Last year at this time, my cooking took on a Spanish flavour for New Year’s Eve, with recipes for a selection of tapas to serve with fino, cava and Spanish beer. This year, I have a fancy for the delicious mouthfuls one eats in Venice’s traditional bacari such as El Sbarlefo, Cantina do Mori and Alla Vedova, more formally known as Osteria Ca’d’ Oro.

This is perfect food for a casual New Year’s Eve in place of a formal meal, if you have guests dropping in throughout the evening. You can plan the serving of the food so that there is always something fresh and unusual, hot or cold.

Cicchetti are the Venetian equivalent of tapas and are just as varied. Marinated anchovies, prawns in mayonnaise, raw clams will variously appear in tiny dishes or on crostini. Small sandwiches, tramezzini, have rich, thick fillings; my favourite is egg mayonnaise or prawns and asparagus, for which canned or bottled asparagus is perfect.

The tramezzino is a made with two slices of white bread, crusts removed, lightly buttered or not, as you prefer, sandwiched with your chosen filling and cut into triangles; just like afternoon tea sandwiches. In Venetian bars they are frequently replenished to avoid them drying out and curling at the edges; not a good look.

When I make them, I arrange them on a tray covered with cling film. Then I cover them with a double layer of just-damp paper towels and seal the tray with more cling film. If necessary, refrigerate, but take them out for 20 to 30 minutes before unwrapping and serving.

My suggestions and recipes for cold dishes will probably fit the bill for you

Crab with artichokes, fresh or canned tuna with black olives, rare roast beef or bresaola with Parmesan and rocket and aubergine purée with roasted and peeled red peppers are more suggestions for topping crostini or filling tramezzini. Another favourite is baccala mantecata, creamy salt cod, which is also often served on grilled polenta, a delightful hot and cold combination. The only other hot snacks I would recommend are polpetti, crisp, light croquettes, miniature omelettes or frittatini, or meatballs. But my suggestions and recipes for cold dishes will probably fit the bill for you.

Of course, with the lake of Prosecco which seems to surround us now, this is the perfect food to serve. Other wines from the Veneto, lush soaves and rich Amarone and Ripasso are also widely available. I like those from Guerreri Rizzardi, whose Prosecco is rather nice, particularly so when served with a splash of Zeppi’s pomegranate liqueur.

A plate of biscotti, some panforte, some amaretti morbide and perhaps even a large bowl of tiramisu, will make a nice sweet end to the evening, accompanied by Moscato d’ Asti and Vin Santo, pan-Italian rather than Venetian, it must be said.

And with, that, may I wish all my readers a happy and gastronomic New Year.

Prosciutto on toasted foccacia
Slice a focaccia in half. With a pastry cutter, cut into 4 to 6 cm rounds, or if more convenient, simply cut into squares or fingers. Brush with extra virgin olive oil, and sprinkle with grated Parmesan. Toast or bake until golden brown. Place a ruffle of prosciutto on top, and then a slice of ripe, peeled pear.

Mussels
Steam fresh mussels in a little white wine until they open, strain, remove from their shells and mix with cooked diced potato, chopped onion and celery, paprika and shredded prosciutto. A little mayonnaise can be used to lightly bind the mixture, which can then be served in clean, deep mussel shells, on rounds of toast or grilled polenta.

Marinated tuna
Thinly slice the freshest raw tuna fillet, brush with extra virgin olive oil, season with the grated zest of a lemon, Gozo salt and freshly ground black pepper. Cover with cling film, and refrigerate for at least half an hour. The fish can be prepared to this stage up to 4 hours before you plan to serve it. Just before serving, brush with the two tablespoons bitter orange or lemon juice and serve it on Little Gem lettuce leaves.

Baccala mantecato

(Creamed salt cod)
500g salt cod
200ml extra virgin olive oil
50ml of milk
Freshly ground white pepper

To serve: triangles or squares of grilled polenta or toast

Soak the salt cod for 48 hours, in several changes of water. Place in a saucepan just covered with fresh water, and simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, depending on the thickness of the piece of fish.

Remove from the heat, drain, and flake the fish, discarding skin and bones. Heat the olive oil and milk in two separate sauce pans. The creamed cod can now be prepared in a food processor or by hand. If by hand, put the fish in a warm bowl, and gradually work in half the olive oil with a wooden spoon until the mixture begins to turn to a soft mass. Then beat in the milk and remaining olive oil, a little at a time, almost as if you were making mayonnaise. Both oil and milk should be at the same temperature, hot, to help maintain the emulsion. I should say I prefer the slightly coarser texture achieved when I make this by hand, but if you use the ‘pulse’ button on the food processor carefully, you can get a similar result.

Baccala marinato (Another version of salt cod)
Soak a thick, middle-cut piece of salt cod for at least 48 hours, changing the water several times. Drain and dry it, then slice like smoked salmon, slightly on the oblique, and put into glass dish. Add extra virgin oil, juice of 2 lemons, black pepper, and 2 or 3 cloves garlic, crushed. Mix the marinade, and spread it over the fish. Keep 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator for best flavour. Serve a slice on grilled polenta or toast with herbs, extra virgin olive oil, and a few drops of aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena. Chives and thinly sliced mild onions are perfect with this.

Oyster tartare with caviar

(Serves 12)

12 oysters
2 scallops
Freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of Gozo salt
1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp creamed horseradish
2 hard-boiled eggs
Rocket, fresh herbs or small salad leaves
50g caviar

The shellfish should be removed from their shells carefully, and the muscle and coral removed from the scallop.

With a heavy, sharp knife, chop the oysters and scallops. Season with pepper, salt, lemon zest and horse-radish. Halve the eggs, and sieve, separately, the white and the yolk.

Clean the cup half of the oyster shells, and line them with herbs or salad leaves, and spoon in the oyster mixture. Shape a miniature quenelle of caviar, and place in the centre of the oyster; sprinkle egg white to one side, and egg yolk to the other. Serve very cold with toasted bread or light rye bread.