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"Dinner Club"
Painting of Samuel de Champlain and his Order of Good Cheer
This year’s anniversary was very unique, and may not be easy to wrap your head around. It was a tribute to Alexandre Balthazar Laurent Grimod de la Reynière (1758-1838) and his dinner club and “goguette” or singing club Le société du caveau . I’ll let you read about Grimod la Reynière, but I will tell you this: he was the first food critic in France and the world! He wrote the Almanach des Gourmands or the gastronomic almanacs. He was also a grocer and one of the first people to use the business card. He also set-up a comittee to taste and critique foods. We see drawings of him in a library where there is food on the shelves instead of books. We always see him portrayed alone at a table writing, eating or pondering the food in front of him. He is portrayed as an independent thinker and taster in this way and his tools for his livelihood are the pen and the fork. Grimod de la Reynière had deformed hands, and his parents kept him out of public view. Because of his time alone, he developped his intellectual faculties, independent thinking, but also a deep desire to gather people together with him around a table and shared gastronomicexploration. I can relate to this. At one point, he had a dinner party at his parents’ house and they came home to find a pig dressed-up and eating at the table with a sign saying he was the president. His parents disinherited him after this.
Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
Grimod de la Reynière was a trained lawyer and had been a theatre critic, but was forced to write about somehting more “neutral” which led him to gastronomy. He had a love for art. Besides eating with his club and drinking as the name “Caveau” suggests. The club was a goguette which means that they also sang together. You could find poetry and theatre during their dinners as well. His dinner club mixed food with the arts.
Reinacting the play from the Order of Good Cheer where De Champlain meets Poisedon: The priest gets eaten by the whale! Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
The second pioneer that we payed hommage to for our club’s 11 year anniversary was Samuel de Champlain and his club L’Ordre du bon temps ou The Order of Good Cheer . Samuel de Champlain started L’Ordre du bon temps to keep his men from dying of scurvy or of fatally low moral during their first winter in New France in 1606-1607. Each member took turns hunting and coordinating the catering, and they never missed out, in fact, they ate lavish meals. They also mixed food and art and had a theatre piece about de Champlain meeting Poisedon.
Special guest Nathalie Cooke editor of Cuizine Magazine narrating Samuel de Champlain’s meeting with Poisedon Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
The new Samuel de Champlain: a pioneer and a woman! Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
As a side note, I had a French professor tell me that Grimod de la Reynière was much more interesting and his club pre-dated de Champlain’s. It’s hard to see clearly when you see the world through your country’s belly button. She can’t help it… Sorry to the French people, but the Société du Caveau only started in 1729.
Ingredients for a yogourt rice recipe from Pondicherry, a region of India colonized by the French Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
Sensual pleasure and vitamin C in February is a must! Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
So how did all of this work into our dinner club celebration? Well, first things first, we celebrated it on February 1st, right in the throes of winter when the morale of many is at an all-time low as is their consumption of vegetables.
Tahitian “Poisson Cru” Like a ceviche in a coconut sauce- the star of the evening! Photos by Mélanie Dusseault www.melaniedussealut.com
We are also a bit of a do-gooder club once a year and we like to spread the joy, so myself, special guest Nathalie Cooke and long-time member Judith Colombo went and sang folk songs at an old folks home for “La Journée m’enchante” which is practiced in 3 countries. It turns out that most of the dinner club isn’t that much of do-gooders, they mostly come for the food…We, however had a really nice time singing at Le Manoir de Verdun songs like “Au Chant d’allouette”, “L’hyme de l’amour” and “Somewhere over the Rainbow”. It was really nice.
Fresh herbs Vietnamese style
We chose the food them of “French Colonies” as it gave us alot of options and we are in a former French colony! We ate a Cambodian beef salad, cretons, tarte au sucre, bahn mi, crispy vietnamese lemon duck, “poisson cru” a Tahitian ceviche in a coconut sauce, yogourt rice from Pondicherry, cajun artichokes stuffed with shrimp and a black triangle salad (sugar, rum and nutmeg in it!).
Guillaume Mansour of the Guillaumansour Experience
Playing
Frank Zappa was even there!
We also mixed music, dance and theatre with the meal, Nathalie helped us re-create the piece about de Champlain and Poisedon. It was amazing!
Majiza Phillip Tap Dancing
Later…De Champlain bellydances
Sexy Me!
