Progressive dinner
Encyclopedia
A progressive dinner or safari supper (UK) is a dinner party in which each successive course is prepared and eaten at the residence of a different host. Alternatively, each course may be eaten at a different dining area within a single large establishment. It is essentially a variant on a potluck
dinner, with travel involved. This is sometimes known as a round-robin
.
The company "Whistler Tasting Tours", established in 2008 and based in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, has been credited with being the first business to operate daily year-round progressive dinner tours. Joe Facciolo and Skai Dalziel, the company founders, were named to Canada's top 25 young entrepreneurs in 2009 by the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. This honor was accompanied by a meet and greet with HRH Prince Charles.
Typically, this involves the preparation of one course only (a starter, main course or dessert), and visiting different neighbors for the other 2 courses. Although it is a little difficult to explain, and does require careful and complex planning, the idea is relatively straightforward: for example, Neighbor A makes a starter, and is visited by Neighbors B and C. After this, Neighbor A moves to a different house, Neighbor D, and is joined by Neighbor E. Neighbors B and C go on to different houses also, but not the same one. Finally, a similar pattern for dessert: Neighbor A moves to Neighbor F's house, joined by Neighbor G. This style of eating has recently become popular as a charity fund raiser in rural Britain, and is seen as a good way of meeting different neighbors in the community by virtue of each participant having 6 separate guests; it also has a long tradition in the United States.
Planning a dinner of this type can take considerable preparation if the party is large and if each neighbour is to meet different neighbours at each course. The figures below show how this can be achieved for 36–48 neighbours taking part in a progressive dinner of 3 courses, followed by all neighbours meeting up for drinks after dessert.
Figure 1 (Progressive66.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 36 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 6 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 2 (Progressive68.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 48 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 3 (Progressive58.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 40 people, 3 courses, 5 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
In these designs, each node on the outside of the diagram represents a home hosting a starter, the nodes on the next layer towards the centre are homes hosting main courses, and the nodes closest to the centre are homes hosting desserts. Each line represents a couple moving from one course to the next. Each couple follows the same line through the diagram. All guests meet at the final venue for drinks. These designs are a specific cases of the Kirkman's schoolgirl problem
in combinatorics
.
In the USA, participants go to each house for the various course. Couple A cooks the appetizers, and couples ABCD attend at A's house. Then everyone moves to B, and so on. Often there is a regional theme for each dinner, such as Italian, German, or French. Various wines to suit the "courses" are generally served at each location. Keeping it to 4 or 5 houses in the same neighborhood makes it more reasonable.
Problems include keeping the food warm and ready at each location – the main course is generally the most expensive so everyone should take a 'turn' at that course. It is nice to have about the same "level" of cooking skill with each home, although it can be fun to try new methods and cooking to see how it comes out.
One variation is that the participants bring a "themed" dish to one house; this accommodates more people this way, and from further away locations. The host house picks the theme or even what each participant could bring. This is a variation of a cooking club or potluck.
An alternative to the above method involves restaurants. A group of people will start at restaurant A, where they will have an appetizer. When they leave, to have their main at restaurant B, another group will proceed to restaurant A for their main, after having had their appetizer at restaurant X.
The event usually culminates in all groups meeting for drinks or dessert at one venue.
In a safari supper, the destination of the next course is generally unknown by the participants, and they have to decipher a clue before moving on. The term is also used to describe a type of baked curry
consisting of ground beef
and rice
in a spicy-sweet sauce.http://www.gourmet.org/recipes/beef/safari-supper/
Potluck
A potluck is a gathering of people where each person or group of people contributes a dish of food prepared by the person or the group of people, to be shared among the group...
dinner, with travel involved. This is sometimes known as a round-robin
Round-robin
The term round-robin was originally used to describe a document signed by multiple parties in a circle to make it more difficult to determine the order in which it was signed, thus preventing a ringleader from being identified...
.
The company "Whistler Tasting Tours", established in 2008 and based in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, has been credited with being the first business to operate daily year-round progressive dinner tours. Joe Facciolo and Skai Dalziel, the company founders, were named to Canada's top 25 young entrepreneurs in 2009 by the Canadian Youth Business Foundation. This honor was accompanied by a meet and greet with HRH Prince Charles.
