Neighbourhood meals

These have become a tradition in many parts of France: a bunch of neighbours in a street or people in an apartment building get together, everyone brings some food and shares it around.

We had ours yesterday. Everyone brought stuff that could be eaten cold, of course: salads, quiches, various kinds of cold baked veggie tarts, as well as cold chicken, sausage. And many kinds of dessert. We have one neighbour who used to own a wine store and when he retired he kept lots of his stock. The first year we had the meal, nobody actually opened the wine they had brought because he went around filling everyone's glass, describing the wines.

Yesterday, for the aperitif he provided kir made with 20-year-old blackcurrant syrup. Then we had a few bottles of Burgundy, then some Côtes de Roussillon (near Perpignan area). Since it was hot, nobody actually drank that much.

So, when that time of year rolls around (June), on the radio I hear that it has become a custom in lots of other countries. Is this true? Do any of you have something like that where you live?

In many parts of the USA, churches sponsor events like that. We call them Pot Luck suppers. I have had some excellent treats at these. Many lades put a lot of effort into preparing their very best dishes.

It's done a lot int he US, but not necessarily associated with a particular time of year, although it's more common in summer. American Independence Day (July 4th) is a common time.

It is sometimes called a"block party,"
>a large public party in which many members of a single neighbourhood congregate, either to observe an event of some importance or simply for mutual enjoyment. The name comes from the form of the party, which often involves closing an entire city block to vehicle traffic.

Or one family might just invite a lot of neighbors over for a "potluck." In that case, the hosts often provide the main dish (in summer, it's likely to be barbecued something) and the guests bring the rest. If the group is really huge, as it might be for a block party, then it might be that each family brings their own food, plus a dessert to share.

You food sounds a lot classier that I would expect at a neighborhood party, which would usually be pretty informal. Potato and macaroni salad. Crudités. Barbecued hamburgers & hot dogs. Cheap wine and lots of beer, with sodas for the kids and abstainers. Chips (crisps) and dips. Watermelon. Cookies, and ice cram and someone will probably bring s cake or a pie.

You food sounds a lot classier that I would expect at a neighborhood party

Well -- this is France so people tend to bring stuff that tends to be a bit fancier. Some years when there have been more people, it was mostly people bringing their own food and maybe sharing with those sitting beside them. Then desserts for everybody put on a separate table. Yesterday there were only 28 of us, so everyone cut stuff up small and went around offering to everybody else.

No possibility of keeping ice cream so desserts were apricots off someone's tree, canelés, a cherry clafoutis, a peach tart, a lemon meringue pie! (not very French), and a pound cake surrounded by fresh strawberries.

Wow!

I sure as heck wish I lived in your neighborhood, bjd. If such a matter-of-fact description can make my mouth water even after I've just eaten my own home-cooked chicken with bread stuffing, I expect that I'd almost be drooling if I were to sit down to the real thing.

I think it's a lovely idea. Don't know if it would work here in Poland... who knows. People would probably start bickering about where it should take place and who would clean up afterwards... not too much neighbourly spirit. Unfortunately the catholic church would not be likely to sponsor such an event here, unless it got something out of it...

No church involvement in France, given how few people go to church!

Here, it's either a group of neighbours, or else an association that has been set up that does the organizing. In our case, it's a retired lady who likes to keep busy. You usually need a driving force of some kind to deal with the organization. There were only her and me to set things up, but everyone helped with the clean-up afterwards. Just rolling up the paper tablecloths, ditching the paper plates into garbage bags. Everyone brings their own cutlery and takes back whatever pan or plate they brought.

Here it has become organized enough that our city hall supplies the tables, chairs, bread and water. But it's a small suburb of a bigger city. The mayor also stopped by to say hello, have an apéritif and answer a few questions.

Edited by: bjd

If I were the mayor, I'd have only one question: Who made the lemon meringue pie?

He didn't stay for the meal, just the aperitif. In fact, the lemon meringue pie came from a store selling only frozen food -- it was the only dessert that hadn't been homemade.

That's interesting; it seems that Mrs. Smith has a French counterpart. The French version looks French, though, doesn't it?

That sounds lovely bjd. We don't tend to do anything like that in the UK, at least not where I live, but I am very tempted to suggest it to my neighbours as we get on really well with them. Just not sure who would play though, I'm guessing some just wouldn't be bothered.

#10 Not everybody here bothers either. Some people just never participate in anything, even if it takes place on their doorstep. But it's nice to put names to faces you sometimes just pass on the street, and after having eaten together and chatted, people become friendlier when you meet them on the street. You could start small with just a few neighbours who get along -- others might want to join in.

In fact, I think when it started in Toulouse, it was by a guy who thought that people in apartment buildings didn't know each other. So making a meal together (in a building with a common area like a courtyard) would get people knowing their neighbours. And also, getting older people living on their own known to the others so that the others would be aware of them. Here, of course, it's often the older people who won't participate.

However, our neighbour from behind (80 years old) brought his accordeon and played music from the 1940s and 1950s, from the time he played semi-professionally.

A few articles I found on the internet:
repas de quartier

Montreuil

Edited by: bjd

Do any of you have something like that where you live?

Not in Sweden, or in Stockholm in my situation.
Swedes tend to be more formal, or reserved, which for other nationals living in Sweden, including myself. is sometimes an obstacle.
Basically, you need a reason to get together. It cannot be just like that. So, in my situation, the only way of socialising with my neighbours is spring- and autumn cleaning, when the courtyard and adjoining common facilities are cleaned and tided up.
When the work is done, bbq's are lighted up and after a while hot dogs are served, along with fruit juice and wine. Wine in this kind of situation is unusal though. It's all arranged and paid from common funds of the association of the building.

It's probably my husband who will be the biggest party pooper ;) I might invite a few round for a BBQ and suggest it and see what they say. It's a lot easier if one person isn't doing all the cooking/drink providing. I guess we would have to take turns hosting in our houses though as no communal areas bar the street. I thought about organising a street party for the Royal Wedding in April but I remember my Mum doing it for Charles and Diana's wedding and the moaning because she ended up doing everything, haha.

I live in New Zealand. The area I grew up in now has shared meals at its local community centre. Often they are in conjunction with local new migrant groups and the local community board.

The small area of the suburb I grew up in used to have something similar at our primary school. Often this meant we got to eat something from India, Fiji (Fijian Indian food), Japanese and Greek food. That's about it. Not a huge selection at that time!!

Otherwise, my parents would have a Christmas BBQ and invite the neighbours. But that's probably not what you are thinking of.

My parents live on a very friendly street in the suburbs of Montreal and I can remember doing that as a kid many times. We would just go around to the neighbours and tell them we were firing up the grill and they would bring sausage, hamburgers, hot dogs, veggies, salad, etc. and we would all have a feast in my back yard. Then another neighbour would do it at his/her house and the kids would all go swimming while the adults just chit chatted.

There is also something that I haven't seen in ages, called a "progressive meal." This is usually done by 3 or 4 families. Everyone goes to House #1 for drinks & appetizers, House #2 for a starter course, House #3 for a main course, & House #4 for dessert.

I was part of a group that did a progressive in Memphis, and it worked pretty well. When we tried it in Los Angeles, it was a bust -- too much drive time between houses. It seems to be one of those things that sounds good in the abstract, but not so good on the ground.

One of my sons who likes to cook occasionally participates in "chaos cooking". A bunch of friends get together in one kitchen (usually his) and all cook something different to make a complete meal.