Planning a Burns Night dinner

Some years ago we had some good friends who were really into Burns Night. They were both actors and Steve (north London Jewish) did a brilliant ‘address to the haggis’ in a ripsnorting Scots accent which had tears rolling down our faces.

I was reminded of these bravura performances the other day when I went to a preview Burns dinner at the Boisdale restaurant in Bishopsgate in the City of London where we treated to the same eulogy delivered by a genuine Scot who also gave a full ear-splitting recital on his bagpipes.

Burns Night, of course, celebrates the birthday of Scotland’s famous poet Robert Burns on January 25th. It is outrageously kitsch, no doubt about that, but it’s a fun way to spend an evening with good friends. Boisdale had sensibly leavened the feast (which can be heavy) with more mainstream offerings such as very good organic smoked salmon from Islay, slow braised belly of pork and brioche bread and butter pudding with an orange and apricot sorbet. (You could also try Sue Lawrence’s delicious venison recipe from this month’s Book of the Month)

Different whiskies were served as an aperitif, with the haggis and with the last course (Macallan is sponsoring the event) with some fairly pedestrian Bordeaux - white and red - in between. The change of drink was welcome though claret wasn't the ideal match. Haggis is quite gamey and needs a powerful red with some good ripe fruit to counteract that. I’ve tried Rhone reds like Saint Joseph quite successfully but Australian shiraz strikes me as quite perfect. There is actually one called Bobbie Burns Shiraz which comes from the Rutherglen region of Victoria and which you should be able to track down through www.wine-searcher.com

A better solution is to have your wee dram beforehand and possibly with the smoked salmon and one at the end but to drink beer in between. There are plenty of good Scottish ales - you need one with a touch of sweetness. During a further run-through back home (memo to self: never eat haggis more than once in a week) I was very taken with the new limited edition Innis and Gunn IPA but the regular Innis and Gunn, which is aged in whisky barrels was a good match too. I also liked Schneider Aventinus from Germany and suspect a Maredsous 8 or 10 (from Belgium) would be a good pairing. You don’t want anything too bitter or too hoppy. It just doesn’t work with haggis and its traditional accompaniments neeps (swede) and tatties (mashed potato)

If you’re in London, Boisdale - which also has a branch near Victoria - is a good place to spend Burns night: if you’re tied up on the evening itself the menu is on all this week and next. The food isn’t extraordinary but the restaurants are charmingly eccentric, have bags of atmosphere and a great selection of whisky and cigars . . . (Get in quick before the smoking ban!)

If you want to organise your own Burns Night there’s a comprehensive guide on the BBC website complete with video clips!

Which wine glasses to buy

With the sales still in full swing it’s a good time to be snapping up cut price wine glasses but which kind should you buy and how many do you need?

If you’ve got room to store them the ideal is to have four different types: a medium-sized wine glass for white wines, a bigger one for full-bodied reds, a small one for dessert wines and fortified wines such as sherry and port and a tall champagne ‘flute’ for serving sparkling wines. (A tall glass keeps the bubbles fizzing away longer than the old-fashioned saucer shape)

From a wine drinking (rather than an appearance) point of view they should be made of clear rather than coloured glass so that you can fully appreciate the colour of the wine you’re drinking and slightly tapered towards the top to trap the aromas in the glass. The rim should be thin and fine and the stem long enough for you to be able to hold it without having to clutch the bowl, which will transfer heat from your hand to the wine. (There’s a more detailed guide, for those of you who are interested, on a website called www.wineglasses.co.uk which supplies to the trade.)

Good makes include the Austrian glass firm Riedel (which actually has a glass for different grape varieties including one monster of a burgundy glass that holds an entire bottle!), Schott Zwiesel and Dartington but there are some excellent value Polish and Czech glasses around currently at less than half the price. If you find that glasses get broken regularly in your household John Lewis has a basic range at just £15 for 6 glasses.

You can order Riedel glasses on Amazon now, amazingly. (Is there anything they don’t sell these days?) The American site has some particularly good deals.

