Christmas marks the beginning of the year’s end. But dessert – a flaming pudding, wobblicious trifle or aristocratic panettone – need not mark the end of the Christmas feast. Instead, it marks time to relax: to have the first glass too many, to slouch back in a chair, for the children to be at liberty to play. Time to load the table with treats that sustain hours of simply being together. I stage a four-pronged attack on the senses and sensibilities.
First, a downbeat cocktail. My weapon of choice here is the boulevardier, a heavy, heady, spirit-laden take on the negroni; it is warming, aromatic with citrus zest, and a perfect way to ease into the evening. Stir a measure or two of bourbon or rye, a measure of sweet vermouth (I like Antica Formula, Martini Rosso or Cocchi Torino) and a measure of Campari over plenty of ice, then strain over fresh ice cubes in an old fashioned glass. Serve garnished with a twist of orange.
Second, a platter of fruits, nuts and cheeses designed to take time over. Of all the plates you serve at the Christmas table, this may be the most dramatic – and the one where your procurement can really make the difference. Here, too, you can be reallycreative. Sugary fruits – fresh dates or large, flame-coloured seedless grapes – can be served fresh or frozen (they turn into balls of their own sorbet), while tangerines with their leaves on look nicer, and generally taste better as well. Cheeses should be few and carefully selected – I like one blue (normally some English obscurity from Neal’s Yard Dairy or a spoonable gorgonzola dolce) and one hard sheep (probably a pecorino). Nuts always in their shells (the longer they take to eat, the more they serve their purpose) – walnuts and pecans are my favourites here. Amaretti in those paper wrappers you can roll into cylindrical chimneys and burn so their ashes rise as you make a wish, a wheel of panforte, candied orange slices dipped in chocolate, zimtsterne or assorted lebkuchen. Everything tells a tale – of our culture, and the Christmas story, of the Levant, of Rome, of Germany, of France and of Britain.
Of all the plates you serve at the Christmas table, the platter of fruit, nuts and cheese may be the most dramatic
Third, one of my favourite eating experiences is at Cal Pep, a hidden restaurant in Barcelona. There isn’t much choosing to do – 10 or so plates of ridiculously good tapas come unbidden, and only after these do you have to decide whether to have a main course and a pudding. After that, choice is taken away again and you are brought empty glasses and full bottles of spirits – some of them ambient, others frozen – and are left to figure out what to do with them. I like to emulate this at home – as the boulevardiers start to run half empty, bring an assortment of small glasses to the table and lay out a few frozen bottles – maybe amaretto, an amaro, an acquavit or schnapps – and a few ambient – marsala, calvados or grappa. Your guests will know what to do with them.
Fourth, as the candles start to die down and the grazing slows, you have one last opportunity to raise the energy again with the same combination of sugar, fat and alcohol. Bring forth a selection of affogato, and I guarantee everyone will adore you. Make some strong coffee (a jug of espresso or a stovetop moka pot). Have ready a frozen bottle of amaretto or amaro (very different things – each as good as the other here). And make a little jug of chocolate sauce (70%-cocoa chocolate melted and stirred into an equal quantity of boiling water until smooth). For each person, serve a single scoop of vanilla ice-cream and let them choose their topping – any of these three liquids alone, or in any combination, will make for a dreamy affogato. And so the evening may, yet again, continue.
