Student association dinners

I am standing in the store  at the vegetables, with a friend who is going to help me cook. We load the shopping cart: 40 zucchinis, 40 eggplants, 40 bell peppers, eight kilos of chopped onions, a bag of lemons. Then on to the canned goods: 45 cans of peeled tomatoes, 24 cans of cannellini beans. We dragged the cart through the store: herbs, olive oil, about 50 baguettes. Don’t forget: two kilos of flour, a kilo of sugar, and a kilo of butter; 15 kilos of apples, and the entire stock of vanilla ice cream.

Every time, when standing next to a full shopping cart, I’m surprised by how much food 100 people can eat in one evening. We check out, pack the groceries into bags, and hop on our bikes. With the bags dangling from our handlebars, we wouldn’t look out of place on an Instagram page about the absurd biking habits of the Dutch. Slowly, we make our way to our student association building.

We’re making a version of ratatouille, with apple crumble as dessert. This met all the requirements: under EUR 3 euros per person, can be made in large quantities, (almost) everyone likes it, not too many allergens, and manageable given our kitchen’s capacity. I’ve gained some experience in choosing suitable recipes as I’ve cooked meals at my association every so often for a few years now.

We have a communal meal at my student association every Thursday, with place for up to a 100 members. The cooking is done by members who enjoy it. These members must first pass a test to prove that both the quality and quantity of their meal is up to standard. They also have to familiarize themselves with the HACCP checklists – the forms used to ensure food safety. If they meet both requirements, they can start cooking.

Members who want to cook must first pass a test

This Thursday, we are in a bit of a rush because we’re starting later than usual as I had a lecture early in the afternoon. We get going quickly. We stir-fry the onions in a pan – the pre-chopped onions save us a lot of tears. We chop up the vegetables and stir-fry them too. We peel the apples and make the crumble topping. We mix the vegetables with the tomatoes and add the beans – not typical for ratatouille, but good for protein – to make a sauce. We add spices which involves a lot of tasting. This is one of the few things that’s different for large quantities of food, as herbs and spices don’t scale linearly.

At precisely 18:30, the food is ready. By then, the members have also arrived and the table is set. Full plates of food are passed around, stories are shared, and announcements are made. After the meal, leftover portions and ingredients are auctioned off to the highest bidders. The money raised goes to the food bank, and the leftovers go home with the buyers. Then a few members start the clean-up – everyone takes a turn once or twice a year – while the rest head to the bar to continue socializing. Just like every week, it was a successful start to the evening.

• At my association, the meal is only open to members. However, there are plenty of associations with an open dinner table, like DSB, Sint Jansbrug, the Bolk, and Virgiel. If you’re ever in the mood for some company, or don’t feel like cooking, you can join them for a meal.