Recipe for a Great Party

Plus the very best birthday cake. And some crazy crustaceans.

A couple weeks ago I invited a group of people who didn’t know each other to dinner. The party turned out to be so lively and fun that I’ve been thinking about how to make that happen again.

In the end it’s all about the guests. We assembled a group who had a lot to say and, more importantly, new people to say it to. There’s nothing better than going home feeling that you’ve made new friends.

The food can certainly help. We began with cocktails and a lot of finger food: cheese, pate, nuts. Then we sat down to heaps of spot prawns served in the shell with a chili dipping sauce (recipe below). This is delicious interactive fun: you have to eat with your hands and suck the heads which makes for a lot of laughter.

The main course continued the casual theme: pulled pork piled onto buns, corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, coleslaw. For dessert, a sour cherry crostata with vanilla ice cream.

As I was considering what makes a great party I thought about an article I wrote almost 40 years ago. I cringe at some of the editing choices - apologies for that - but my opinions haven’t changed much.

But I did neglect to mention one important thing. If you want to have a stellar evening it helps to start with an empty dishwasher.

Speaking of special desserts…. I was recently invited to a birthday party where the candle-topped cake was absolutely perfect.

I asked for the recipe.

“Don’t you remember it?” my friend replied. “You ran it in Gourmet in 2001.” If you’re about to bake a birthday cake, I don’t think you can do better.

If you want to impress people it’s hard to top these spectacular Santa Barbara spot prawns which arrive still alive and kicking wildly. Their season is short, they’re very expensive, and in my opinion worth every penny.

You could make all manner of fancy preparations, by my favorite way to serve these crazy crustaceans is quickly steamed or boiled with a spicy Asian dipping sauce.

Be sure to suck the heads: they’re the best part.

Asian Chili Dipping Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, minced or grated
1 shallot, minced
2  scallions finely chopped
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 Sichuan pickled chiles chopped (or 2 small fresh spicy red chiles, seed removed and finely chopped)
¼ cup vegetable oil

Mix the first five ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.

Just before serving heat the vegetable oil (I prefer using roasted rapeseed oil) in a small saucepan. When it is hot but not smoking, pour into the bowl and listen to the sizzle.