This was just what I needed to get through the lowest part of winter and experience some good cheer with my fellow goguettiers! I think De Champlain and his men would have had an even more delightful winter if there were a couple bellydancers in the mix!
…Beautiful..
…Sensual..
…and unforgettable Dominique Jean
Judith- farmer extraordinaire with vegetable soup made with her farm's vegetables!
If you are one of the little group of roughly 100 people that read my blog,then you definitely saw the crazy videos of Dinner Club’s 8 year anniversary in the metro. This January was our nine year anniversary and we were perplexed as to how to out-do our metro stint. What could be bigger than using the public space to celebrate food, drink, camaraderie, free-thinking and action? Well the only way to move up on the scale was to bring in the joy of good deed and sharing and climb up a moral rung. Ameur Manceur, one of our take the bull-by-the-horns kind of members, suggested we cook for the homeless. Yes! We had it! Sharing our love and joy with Montreal is great, but sharing our food and cooking with those who actually need it seemed even more precious. The members agreed, and most importantly, Majiza, Suzanne and Tisha making the main meal were all for it.
Suzanne, mother of Tisha and Majiza
I called around. Benedict Labre House was closed on Friday January 20th, the day we had agreed upon. The Old Brewery Mission was enthusiastic, but we settled on The Welcome Hall Mission in Little Burgundy as it was closer to home for most of us in the Southwest of Montreal. We would cook dinner for 170 homeless people for 6pm on Friday January 20th.
Har har- Matt the Grubby Sailor Bergeron
The tasks were distributed under the theme of “stick to your ribs” aka comfort food. Majiza, Tisha and Suzanne would make chicken macaroni and cheese with 20 lbs of chicken breast cubes donated by the Réseau d’entraide de Verdun. Ameur would bring a medley of frozen vegetables, Judith a vegetable and barley soup with vegetables from the farm D-Trois Pierres, Jeremy- biscuits mixed at Wing’s, me and Gisèle each a dessert (Hazelnut and chocolate brittle that came out as a toffee and a chocolate and bacon cake…cochon!) Shahram, Michelle, Pierre, Dunja and my friend Matthew (who came as a surprise!) all brought drinks and came as special guests.
Majiza co-ordinating the Chicken Mac and Cheese main dish
This was a daunting task for most, but everyone was up for the challenge. The three days preceding the event I started getting calls asking about quantities and whether all of the necessary equipment would be on site etc.
Mass Production
We all trickled in slowly the day of. Jeremy was the first and was there with his hair net, as if he’d always worked there. Their regular staff was very helpful and took us in and guided us through and responded to our questions and requests. The members were all a little anxious about not having enough, but mostly, we were very excited. In fact, we had all been so worried about the feat that we all chose very easy dishes and so spent a leisurely time cooking and socializing and dancing to the music on the radio (“Another Night, Another Day”, “Rhythm is a Dancer”, “Beat it”, “Time After Time” It was as if they put one of my party mixes on the radio).
Arrived in advance with a hair-net, biscuit dough mixed and a mass-production attitude: Jeremy the man!
New and Occasional Members moved by the cause and to help out
We were right on time, and everything but my dessert went smoothly….The dinning room tables were cleared out and a plastic retractable curtain separated us from those waiting to eat. Each course was lined up so that the people eating would pass and get everything on their tray all at once. We were all lined up ready with spoons, ladles, dessert plates and glasses of juice. They opened the door and then we saw the crowd. A crowd of 170 people isn’t necessarily impressive, but 170 people who really need this meal and are waiting for charity is a humbling and sobering experience. Everything had to function just so and security is there waiting in case mayhem breaks out. People are hungry, on edge, some are sick, and many down-trodden.
This is going to sound harsh, but it seems like they are “other” humans- like they have been reduced to an animal life, living just to satisfy their basic carnal needs. When you give food to each individual, though, you realize they are just like you and me. Their souls shone through and were closer to the surface than ours. There were all ages and people of different social and ethnic backgrounds. For many, you could tell that their life had gotten routed onto a precarious track. I could see myself in their place. I knew that in the trick of a few sudden events that could easily be me. It also struck me how much most of us find to complain about, but these people were so grateful for the food we had made them. I’m capable of having some terse words or thoughts about food that I find unsatisfactory, but these people were just happy to eat. The food was simple and heavy since it is too difficult to go all out financially and technically on that scale, but they made comments like “C’est comme Noel” (It’s like Christmas!) and many came back to thank us after the meal. Even though starch and sugar is what feeds the masses and also keeps them in a bad glycemic cycle, that’s reality when you’re trying to give people what they need to survive. Local, organic, vegetarian, etc, etc. Guilt guilt, etc. are all the food accessories and luxuries that disguise the fact that food first of all is sustenance. Anybody could be there… and was there, waiting for charity: the well-versed, the meticulous, the beautiful, the charismatic, the young- anyone and everyone. Count your blessings!
