At the end of the monthly cycle club dinner at the gite (which doubles as a clubhouse) the president stood up and called for quiet. “Last summer I was talking with Nick and Jackie when they offered to cook for one of our dinners” he said. “We agreed it would be in February and they suggested making a curry. I think we’d all agree that they’ve shown tremendous prowess; not only did they prepare an entire meal, including the bread, for fifty people, but it was an excellent meal too.” He asked for a show of appreciation and they gave us a standing ovation!

It started last Tuesday when I did the shopping; 10kg beef, 18 litres milk, 5kg rice, 50 chicken portions, 8kg onions, 4kg bread flour, 3 litres natural yoghurt and 12 extra large tins of tomatoes, amongst other stuff. Philippa had agreed to help, so she’d brought back from a trip to England the most enormous tubs of Patak’s curry pastes I’ve ever seen, along with an equally huge tub of mango chutney and Kieran found a shop in Dax where he could buy gram flour and cardamom pods. We were ready to roll.

On Wednesday Nick and Philippa spent the day at the gite, making beef curry and chicken tandoori. I went down between lessons, to put together the rice pudding, take photos and, in Philippa’s opinion at least, generally be a nuisance. On Thursday we started making the dough for the naan breads, did a veg curry and Nick made carrot halva. He went back on Friday morning, while I stayed home to wait for a parcel delivery, and made 100 onion bhajis – well that’s how many were left once he’d finished the quality control! Adrian arrived Friday afternoon and helped us decant the rice pud into dishes, make 100 samosas, prepare the salad and roll out the naan breads. The team who set out the tables arrived and transformed the room while we finished washing up. Time to go home to have a cup of tea and change; one of my students had lent me a sari, so I did my best to tie it correctly. I don’t think it was right, but at least it stayed in place for the evening and it certainly provoked a few comments!

Once I’d been round and explained how things were meant to be eaten, (most people had never tasted curry before!) the assembled cyclists tucked into onion bhajis and samosas with salad and raita for starters. Then beef curry, veg curry, chicken tandoori, rice and naans for the main course; I was amazed to see people going back for seconds and even third helpings! By the time we served the rice pudding, then coffee with carrot halva, everyone was pretty full, but I think they all thoroughly enjoyed themselves and I suspect this may become an annual event. We’re just glad it’s over for now; it’s been a very hard week.