Potluck

A potluck is a communal gathering where each guest or group contributes a different, often homemade, dish of food to be shared.

For other uses, see Pot luck (disambiguation).
An assorted spread of different dishes at a potluck in Alberta, Canada

Other names for a "potluck" include: potluck dinner, pitch-in, shared lunch, spread, faith supper, carry-in dinner,[1] covered-dish-supper,[2] fuddle, Jacob's Join,[3] bring a plate,[4] and fellowship meal.

Etymology

The word pot-lucke appears in the 16th-century English work of Thomas Nashe, and used to mean "food provided for an unexpected or uninvited guest, the luck of the pot".[5] The modern execution of a "communal meal, where guests bring their own food", most likely originated in the 1930s during the Great Depression.[6]

Some speakers believe that it is an eggcorn of the North American indigenous communal meal known as a potlatch (meaning "to give away").[7] According to the Oxford English Dictionary, however, it is "unlikely that this played any part in the development of this sense".

Description
Various Korean dishes at a potluck

Potluck dinners are events where the attendees bring a dish to a meal.[8] The only traditional rule is that each dish be large enough to be shared among a good portion of the anticipated guests. In some cases, each participant agrees ahead of time to bring a single course, and the result is a multi-course meal. This agreement rectifies the problem of many participants bringing the same dish. Guests may bring in any form of food, ranging from the main course to desserts.[9]

See also

References
  1. "carry-in dinner". Dictionary of American Regional English.
  2. "Definition of COVERED-DISH SUPPER". www.merriam-webster.com.
  3. "World Wide Words: Jacob's Join". www.worldwidewords.org.
  4. "What does it mean when you're asked to 'bring a plate'?". Food. 2021-07-09. Retrieved 2022-10-13.
  5. Nash, Thomas (1870). Strange Newes, of the Intercepting Certaine Letters and a Convoy of Verses ...
  6. Flora, Martin. "Potluck Meal Innovation Due to Depression: Guests Chip in With Part of Dinner", Chicago Tribune, Chicago, 27 January 1933. Retrieved on 5 March 2017.
  7. "Native Food: A Potlatch Tradition".
  8. "Potluck Dinner Party Rules for Both Host and Guest". Bon Appétit. 2013-10-29. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
  9. Brown-Micko, Julie. "Culinary Curiosities: What's the History of the Potluck". foodservicenews.net. Retrieved 2023-04-19.
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