Three easy Christmas cocktails

If you have tiresome relatives around making a nuisance of themselves give them a job to do and let them run up one of these simple cocktails:

Santa Fizz
A festive spin on Buck's Fizz
Makes 6-8 glasses
1 well chilled bottle of Cava or other inexpensive sparkling wine
1 well-chilled carton of blood orange juice
Pour the blood orange juice just over a third of the way up each glass and slowly top up with the fizz
* if the blood orange juice is very sweet you might also want a few drops of lemon juice

Pere Noel
A simple party punch
Makes two large jugs - about 14 glasses
A bottle of Dubonnet
A carton of cranberry juice
Strained juice of a freshly squeezed lemon
2 bottles of Cava or other inexpensive sparkling wine
Chill all the ingredients well. Fill a large jug a quarter full with Dubonnet, add another quarter of cranberry juice and a good dash of lemon juice and slowly top up with Cava.

Christmas Martini
A great looking blood red martini.
Makes 2/3 glasses
3 shots (90ml/6 tbsp) vodka
1 shot (30ml/2 tbsp) cherry brandy, preferably Cherry Heering
4 shots (120ml/8 tbsp) chilled cranberry juice
A few fresh cranberries (optional)
Fill a large cocktail shaker full of ice. Pour in the vodka, cherry brandy and cranberry juice and shake well. Strain into chilled or frosted martini glasses. Float a couple of fresh cranberries on top if you have some

Choosing wine for a party

Party time is here again but whereas, I suspect, you spend hours planning the food, drink probably doesn’t get much of a look-in until the last minute. A bit of forethought, however can not only mean you drink more appropriately - bearing in mind parties are hot, thirsty events - but save you money into the bargain.

What type of wine to buy depends on the type of event you’re hosting whether it’s an informal get together for family and neighbours, a buffet or a hot sit-down supper. Obviously it depends on the type of food you’re serving too but here’s a general guide to cover most occasions.

Drinks and nibbles
Personally I think it’s hard to beat fizz for a drinks party, even an informal one and with so many excellent inexpensive sparklers on the market it doesn’t have to break the bank. Cava is the obvious choice, especially if you’re serving fizz-based cocktails but there are also good inexpensive sparklers from Australia, New Zealand, not to mention the terminally trendy Pinot Grigio, now available in sparkling form.

To make a cut price ‘champagne’ cocktail put a sugar lump in each glass and pour over a few drops of Angostura bitters. Add a splash (about a dessertspoon) of brandy and top up with well-chilled sparkling wine (I suggest Cava), tilting the glass towards the bottle as you pour.

A cold buffet
Cold food needs lighter, fruitier wines than hot food. In fact it suits the sort of wines you’d take on a picnic - light fruity reds and rosés and crisp whites - all served cool.

Sauvignon Blanc pips chardonnay as the fashionable party white this winter (although an unoaked or lightly oaked chardonnay is always a reliable crowd-pleaser). You might also add a few bottles of Australian riesling for more adventurous guests or those who prefer an off-dry white.

The red that suits a cold spread best - particularly if it contains chicken or salmon - is a fruity pinot noir. The only downside is that they can be expensive but you can find some well-priced examples from Chile and California. And roés - once only drunk in summer - is a great all-rounder. Southern French rosés from the Languedoc or the Rhone offer particularly good value.

A hot supper
Hot food generally needs more full-bodied wines than cold food (though if you’re serving something creamy like a fish or chicken pie you could get away with a lighter white). In general you want a wine that can stand up to strong flavours but which isn’t too high in alcohol - quite a big ask when so many wines are hitting the 14-14.5% ABV mark. Southern French and Spanish reds tend to be quite reasonable as do cheaper Chilean reds but check out the label to make sure you’re not serving a 15% blockbuster. And have plenty of water available so that guests can have an occasional glass if they choose.

How much to buy
The more choice you offer the more you’ll spend so I generally buy no more than 3 different wines for a party. As a general rule I work on the basis of half to two thirds of a bottle per person in total depending how long the party is. (A standard bottle of wine contains six small 125ml glasses) However you know your friends better than I do! If in doubt order a bit more - you can buy wine on a sale or return basis from most retailers.

Keeping cool
With the fridge full to bursting at this time of year the main problem with parties is getting and keeping wine cool. Try and store your bottles in a cold place for a start (though not a freezing one. Beware of the garage if temperatures are sub-zero). The best way to chill bottles for a crowd is to put them in large buckets of iced water - ice and water chill faster than ice alone.