sheet outlining what to prep in what order – but overall, it’s low stakes. “It doesn’t matter if a dish fails – It’s very relaxed, we all make mistakes,” says Jayne. She recalls a mishap with our recipe for Roasted Pumpkin and Ricotta-stuffed Pasta with with Hazelnut and Sage Brown Butter (in Issue #96 and online at dish.co.nz). “I forgot to cook the pasta shells before piping them full of stuffing – to compensate, I ended up adding a lot of extra water to the sauce before putting them in the oven, and it kind of worked but not really… but it didn’t matter in the end.”

Over the years, there have been several standouts – including our Beetroot Cured Salmon and our Baked Spanish Rice with Chicken and Chorizo

And while the dish Club tends to cook new recipes when they’re gathering together, several dish recipes have become favourites for family dinners. “That series of one-pan chicken dishes [including favourites Lemongrass and Ginger Green Chicken Curry and Chicken with White Beans, Chorizo and Rosemary, from Issue #95 and in our cookbook dish: FAST] have become absolute staples,” says Jayne. “The kids love them and they’re just so easy.” Most recently, the club has enjoyed dabbling in our new ‘Dinner for Six’ section and are cooking plenty from Issue #100.

Wine is also a crucial element of dish Club and Jo says the drink matches
provided in dish by Drinks Editor Yvonne Lorkin are invaluable. The club
has also occasionally contacted Yvonne directly when a dish they’re preparing doesn’t have a wine match. “She’s always so receptive,” says Jo. “It really adds to our meal. And I think most of us are Wine Friend [Yvonne’s wine subscription business] customers.”

Lockdown love

The dish Club even managed to keep things going during lockdown. In March 2020 – it was Jayne’s month – they did a Zoom meet-up on their usual Thursday. Jayne had sent the recipes she was planning in advance and suggested everyone make what they could; the women then met on Zoom to eat and chat together. In subsequent months, the club members organised rotating food deliveries – think taco platters and warming, slow-cooked ragùs – to each other’s houses, never missing a month. “It kept us sane,” laughs Hannah. “And keeping the regular routine going is just who we are, that’s what makes the club work. It’s something we all care about and value.”

A source of joy

There’s a fair bit of work involved in running the dish Club – and keeping it running for 10 years. So, what’s kept Jo, Jayne, Hannah, Maresa and Jaime going?

First and foremost, the dish Club has endured because all the women love to cook. Having a cooking club provides a way to come together and share that hobby – and the fact all the recipes come from dish makes it easy to coordinate, because all the women can pick up a copy, and all the recipes are genuinely achievable for home cooks.

Jayne (left) and Jo prepare for lunch.

The dish Club has also proved to be a great way to flex that entertaining muscle – something all of the women clearly have. With a monthly dinner firmly in the calendar, the women know they’ll get a hit of the particular challenge and pleasure that comes with hosting a dinner.

“It’s a thrill,” says Jayne. “And it’s about hospitality. With the dish Club, I get to have my friends over and make them feel special for three hours – and I get the same experience when I go to theirs. I think that’s
a really precious thing to give.”

Hosting regular dish Club dinners has taught the women more about how to entertain – with greater efficiency and enjoyment, and less stress. “It used to be so daunting to throw a dinner party, but now I have a much better sense of how to choose recipes for an event and what dishes to pair together,” says Maresa. The women have learnt the kind of entertaining tips that come with long experience – make something ahead; choose at least one dish that can be served at room temperature; don’t get stuck deep-frying when all your guests have arrived – which they say they apply outside of dish Club, too.

Friendships you can count on

But more importantly, the dish Club has proved to be an important feature of each member’s social life, creating deep bonds between the women. While their friendships started over food, they’ve come to encompass much more. As anyone who frequently entertains will know, food brings people together and opens up proper conversations, much deeper than the ones you might have via text or, these days, Zoom. “We talk about everything,” says Maresa. “Children, husbands, this morning we were talking about menopause… we have discussions with each other that we wouldn’t have with anyone else.”

Each of the women maintains friendships outside of the group as well but says the dish Club offers a rock-solid base of support and love, well beyond what you might expect from a cooking club. “It’s a space for us to come together and feel empowered, productive and connected,” says Jayne. “It’s really affirming and makes all of us feel valued and cared for.”

