ASSEMBLY members may still be talking turkey as they try to get the power-sharing executive up and running again, but thoughts have also turned to Christmas dinner at Parliament Buildings.
Those not out of the country enjoying their summer holidays can now peruse the Members Dining Room Christmas Lunch Menu 2019, which has just been sent out.
Booking is essential for the subsidised feast, which includes starters of roasted duck rillettes with cranberry and mandarin confit and sourdough crispbread and wild venison terrine with juniper dust and spiced pear chutney.
For those who eschew the traditional turkey and chipolatas main course, there is braised beef steak with smoked shallot purée, creamed potato, maple syrup roasted parsnips and rich thyme jus and oven baked salmon with a gremolata crust, chive buttered Wilson’s Country potatoes and sumac beurre blanc.
The vegetarian offering is wild mushrooms, truffle & roast chestnut risotto served with a cracked black pepper butter.
Dessert, meanwhile, is a choice of Christmas pudding, mint & dark chocolate roulade, mulled wine & winter berry panna cotta with a cinnamon butter sablé or either a selection of Glastry Farm ice creams or Northern Irish cheeses with grape chutney and artisan biscuits.
The three courses can all be consumed amid oak-panelled grandeur for £21 from Monday November 25 to Monday December 23, thanks to generous taxpayer subsidies.
As well as MLAs and Stormont staff, the 36-seat Members' Dining Room, which overlooks the Stormont lawns, is open to the public on weekdays for lunch and afternoon tea.
Almost £300 million was spent subsidising the catering contract in 2016/17, with restaurant and cafe facilities remaining open despite members quitting the building en masse in January 2017 with the latest collapse of power sharing.
They have seen their salaries reduced from £49,500 to £35,888 as the impasse continues.
In June 2018 it emerged that Stormont is discarding 30 tonnes of food waste a year.
An assembly spokeswoman explained that despite the legislature being mothballed, "the building and therefore the catering outlets continue to remain fully operational for use by assembly staff, members and their staff, as well as for visiting groups and organisations".
However, East Derry MLA and former public accounts committee member John Dallat said the continued existence of "the apparatus of a fully functioning assembly when it is not delivering for the people is a farce".
"I feel sorry for the contractors who took the contract believing they would be doing so for a working assembly," he said.
"There's going to be a month of Christmas crackers and party hats while our endless problems in health, education and social services run on and on."
