The Final Word

Desserts should be treated with disdain, says Tony Naylor. Order another starter instead – chefs will thank you

- Tony Naylor

Like the birth of a child or surviving a near-death experience, the first time you muster up the courage to order a second starter, instead of dessert, is – well, for we foodists at least – life-changing.

I vividly remember the first time I crossed that Rubicon, at the Old Bore near Halifax, a pub sadly no longer with us (note: falling pudding sales were not a factor in its closure). My request for welsh rarebit rather than panna cotta was met with surprised, murmuring satisfaction by staff. They got it. This bloke knew his own mind. He would not be fobbed off with the frivolous razzle-dazzle of pudding.

It felt liberating. A new maturity pulsed through my veins. I refuse to accept the bourgeois convention that I must order a dessert after my main – and what of it, world? Who can stop me? Well, chefs can, if they are cleaning down the kitchen and pastry is the only section still working. But generally, kitchens happily accommodate my requests for a late-night scotch egg or cheese soufflé.