can prepare ahead of time, the easier your evening will be. For a start, you’ll feel more relaxed and so will your friends. The problem is that so many of us suffer from performance anxiety when it comes to entertaining and, really, we shouldn’t. After all, everyone you’ve invited is meant to be a friend, so what can go wrong?
So let’s shake up some cocktails and stir up some trouble. After all, it’s meant to be a party!
Before, During & After the Event
I don’t want to preach, but here are a few tips that I’ve found invaluable.
1.Make sure you take into account who you’re inviting and why. If it’s a party to welcome your new boss it’s going to be a very different affair to one that marks the start of the football season. Extreme comparisons I know, but you get the drift.
2.Casting: don’t invite two feuding ex-lovers, especially to a smaller affair. Likewise anyone you know who, God forbid, is a mean drunk. Bigger parties have less issues as everyone can mix and mingle without ruffling feathers.
3.Unless you intend on hiring extra help, I wouldn’t advise going much above the 20 guest mark at home. You want to enjoy yourself rather than plan a military exercise!
4.Do enlist family and friends to help: most people love to be useful.
5.Regardless of the occasion, make sure you invite your guests in a timely fashion. I don’t mean sending an official embossed card posted months before the event, but three weeks’ notice is good. It gives you enough time to get organized too. If you want to have a dress code, make sure they know in advance to avoid embarrassment. Ask if they have any dietary needs or allergies.
6.Will people be driving? While your guests’ sobriety is not (entirely) your responsibility, I think it’s a courtesy to make sure there’s a solid non-alcoholic alternative if you know people are coming by car. And do supply phone numbers for local taxi services, too.
7.Think about whether you need to rent glasses and plates. Have the liquor delivered, too, if you can, to save time.
8.Ice, ice, baby… Make sure there’s PLENTY of it. Have some tubs (or baby baths) at the ready to receive it!
9.Décor – or un-décor: If you’ve invited more than a handful of guests, then think about clearing some space for food, for drinks, for shimmying and mingling. Pop away anything that’s fragile or precious… or precarious. And beware of lit candles when the drinks are flowing.
10.Make it VERY clear whether there are smoking areas or not.
11.Fresh flowers, space and a smile are the best decoration. If you are doing Margaritas and tacos, some bright colours and patterns may add a touch of tropical heat. But I tend to advise against ‘themes’. It’s a party, not a party game.
12.Don’t forget to HOST! If everyone there already knows everyone else – then fine, things can take care of themselves. If not, well, I know you’ll be busy, but make sure you introduce people. It’s the one thing everyone forgets, and it’s the one thing that makes sure everyone has a good time. If you see someone alone in the corner while you’re busy frying Arancini, send a gregarious friend over to help them mingle.
After the event: don’t wash the glasses until the morning (BR-EAK-AGE!!) That tip’s from my wonderful mama!
The Drinks
So here we are, at the main course – if a drink can be a main course. Here’s everything from the Americano to the Zombie. Take your pick. And mix.
GIN
The Martini
The food writer MFK Fisher once said that the Martini is to America what vodka is to Russia. Hemingway said they made him feel civilized. I say they are the perfect antidote to rainy days (literally or figuratively) – to quote Mae West, I like to get out of my wet clothes and into a dry Martini. No other cocktail inspires more comment or opinion. Should it be shaken? Should it be stirred? Should it be gin or should it be vodka? And how much vermouth is too much vermouth?
Throwing myself into the Martini melee, I should point out that the opinions below are merely my own. They’re also right. So don’t argue.
Shaken or stirred is a matter of preference. I prefer mine stirred to the point where it’s as cold as the bottom of a penguin’s foot. If you shake it, you will break the ice cubes and make a cloudy and more diluted drink. I think that a Martini’s ice-cold clarity is a big part of its charm.
A Martini is made with gin. A Vodka Martini is made with vodka. Apple Martinis are an abomination. That is all.
An olive or a twist is also a matter of preference, but the twist should always be lemon – if you want lime, order a Gimlet and be done with it. The lemon should be unwaxed. The olive should be vividly green and unstuffed. If you like it ‘dirty’ – with a splash of the olive brine – be as dirty as you please.
‘I like to get out of my wet clothes and into a dry Martini’
—Mae West
I don’t care that Noel Coward thought it sufficient to wave the shaker in the general direction of Italy – there must be vermouth. So you can add a drop of vermouth to your gin with a pipette, you can swirl the vermouth through the glass and discard it (the Bartender’s Martini, as seen at The Frolic Room), or you can be like Clark Gable’s Jim Gannon in Teacher’s Pet, and simply wet the vermouth cork and wipe it around the rim of your Martini glass. This is a mixed drink: without the vermouth, it’s not a Martini. It’s just a glass of cold gin.
The ice must be fresh. The longer it’s in your freezer, the more it picks up residual flavours. With the Martini, we’re shooting for drinking perfection. We’ll never make it, but we were born to try.
This is how I make mine…
Fill a cocktail shaker with fresh ice. Pour in one-eighth to one-quarter capful of dry vermouth. I favour Noilly Prat. Stir vigorously to coat the ice cubes thoroughly. Add a cocktail-glassful of gin, about 60–90 ml (2–3 fl oz). Or two, or three, if you’re making more with commensurate vermouth, though I never make more than three in one batch as the drink becomes too diluted before it reaches the requisite temperature. Stir until it’s as cold as a corrupted politician’s soul. Leave to rest for a minute, or as long as it takes to spear your olives on to a cocktail stick or cut your lemon twist. Strain into the glass, garnish and serve at once, ideally with Salted Almonds (see below).
Note: Apart from those made at 91a, the best Martinis I believe are made by the ever-young Manny Aguirre at The Musso and Frank Grill in Hollywood. He is, indeed, The Merlin of Martinis.
Salted Almonds
If you don’t do anything else at all, just make these. There is nothing like a salted almond with a dry Martini. Heaven.
200 g (7 oz) blanched almonds
½
