What to cook for New Year 2027

A table for 6 from this menu costs about $214.08, that's $35.68 per guest at average prices (United States). The budget version for six is about $153.41: each course uses the cheaper dishes.

Salads in this menu: for four, 4; for six, 4; for eight, 5. Olivier and herring under a fur coat are always there, the rest change.

On 30 December, boil the potatoes, carrots, beetroot and eggs for the Olivier and the herring salad and keep them whole in the fridge. On the morning of the 31st, chop and assemble the salads, and put the main in the oven an hour and a half before dinner.

By Eastern tradition the table in the year of the Goat (Sheep) has no lamb or goat meat and no goat cheese. Everything else is fine; the symbol is said to favour greens, vegetables, cheese and dairy, so a cheese plate, caprese and green salads are welcome.

Olivier with tongue or Stolichny for a classic with a different taste; crab salad with apple, Nezhnost with prunes, tangerine and chicken salad, shrimp salad with red caviar. Among starters: pike-perch aspic, caviar tartlets, pork roll with prunes and a lavash roll with crab sticks.

The budget menu above: vinegret, Stolichny, sprats on rye, tomatoes with cheese, a whole chicken with oranges, country potatoes and a kefir cake. The cheapest things on a New Year table are potato and egg salads, chicken and home baking; the priciest are caviar, duck and shrimp.

The three-hour menu: the crab and apple salad and the tangerine salad take 20 minutes each, the lavash roll and the caviar eggs another 40, the chicken thighs and the potatoes bake together for an hour, and the chocolate tangerines set while the table is laid.

Kholodets, aspic, roast pork, the pork roll with prunes, the Prague cake, Bird's Milk, napoleon, tiramisu and gingerbread: they all need a night. Layered salads, herring under a fur coat and the pomegranate bracelet, also improve by morning. Cut olivier, crab salad and Stolichny on the morning of the 31st and dress them before serving.

Each menu above shows a price per person from average supermarket prices, without drinks and fruit; your store will differ. Late in December caviar, tangerines and cucumbers usually go up, so tinned and frozen goods are cheaper bought mid-month.