Alice Zaslavsky shares shortcuts and tips for every personality of plate-bringer this party season – even those filled with dread by the thought of cooking.
’Tis the season when the weather’s (mostly) wonderful, work’s (hopefully) petering off and friends are ready to reunite – preferably somewhere they can be fed, be merry, be bright, without being too far out of pocket. ’Tis also the season when you’ll be told at least once to “bring a plate”.
This tradition isn’t uniquely ours – every culture has some version of a potluck or cook-up. But it’s not only those from non-English-speaking backgrounds who can be tripped up by taking the notion of “bringing a plate” literally. Because for non-cooks, this throw-away theme can be kind of intimidating.
Here are some tips on how to make yourself the most popular person at the party without the side of stress.
Check, mate
“Bring something” can often feel like being handed a ball on the pitch without being shown the goalposts. So answer the question with a question: What can I bring?
A good host will understand that their role is delegation. The baseline response is chequers: “bring sweet/savoury/drinks”, but the best hosts play chess. They understand that every plate-bringer is a piece on their board.
And you can prompt your host to level up with this mindset:
- Pawns can’t cook but can shop (for flowers or nibbles) or do the washing-up (offer this in advance to take the pressure off you both).
- Knights and bishops are lateral thinkers and problem-solvers, so if you’re one of these, ask “what can I solve?” (this might be a seating issue or wet-weather solutions).
- Kings can do only one thing but really well: if you have a dish you know you will nail, suggest it early and buzz it decisively.
- Queens are all-rounders – tell your host you’re happy to pick up the scraps.
- Rooks are reliable haulers who can go straight to the bottle-o and are sensible enough to bring along a bag or two of ice, too.
Don’t cook. Shop!
If the thought of cooking fills you with dread, here’s some advice from Alice Waters that should take the pressure down: 80 per cent of the cooking is in the shop. This means that you don’t even have to enter the kitchen to bring a (great) plate.
- Your local deli, farmers market and/or independent grocer is a treasure-trove, providing you with an artisanal arsenal ready to be deployed for occasions just like this.
And don’t think it’s a cop-out: while the others are assembling their creations, yours will be the first nibblies to hit the table and everyone will be nicer for it.
It’s what you’ve done with it, love!
If you want to go one step further, your bring-a-plate point-scoring could be all in the dismount.
- A good bag of crisps (Bonilla La Vista or equivalent), scattered with thinly sliced prosciutto or jamon and studded with pickled peppers will set tongues a-waggin’.
- Whipped butter (or even a dip such as taramasalata), smeared on a wooden board when you get there and scattered with thinly sliced veg such as cucumbers and radishes (you can pre-slice these at home and leave them bobbing in water in a jar or well-sealed container until you get there).
- Crudite (chopped veg, artfully arranged) is always a hit.
- Check whether there’ll be space in the oven to bring along a couple of jars of great olives (Mount Zero’s mix is a vibe, or grab a big jar of Grampian’s Olive Co. Mission olives for bushfire relief), then toss with a few garlic cloves and a nut (almonds or macadamias are perfect) and dump into an oven-to-table baking dish (from your place) to bake in their oven – 180C fan-forced for 10 minutes is ideal, but adjust the timing up or down depending on whatever temperature the oven is at already.
BYO everything
It’s not just the plate − you’ll notice I’m including cookware and serving ware, too. If you assume your host will have something you need, so will half the other players.
We’ll invariably be on salad duty, which means we bring a mise-en-place matryoshka doll:
- Prepped ingredients in individual containers if they need to be kept separate (or lumped together with some damp kitchen towel to keep them juicy)
- Dressing in a jar ready for shaking
- A giant stainless steel mixing bowl for tossing (catering-size!)
- The serving bowl inside this (along with salad servers)
- The salad spinner inside that filled with any leaves or herbs, ready for soaking and spinning
I know it sounds excessive, but this way we know we’ve got everything we need, and everything gets washed and returns home with us.
Keep it sweet
If this time of year is a punish, being on the sweeties is an easy fix. People definitely don’t care if you baked the cake or bought it – all they care about is that it’s on a stand (bring it), has a server supplied and looks good enough to eat.
If you buy a tea cake, you can bring a little sieve and some icing sugar to dust for a fresher finish. Mud cakes can be bought the day before.
My favourite kind of cake to bring to these occasions is something gluten-free, because you know you’ll be someone’s new best friend (or three), and they usually happily last a couple of days in the fridge if you’re rushing about, or if there are leftovers.
The point of everyone bringing a plate isn’t just to take the load off the host – it’s also a symbol of connectedness and investment.
“We’re all in this together” is the message, and like the dog park, there’s no better ice-breaker than asking “which one’s yours?”
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Alice Zaslavsky is a best-selling cookbook author, host of ‘A Bite to Eat with Alice’ on ABC TV and can be found on the socials as @aliceinframes
