Its that time of year when the Christmas party is being organised.  Desks fill with seemingly endless piles of menus.

My meat eating colleagues coo over the different options available to them – the traditional turkey course appearing to take second place to duck, beef or fish options.  I on the other hand sit there looking at endless cheese based courses, desperately wondering what happened to all the other glorious options out there.

My hear briefly rose at the vista of a nut roast, but quickly sank when it is finished with a stilton sauce.  Not so bad?  Well maybe if the two starter options weren’t mushrooms stuffed with goats cheese, or parsnip and stilton soup. Oh yes the choice of the same cheese for both courses, how imaginative.  So imaginative that it is repeated in countless menus throughout the land.

I don’t understand how the people who put these menus together can even start to pretend to know anything about food.  Are they scared to cook with different ingredients or spices?  Do they know other ingredients exist?

I would love to see something like a spinach and mushroom roulade, a chickpea wellington, cashew nut and red pepper roast or spicy butternut squash with chickpeas.  All these go well (in my opinion) with the traditional Christmas veg.

Alas the world of variety of food for vegetarians at Christmas is one that passes the vast majority of caterers by.  And leaves me planning what to eat before I go, and how to survive the evening.