Black magic; food & drink.

Byline: bryan webb

THIS will be Susan's and my sixth Christmas at Tyddyn Llan, and over the years we've enjoyed welcoming guests back to celebrate the festive season. I always feel slightly nervous cooking Christmas Day lunch, partly because we have to charge more to let us staff the place, more importantly because everyone has such high expectations.

The best way to achieve perfection is just to cook what you can do best - even if you have had a sherry or two.

Our menu will be basically the same as all previous years: canapes and a bowl of pumpkin soup, then interesting but simple starters, leaving room for the main event - turkey, goose, a few slices of roast sirloin or grilled prime fish.

It has always surprised me how many choose beef. Maybe they've had their fill of turkey - I cooked my first of the season yesterday - or have bad memories of tough goose, but good roast sirloin off an aged joint takes some beating. My sirloins come from Welsh blacks raised locally at Tyfos and Llawr Cilan farms.

Welsh black cattle are descended from pre-Norman Britain. There were two types: the North Wales strain, sturdy and stocky, and the rangier South Walian.

Over the past 90 years there has been successful merging of the two, with an emphasis on a better yield of beef.

Joe and Haydn, the high class butchers in Bala, supply me with the beef and are proud that 95% of all the beef they sell is from Welsh blacks. The beast is hung at the slaughter house for a week before butchering, hanging the front half for another week and the hind half a further week again. I insist sirloins and ribs are hung for up to four weeks, after which you have to trim them - there's waste but flavour and texture is unbeatable.

If sirloin is on your Christmas menu buy the best joint and nothing should go wrong. If there's any left, a cold slice with mustard and piccalilli goes down a treat for supper - and you'll not have to think of turkey pies or curry.

Bryan Webb is owner/chef of Tyddyn Llan, Llandrillo, near Corwen