Prawn cocktail

My mum always served shrimp cocktail before we tucked into our Christmas dinner. Now I’m wearing the apron, I’ve dispensed with the whole idea of starters. But it wouldn’t be Christmas without mum’s shrimp cocktail appearing on a menu at some point over the holidays.

A festive dish – with its vibrant green and red – shrimp cocktail is also wonderfully fresh, crisp and tangy. It makes a nice contrast to all the meat, pastry and sweets that feature at this time of year.

This is mum’s recipe, but it would be silly to call these big boys ‘shrimp’. If you have vegetarians or prawn haters to accommodate, the cocktail sauce works very nicely with chunks of avocado.

Prawn cocktail
(serves 4)

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 2 Tb vinegar
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 10 drops Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• salt and pepper
• 1 Tb celery, minced
• 450g cooked prawns
• lettuce leaves, to serve

1. Mix together the ketchup, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce and Tabasco sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Stir in the celery and prawns. Chill for at least half an hour (and up to two hours) to let the flavour develop.
3. Arrange lettuce leaves on four small plates or bowls and top with the prawn mixture.

Tags: Christmas, dairy-free, gluten-free, prawns, shrimp cocktail