The ongoing nature of the club is crucial, too, offering a stability that can often be missing from adult life. “The dish Club is a commitment,” says Maresa. “We’ve made that commitment to come together and eat and talk on a regular basis, which is pretty rare generally.”

Sometimes, that regularity is all that’s needed to lift the club’s members out of a slump. In the depths of winter, when it’s pouring with rain on a Thursday night, it can be hard to motivate yourself to go to a social event – but the club members say they always come home feeling inspired. And faced with more serious slumps, they can count on each other to offer support and love.

“I had a really awful year last year, for many reasons, but the girls banded around me,” says Jo. “They sent care parcels and messages and saw me when they could, and it made a world of difference. And there’s something about getting a care package from a group of women that’s different from getting a gift from just one person, as lovely as that is.”

Maresa spoke about the support she received when her son contracted Covid, with dish Club members leaving food supplies in her letterbox and reaching out with calls and messages. “It just took the anxiety away,” she says. “I feel like I can count on this group.”

Golden days

The group has also built some of the most special memories of their adult lives together. Ten years of monthly dinners have seen some memorable evenings, sitting around talking until late at night over delicious food and wine – but the group has also celebrated extra events with panache. When asked about their favourite memories as a group, they listed so many, I could hardly write them down fast enough.

The dish Club members take turns preparing meals for each other.

Last May saw Jaime’s 40th birthday, which the group celebrated along with some additional friends at Black Barn Lodge (coincidentally, somewhere dish Editor Sarah has recently been and written about; see her story on page 54). And the group spoke fondly of their repeat visits to Jayne’s family holiday home in Pipiroa, which boasts a sauna, spa, ample bedrooms and bathrooms and, of course, an enormous kitchen. Whether it’s Jo catering Hannah’s wedding or the dish Club laying tablecloths in Pt Chevalier Park last year to share a socially distanced Christmas feast, the women have made an art out of celebrating with each other over plenty of food.

They’ve even inspired others. “My aunty started a cooking group with her friends after watching us,” says Jaime. “Some of them have moved to Tauranga now but they all come together from the regions – so the dynamic is a bit different, but they really enjoy it. It’s lovely to have inspired them.”

Jo, Hannah, Jaime, Maresa and Jayne say they can’t imagine their lives without the dish Club now. Here’s to another 10 years!

Create your own dishClub

Keen to create your own dish Club? It’s easier than you might think. Here are some pointers for getting started.

Find your members

It might seem obvious, but in choosing your members, try to pick people you know are keen cooks! If you choose to run your club like the dish Club, everybody will have at least a couple of nights of heavy cooking each year, so it pays to choose members who find cooking – and not just eating – enjoyable.

As the dish Club demonstrates, you don’t need to know everyone in the club equally well. Just through being in the club, you’ll get to know everyone better, and bonding over food is always a joy.

Keeping the club small is a recipe for success, as it means at any given event, you can actually talk to everyone there, and it’s much easier to get close to each other. That being said, opening the club up to a larger group – especially if you plan to do potluck-style dinners – could be a good way to meet new people and cook in new ways.

Make a time/place commitment

The most important thing you can do to keep your cooking club going long term is to make a reasonable commitment of it, say dish Club members. The dish Club has its once-a-month dinner set firmly in the diary, so partners and children know to expect it, and other socialising can be planned around it.

Additionally, choosing a venue wisely is key. The dish Club members are lucky all to live reasonably close to each other in Central Auckland – the member living furthest out is Jayne, in Titirangi – something they say has been a conscious decision. They each host the dinners at their own houses in turn, to keep things interesting, but it’s never too difficult for the others to get there. “We didn’t want the travelling to dinner to be a chore,” says Jo. The group admits to deciding against inviting a member based in Bucklands Beach, because it was a bit of a hike on a school night for most of them.

When planning your own cooking club, consider where it will be held. Will you rotate houses, like the dish Club, or is someone keen to host every time? What are the cooking facilities like? How long will it take you to get there, and will you hold gatherings on a school night or a weekend? There’s a different fit for every potential club, so think about what would work best for you.

Choose your menu wisely

Now the groundwork is laid, what will you eat?! We love the idea of theming dinners around a different issue of dish each time, or leaning on our Dinner for Six section, which offers menus  that already go together. More than one course is always fun to eat, but do consider how many courses are feasible to cook for the group you’ve chosen – flawlessly pulling off a great roast chicken is better than flubbing it and offering up a so-so dessert as well.

