I was in Oxford for a Union debate on money in politics. These are very stylish affairs, with boys in back tie – and office bearers in white tie – and girls in long silk dresses, There are drinks beforehand, a dinner for the committee and the visiting speakers, and a photograph session to be fitted in before the actual debate starts at about 8.30pm.
Dinner began with a filo basket of double panied brie cheese, with salad leaves and a sweet chilli sauce. This could hardly fail, and certainly didn’t. It was followed by a darne of wild salmon with chive butter sauce, sautéed vegetables and baby new potatoes, This was good, also, with moist and succulent fish.
Finally there was a whisky crème brulée served with a warm ginger sponge alongside topped by chantilly cream. The chef was David Curtis Smith, I was told, and he certainly gave us a good, classy meal. The wines were the college red and white. I had one glass of the white, and did not drink any of the port until my speech was delivered and the debate was over.