Hosting a destitute gourmet event with Sophie Gray. Within Auckland - 2011
What happens in a Sophie Gray, destitute gourmet (dg) class/demonstration?
A dg class comprises several components including teaching, cooking and tasting. During the course of a demonstration around 25-30 minutes will be given to explaining the "philosophy" of destitute gourmet and how to save money at the supermarket. This section is packed with practical information, anecdotes and tips. Sophie will also demonstrate around 5-6 recipes and loads of tricks, techniques and suggestions to make family food more interesting, healthy and cost effective. Your group will then sample each of the dishes as they are cooked, the recipes will all be good examples of the principals and techniques being demonstrated.
Sophie provides all her equipment, ingredients and recipe booklets containing the recipes used in that class will be supplied for up to 100 people (more can be ordered by arrangement, for an additional charge). DG books and merchandise will also be available for sale.
How many people can attend?
As a host you have the opportunity to sell up to 500 tickets to your event, depending on your venue. Sophie will prepare the same number of dishes, usually around 5-6, and offer 100 “tastes” of each dish. So a group of 100 will taste each dish, a group of 200 will taste 3 dishes and a group of 500 will get the opportunity to have a taste of one of the dishes.
How long is a dg demonstration?
A demonstration takes approximately 2½ hours. We start at 7pm and finish around 9.30-10pm so people can eat and chat before they leave. Sophie will arrive 2 hours before the start of the class to set up, prep and brief the helpers.
What kind of kitchen & venue is needed?
Churches, community centres, clubs and halls often have kitchens that adjoin an auditorium via a large servery. This type of set up works very well as visibility is the key. Attendees will need to be able to see onto the bench. If visibility is a problem, a live video feed would be an option to overcome this. While we do not need a commercial oven, a regular oven must have a minimum of three shelves and be of a standard size, many newer ovens are very small. Two regular ovens or one commercial oven is ideal. Setting up a trestle in front of the kitchen is not recommended as Sophie needs ready access to running water, stoves etc and a trestle is significantly lower than bench height.
Seating should be arranged theatre style in rows in front of the workbench.
Hosting Responsibilities
What do I need to supply?
Sophie requires two helpers in the kitchen from when she arrives until the end of the demonstration – preferably adults, but no cooking skills are required, just a willingness to assist with prep and do lots of dishes. Four people are needed to pass around platters etc and to help clean up after the presentation. You will also need to supply 10-15 old tea towels. Your guests will need two side plates and two forks each, disposables are fine.
We recommend having drinks available on arrival and water/juice throughout the duration of the class, pens for people who wish to take notes and coffee/tea to finish. This gives Sophie a chance to get out of the kitchen and talk to your guests, answer questions etc. Someone to man the dg merchandise table as we bring copies of all dg books, dg aprons and pastry mats for people who wish to purchase them (cash or chq only, sorry no credit card or eftpos facilities).
Also a lapel microphone is useful but not essential.
Interested in hosting a dg event in your area? For pricing and availabiltity email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Please include your name, the name of your group, your town/city and a contact telephone number.