Ready to serve and be served... a Reality Check
We ate quickly and quietly in the place where they had eaten, and the staff took care of the dishes. We all felt good and many members told me that the experience was very special to them, but we experienced a much quieter and more soulful contentment compared to the 2011 boisterous euphoria of eating in the metro. We weren’t making a public spectacle, but remembering our place and what we had. There is a good chance the experience will become annual. They got a nice meal made with love and we got to feed our souls…
Thanks guys. I'll always remember it...
January 2011 was the 8 year anniversary of the dinner club . We had agreed to do something epic in December 2010: eat in a metro train. On Sunday January 16th, we met at 7:30 pm on the passage over-looking the metro tracks at Côte-Vertu metro. Everyone had backpacks with food, utensils and dishes. Some carried folding chairs, Judith a folding table and I had a table-cloth and adhesive Velcro. As the first members arrived, the anticipation of watching the trains below come and go and waiting for the other members created an electric buzz. By the time I got there, and I was one of the last ones, the buzz was popping out of peoples’ eyes. Voices were shrill yet restrained and giggles were many.
Once all of the illustrious members minus one had arrived, we verified the hour- right on time- and gave the signal- “go, go” . We shuffled down the stairs to the platform over-excited, and whispering. The train was waiting as Cote-Vertu is a terminus. Direction Montmorency- yes, we were riding all the way into that other world of Laval! But which wagon to get into? We consulted in a giddy panic…The second to last. We crashed in and then took stock of the surroundings two blasé solo riders. The beep announcing departure sounded and the doors closed. “Go-go!” We set up a table between the metro seats and some folding chairs. I covered the table with a retro table-cloth and we starts putting velcro on the bottoms of plastic plates and glasses and fastening them to the table-cloth. By the time we had gotten to Namur- we were ready to eat!
The theme of the meal, customized to eating in the metro in January was: food that boosts the immune system. We started with squash soup and banana bread. The first passengers were divided between gaping at us in awe and doing everything to not gape at us in awe, but when we got to Snowdon a lot of people came in. We didn’t expect so many for a Sunday evening. We shared the experience and sheer joy- giving banana bread to the passengers. Downtown we started serving lentil salad and the wagon was packed! People were freaking-out (in a good way): loving the reclaiming of public space, eating the food and taking tons of photos and giving us praise for the bold move. We watched in euphoria citizens with gaping mouths staring at us as we passed through the stations or peoples’ shock when they got in the train and looked up out of their daze to see us.
(Thanks to Eric Hansen for the video montage)
We started serving the meal around Berri: 40 garlic clove chicken and ginger roasted vegetables, accompanied by pungent condiments to ward off the germs: delicious!. After we got through downtown, dinner was quieter and we started to feel at home in our wagon. We ate peacefully- yet always interacting with our surroundings. As we approached Laval, we judged that we wouldn’t have time to eat dessert, so we packed up, got out at Laval and ate dessert on the way back. Dessert was apples stuffed with dried fruit, ginger and spices and baked in a crust and served with spiced apple cider. This was a nice ending. We quietly packed up and got out at Berri to go have a beer and do some kind of de-briefing.
The dinner club’s eight year anniversary was special because we proved you could do dinner club anywhere or anyhow you liked. We had inspired ourselves- we were gutsy, creative and we proved that the barriers that people experience are usually self-imposed or imagined. The passengers were as ecstatic as we were and the only STM employee we saw took a photo of us with his cell phone and gave us a thumbs up.
We shared our way of getting down each month and some of the food that was made with love by our members. We also made the public space one of interaction and expression, for at least that night. The experience got people out of their shells; it got them away from their concentrated floor, wall and book gazing and got them people watching. We also put on display and celebration the bonds we’ve forged through cooking and eating together for eight years.
Topping the eight year anniversary this year is going to be a challenge. If you have any larger than life quirky ideas or themes, please send them in. We are open and willing. The best idea will probably be nested until the ten year anniversary in 2013!
Private Members in the Public Space
