Supper Partying: How To Host a New Year’s Eve Party That Doesn’t Suck

The concept of liminal space has been sporadically popping up in the zeitgeist recently. If the concept could be translated to a space, it’d look like the set of Severance. It’s often described as a place of transition – not a destination in itself, just something in between.

For me, liminal space is most accurately represented by the time between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve. Days and time are constructs. Social batteries (and bank accounts) are rapidly emptying, diets consist of leftover ham and potato salad, and we’re all victims of an accumulative hangover. On the back of all of that, how can we expect anyone to show up to a NYE event, let alone plan one?  

It’s my belief that NYE parties should seldom be big blowouts – they’re existentially stressful and rarely turn out how you hope. I’m no statistician but I reckon the probability for NYE success goes up tenfold if you have a casual sit-or-stand dinner with a party of no more than 10. Here are my tips on how to start your new year the right way.

Goodbye Christmas

I am more inspired if I have dietaries at my events – ideas come easier when I know what I can’t serve. Adopt this mindset for NYE cooking and it’ll be easier than any other occasion. After Christmas, people are usually sick of eating certain foods, so avoid serving them.

These are the dishes that are off the menu:

·  Turkey: opt for roast chicken, which is far better anyhow, or a whole baked fish if you want the grandeur without the sweat and tears.

·  Ham: a rack of lamb or a rib roast feels festive and luxe in a different way. Buy a nice mustard or make a chimichurri or L’Entrecote sauce to serve alongside. Add mash or some polenta for a lighter side.

·  Prawns: scallops with simple accompaniments like pancetta and cauliflower cream is delicious and NYE-fancy but, if you can feel the gout coming on, steamed artichokes with aioli or melted butter is a similarly hands-on experience and equally satisfying.

·  Pavlova or trifle: NYE calls for chocolate, don’t ask me to explain. The easiest, most rewarding chocolate dessert is mousse but you could also make a not-too-sweet Guinness chocolate cake. If dessert is just a box to tick off, this vanilla ice-cream with olive oil, fried dates and flaky salt ticks that box and more.  

·  Cherries: you could skip fruit completely, but I can’t deny their palate-cleansing powers. Lychees, dragonfruit or frozen grapes rolled in citric acid are fantastic replacements.

·  Raw oysters: there are so many ways to serve cooked oysters beyond bacon and barbeque sauce. Think oysters Rockefeller; steamed with scallion and ginger; grilled with chicken fat – have some fun with it.

If you are done with cooking completely, there is no shame in a potluck. Just give guests enough notice and allocate them dish categories so you have a balanced meal.

Timing is everything

My main bone to pick about New Year’s Eve events is they often start too early. Sparkling wine from 4pm? My endurance could never. I think the secret is to start late-ish – seven or eight in the evening the earliest (call it European) and emphasise that the party ends at 1am on the invite. This means that, after the countdown, people will trickle out without any awkwardness.

Make sure dinner is wrapped up before 11pm: I would go snacks and light cocktails at 7pm; mains and wine at 8pm; dessert at 10pm. Start pouring the champagne or pre-batched Martinis between 20-25 minutes before midnight to give yourself time to distribute the drinks – this way, you can create a bit of anticipation for the moment instead of shoving drinks in people’s hands five minutes before the clock strikes 12. It also gives you enough time to get your ducks in a row so that you can also enjoy the countdown. If you’re an overachieving host like me, you could put some sausage rolls or prawn toast out for a final snack.

Rules

Many theories on why NYE sucks have to do with how much pressure there is to have a good time. Forced fun is rarely effective. Antithetically, adhere to these rules to have the least insufferable time:

·  No phones: there’s nothing worse than scanning a room and finding someone watching stories of other NYE parties. Also, no one should be on their emails on NYE.

·  Enlist a sidekick: if you have someone you trust to help you host or cook, there’s power in numbers. It’s a busy and tiring time of the year – get all the help you can.

·  Delegate clean-up duties: do not swallow your pride and leave the clean-up until the next day. Drunk clean-up is way more fun than hungover clean-up.

·  Drink the nice wine: Christmas is for beer, spritz and sangria, NYE is for the save it for a special occasion stuff. (Mostly because you don’t have to share it with that family member who always says, “I actually prefer the cheaper stuff.”)

Keep up with Becca over on @supper.partying