Christmas cocktails

The first year The Hungry One came to Christmas breakfast at my Dad’s, he was stumped. At 8 am the first bottle of Moet was cracked.

“We drink at breakfast…?” he whispered to me.

Yes. Yes we do.

Since then he’s got used to it. It’s certainly one way to avoid the hangover from the pink daiquiris on Christmas eve.

This year we’re moving on from straight champagne (since we’re not at Dad’s and he’s not buying).

We’re going to try something that I first tried at Jamie Oliver’s Barbecoa in London. Barbecoa sits right next to St Pauls. It’s a shrine to meat cooked over flames. I need to go a couple more times before I can fully form an opinion of it. There have been plenty of blogs that have had a bleat about what they did and didn’t like about the place.

What I do know for sure is that their prosecco cocktails fall firmly into the former category.

Their ‘breakfast in Milan’ is a mix of prosecco, gin, campari and english marmalade. The prosecco makes it flirty and the gin and campari give it an academic grunt. It’s the drinkable equivalent of a tall blonde that has loosened his tie and keeps nudging at his dark rimmed square glasses.

Essentially, it’s a very very sexy drink.

The sweetness and stickiness of the marmalade give it a Doris Day giggle. The marmalade also makes it perfectly appropriate for breakfast.

Or any time of the day for that matter.

So this Christmas morning, I may be waking up in London, but I’m having breakfast in Milan.

Breakfast in Milan (via Barbecoa)

(NB, this is my estimation of the proportions of a Breakfast in Milan. If you want it to be boozier, feel free to up the gin…)
 
Serves 4-6

Shopping/foraging
1 bottle of prosecco or sparkling wine
Gin ( I prefer Tanqueray, but that’s just me)
Campari
Good quality English marmalade

Equipment
Champagne flutes
A long honey spoon

Here’s how we roll

1. Put half a teaspoon of marmalade at the bottom of each champagne flute.
2. Put half a shot of gin (15ml) and half a shot of campari (15ml) in the bottom of each flute.
3. Top with sparkling wine. Stir gently with the teaspoon.
4. Repeat until the bottles are empty.


Any other suggestions of Christmas breakfast cocktails gratefully received….