Typically, this involves the preparation of one course only (a starter, main course or dessert), and visiting different neighbors for the other 2 courses. Although it is a little difficult to explain, and does require careful and complex planning, the idea is relatively straightforward: for example, Neighbor A makes a starter, and is visited by Neighbors B and C. After this, Neighbor A moves to a different house, Neighbor D, and is joined by Neighbor E. Neighbors B and C go on to different houses also, but not the same one. Finally, a similar pattern for dessert: Neighbor A moves to Neighbor F's house, joined by Neighbor G. This style of eating has recently become popular as a charity fund raiser in rural Britain, and is seen as a good way of meeting different neighbors in the community by virtue of each participant having 6 separate guests; it also has a long tradition in the United States.
Planning a dinner of this type can take considerable preparation if the party is large and if each neighbour is to meet different neighbours at each course. The figures below show how this can be achieved for 36–48 neighbours taking part in a progressive dinner of 3 courses, followed by all neighbours meeting up for drinks after dessert.
Figure 1 (Progressive66.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 36 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 6 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 2 (Progressive68.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 48 people, 3 courses, 6 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
Figure 3 (Progressive58.JPG): Progressive dinner design for 40 people, 3 courses, 5 homes hosting 8 guests at each course, followed by drinks for all guests at a final venue
In these designs, each node on the outside of the diagram represents a home hosting a starter, the nodes on the next layer towards the centre are homes hosting main courses, and the nodes closest to the centre are homes hosting desserts. Each line represents a couple moving from one course to the next. Each couple follows the same line through the diagram. All guests meet at the final venue for drinks. These designs are a specific cases of the Kirkman's schoolgirl problem
Kirkman's schoolgirl problem
Kirkman's schoolgirl problem is a problem in combinatorics proposed by Thomas Kirkman in 1850 as Query VI in The Lady's and Gentleman's Diary...
in combinatorics
Combinatorics
Combinatorics is a branch of mathematics concerning the study of finite or countable discrete structures. Aspects of combinatorics include counting the structures of a given kind and size , deciding when certain criteria can be met, and constructing and analyzing objects meeting the criteria ,...
.
In the USA, participants go to each house for the various course. Couple A cooks the appetizers, and couples ABCD attend at A's house. Then everyone moves to B, and so on. Often there is a regional theme for each dinner, such as Italian, German, or French. Various wines to suit the "courses" are generally served at each location. Keeping it to 4 or 5 houses in the same neighborhood makes it more reasonable.
Problems include keeping the food warm and ready at each location – the main course is generally the most expensive so everyone should take a 'turn' at that course. It is nice to have about the same "level" of cooking skill with each home, although it can be fun to try new methods and cooking to see how it comes out.
One variation is that the participants bring a "themed" dish to one house; this accommodates more people this way, and from further away locations. The host house picks the theme or even what each participant could bring. This is a variation of a cooking club or potluck.
An alternative to the above method involves restaurants. A group of people will start at restaurant A, where they will have an appetizer. When they leave, to have their main at restaurant B, another group will proceed to restaurant A for their main, after having had their appetizer at restaurant X.
The event usually culminates in all groups meeting for drinks or dessert at one venue.
In a safari supper, the destination of the next course is generally unknown by the participants, and they have to decipher a clue before moving on. The term is also used to describe a type of baked curry
Curry
Curry is a generic description used throughout Western culture to describe a variety of dishes from Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Sri Lankan, Thai or other Southeast Asian cuisines...
consisting of ground beef
Ground beef
Beef mince, ground beef, hamburger meat , hamburg or minced meat is a minced meat food, made of beef finely chopped by a mincer. It is used in many recipes including hamburgers and cottage pie...
and rice
Rice
Rice is the seed of the monocot plants Oryza sativa or Oryza glaberrima . As a cereal grain, it is the most important staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and the West Indies...
in a spicy-sweet sauce.http://www.gourmet.org/recipes/beef/safari-supper/