It’s not too soon to give up on your New Year resolutions. And that’s what we should be doing if those resolutions entail giving up food and drink. Look at the weather. And then think what it’s going to be like coming home from work tonight – if indeed, you venture out – in the dark. London isn’t getting the worst of Storm Goretti – Cornwall is; ditto the Scillies – but it’s cold and bleak. Is this not the time for something hearty, something warming, something alcoholic? A steaming fish pie? A nice beef stew, perhaps with half a bottle of burgundy in it, or a steak and kidney pudding (if you can find the suet)? A hot toddy? A whisky mac (a sublime mix of ginger wine and whisky)? Maybe an egg nog?
And yet this is the month that the nutters among us have rebranded Dry January and Veganuary. The very time of year when we need actual sustenance, when nature calls out for an alcoholic drink, is the month a few geniuses back in 2014 gave over to abstemiousness: giving up meat and dairy. Joaquin Phoenix and Billie Eilish are the faces of Veganuary. And you don’t need to ask who are the faces of Dry January… they’re the ones that are looking really miserable in the pub and everywhere else.
