DRUNKEN DEVILS ON HORSEBACK

WHEN I was a child, this is the sort of thing my parents would have eaten at cocktail parties; parties my mother would go to in her white patent boots, angora mini-dress and false eyelashes — hairpiece, too — and lips slicked in pale, shimmery colours with names such as Moist Madder Pink. It seemed ineffably glamorous — I can smell her wafting scent of face powder mixed with Guerlain’s L’Heure Bleue now as I think about it — but also inexplicable: how could anyone want to eat a prune (the devil) or oyster (an angel) wrapped in bacon? And why they were on horseback was just as baffling. Now, I know (or think I do) that ‘on horseback’ is a corruption of ‘hogsback’, to indicate the bacon. MAKES 24 ● 24 ready-to-eat stoneless dried prunes ● 90ml Armagnac ● 12 rashers American-style bacon, or 24 thin slices pancetta

1 THE day before your party, soak the prunes in the Armagnac in a covered bowl.

2 ON THE day of your party, preheat the oven to 200c/gas 6. On a board, spread out a rasher of bacon and cut in half to give 2 shorter pieces of bacon, or use a whole pancetta slice. Then take a soaked prune from your bowl and roll it up in one of the half-pieces of bacon, or a pancetta slice, securing it with a cocktail stick. Repeat this process with the remaining prunes, wrapping each one in bacon, and place them on a lined baking sheet.

3 COOK the drunken devils in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, then let them cool a little, to avoid burnt fingers and mouths, before plating them up to serve.

MAKE AHEAD TIP: Two days ahead, soak the prunes in the Armagnac. The day before, wrap in bacon and keep covered in the fridge. Allow 20 minutes at room temperature before cooking.