Every menu is different, but if you’re pairing dishes yourself, try to think about which flavour groups might go together – beef cheeks braised in red wine might go well with creamy mashed potatoes, for instance, but not so well with coconut rice.

It’s also advisable to try to pick at least one dish you can prepare ahead of time. You don’t want to be individually flipping fritters or frying doughnuts as your guests waltz through the door; much better to have your braise already in the oven and your cake baked, so you can really enjoy their company.

Finally, a bit of planning before the big day is always a good idea. Whether you work out a full run sheet, or just make a note to put the wine in the fridge, knowing what needs doing before the event is sure to reduce stress.

Pick your drinks

Here at dish, we love pairing our food with great wine – and as for the dish Club, it could be a key part of your cooking group.

dish offers drink matches at the end of many of our recipe sections, but if you have your eye on a recipe without a drink match, dish Drinks Editor Yvonne Lorkin says there are some ways to choose a wine wisely.

Generally, she says, when it comes to choosing wine, the lighter your protein,
the lighter your wine. The old adage of white meat with white wine and red meat with red still stands – and sparkling wine can be drunk with everything.

On the menu for the dish Club: Market Fish with Rocket, Fennel, Preserved Lemon and Currant Salad and Tomato and Roasted Capsicum Salad with Tomato and Smoked Paprika Dressing, both from Issue #101.

But there are some more specific classic pairings it pays to know. Roast chicken, in any form, is great with an oaky, buttery chardonnay, says Yvonne – as is rich seafood, such as crayfish, scallops and prawns. Chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander-heavy foods sing with gewürztraminer, or any white with a little sweetness. If pork’s on the menu, regardless of how it’s cooked, Yvonne’s number one choice of wine is viognier: its apricot characters and slightly oily, luxurious texture work a treat with anything porky. For lighter-style red meats, such as lamb, or tuna, a game bird like duck or even mushrooms, pinot noir is the way to go. For heavier red meats, like beef or venison, she suggests darker varieties, like cabernet sauvignon, shiraz, syrah, merlot, tempranillo, montepulciano or rioja. With notes like spice, cocoa, espresso, soy and tar, these rib-sticking 14%+ reds are fantastic with darker meats.

Any final tips? Yvonne avoids pairing spicy foods with heavy reds: “It’s just a car crash in your mouth. The wine makes the food taste really clumsy and accentuates the heat; the food strips out the juiciness from the wine.”

She says it’s also worth noting that the lower the alcohol content, the sweeter the wine. And she suggests having a splash of dessert wine when your guests first arrive as an apéritif. “Don’t save dessert wines for the end of the night, when everyone’s tired and their palates are blown out,” she says. “Have a drop at the start. It’ll wake up your palate and you can bring it back at dessert if you like.”

If you don’t drink, you don’t need to miss out! The range of 0% wines and beers is growing exponentially, and the selection is eminently food-friendly. Visit clearheaddrinks.co.nz for inspiration.

Tell us about it!

Started your own club? We’d love to hear about it. Share pics on Facebook or Instagram and feel free to tag us at @dishmagnz

THE PERFECT COOKING CLUB COMPANION

Not sure what to cook for your newly formed cooking club? We may be a little biased, but we think any of the recipes in our dish: FAST cookbook will fit the
bill nicely.

Drawing together 100+ recipes from our popular Food Fast section, dish: FAST offers a wealth of options to get dinner on the table pronto. Whether your guests are mega-hungry or just after a light snack, committed carnivores or steadfast vegetarians, gluten-intolerant or dietary restriction-free, our book has just the right dish for you.

All the recipes in the book are speedy and simple to make and many are suitable for preparing in advance, leaving you free to enjoy time with your guests rather than faffing around in the kitchen – think Baked Spanish Rice with Chicken and Chorizo or Vegetable Shepherd’s Pie. With chapters on nibbles, chicken, meat, seafood, veges, pasta and grains, salads and sides and desserts, there’s something for every occasion and taste.

Nab the recipes for dish favourites, including our cover star Lemongrass and Ginger Green Chicken Curry, our seriously oozy Leek Risotto with Toasted Walnuts, Sage Brown Butter and Creamy Brie and fan favourite Molten Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Pudding.

dish: FAST is available for purchase in bookshops nationwide, at dish.co.nz or at amazon.com for those overseas.