Mae's Supperclub #1

 
 

Food for the Body... Conversation for the Mind… Camaraderie for the heart… Medicine for the Soul

A few years ago, my friend Kemi had started a lovely supper club type concept in faraway Sydney Australia and I found it so fascinating. Apart from wanting to teleport there to eat her lovely creations (obviously!), I immediately connected with the idea of bringing people together in my own space to make connections through food, considering it was a hobby I actively engaged in but didn’t particularly identify in itself. I mean, I did have a tiny habit of casually throwing out on Friday afternoon, “What are you up to this weekend? Birthday? Big event? Nothing?..… Ok great! Come over for a quick bite, nothing much...”  and then ending up cooking a storm because somehow the number of guests kept increasing as I made more calls and started “casual” chats. But exploring this as a potential pet project or fun initiative was a bit far-fetched even for me. I was too busy! But the idea lightly fell on my already fertile mental soil for all things food and community. Then slowly sunk in and germinated over time.

Slow roasted goat shoulder with grilled plantain, jollof rice and goat skin sauce at Mae’s Supperclub

Slow roasted goat shoulder with grilled plantain, jollof rice and goat skin sauce at Mae’s Supperclub

It has been a few years and a lot of random conversations, brainstorming (sometimes unintentional), IG and Pinterest scrolling-induced inspiration, and just support from the previous munchers at our table who in the heat of the moment, when what my friend calls “santi” hits as the food is going down, would go “you should do something with this. This is amazing. Why don’t you do something?” Hot sweet food going down is not exactly conducive for deeper analysis into what that “something” is, but the point has well and truly been taken over time.

And so it was that amidst the lockdown cooking experiments, the inevitable introspection that came with the wonderful year that 2020 has been, the recognition that I do indeed have the basic interest and passion which is really the minimum requirement to start anything, I decided to embark on this creative outlet. Not just the blogging or cooking or gushing about food, but the gathering of like minds. I wanted to create a cosy and safe environment for community to thrive, where around a table with good food, no other difference mattered and everyone found laughter and perspective and similarities and a light hearted evening far apart from everything else. And if the only contribution I made to that was to create that ambience, design those recipes, mix those drinks and let them meet each other, that was Mission Accomplished for me!

I’d love to know what you think. Let me know what you think in the comments below or DM me on Instagram

SupperclubAbiola