ENTERTAINING : California Parties--Past and Future : THE EIGHTIES : THE ‘80s BECAME A DECADE IN WHICH LOS ANGELES CELEBRATED ITSELF.

Enormous events introduced new scents and trendy magazines. Lavish birthday parties were held for handbag shops on Rodeo Drive.

And in 1982, Trumps became the co-host of an annual party with no redeeming social value. Chefs, owners and maitre d’s from 35 restaurants got together just before the holidays for pot luck. Instead of salads and hams, each restaurant was asked to bring pate .

One of the things that made this party so special was the communal effort that went into throwing it. You know what it’s like when people bring food to a party--there’s a sudden complicity between the invitees and a certain equality--a little host creeps into the guest in each of us.

I was charmed and surprised at these first parties to discover that there was a community of people in the restaurant and wine business. (I overheard someone remark to the Mandarin’s Cecilia Chiang that if a bomb went off in Trumps that afternoon, the evolution of cuisine in California would be set back 20 years.) In Europe, chefs visit each other for lunch or dinner, chat, play soccer or petanque together. Americans never seemed to take the time to do this. I think this feeling of new-found community was shared by everyone who came.

I’m now convinced that no group of people knows how to party better than restaurant people. That is because they are so concerned with nurturing and feeding and making people feel special.

I also believe that the best parties are those where a host or hostess throws together a patchwork of people and makes them talk a lot--good conversation is imperative to a good party. (Guests should remember that they enter into a social contract when they accept an invitation. Host supplies food and drink; guest supplies sparkle and wit.)

Our party secret: Food is an ideal icebreaker. Jerry Goldstein, the party’s original host found, that if you label pates and cheeses in the same way that wines are labeled--name, type and country of origin--the food will provoke conversation. People taste and compare; they think carefully about what they are eating and choose favorites. Gently suggest to timid guests that they simply must try a certain stinky, runny mess of former goat’s milk and see how they suddenly think of marvelous topics of conversation. A soupcon of discomfort is a great catalyst for inspired chat.

In the early years, everyone brought straightforward pates made out of veal, venison, salmon, foie gras. The Mandarin offered a jellied-lamb pate with hoisin sauce that had people screaming. I made partridges in pear trees-- ballotines of squab that hung by ribbons in bonsai ornamental pear trees. It was sort of perverse, but pretty, and very Hollywood, considering that it was food.

After the first two years, the party had become too large, and we needed more food to keep the atmosphere as “fall of the Roman empire” as it had been. We thought sausages would be a good food theme. They were as unpretentious as most of our chefs and could be easily served; it didn’t matter much if they spent an extra minute on the grill. They were close to bite-size, could be held on a napkin and, best of all, their small size allowed everyone to sample all the food without exploding in public. We tented the front parking lot, lit two six-foot grills and cooked sausages made from duck and chicken and alligator and sweetbreads. We had Chinese sausages and Cajun andouilles.

The influences exerted on our food aesthetic created a bold, new cuisine. Asia, Italy, France and Latin America have not yet melded into a well-bred cuisine. Our local cooking, quirky even now, is sharp-edged and dramatic like a mountain range of relatively recent appearance. And so was our party. Happily, people still continued to bring pates --and they became more eclectic, representing our polyglot nature and our juxtaposition between Europe and Asia. We’ve been treated to Mexican pate , strong with cocoa powder and surprising in its seductiveness. Artichoke pate with carrots was brought by a restaurant that was so short-lived that I can’t even think of who they were, except for the good pate .

Restaurants come and go, but mostly they come, and the event has been growing throughout most of the ‘80s. We’re up to about 65 restaurants. Acacia, our original co-host, survived an increasingly crowded and competitive market by being gobbled up by a larger (but equally nobby) house, Chalone (our current co-host). This means there are many more wines to sample at the party. And 70-some varieties of cheese now arrive every year from Wally’s in Westwood. At the first party there were no customers (it was as if the toy shop closed, and the toys came alive), but these past few years the short list of VIP friends has grown to a few hundred.

It’s no accident that our party has become so large. My favorite parties are large but intimate--well, kind of intimate, sort of like La Coupole on the Boulevard Montparnasse. And people have come to expect invitations, even to the point of calling and insisting. It has gone from a rather private event--a smallish, friendly afternoon tasting of food and wine--to public domain, like an inaugural ball is for the prevailing political party or a post-Oscar event is for a successful agent. It marks, in a way, the growth of the restaurant world in Los Angeles.

PARTRIDGES IN PEAR TREES

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless dark chicken meat

1/2 pound fatback

1/4 pound bacon

1 tablespoon oil

1 small onion, finely diced

2 tablespoons finely minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white pepper

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1/4 cup brandy

1/4 cup Madeira or dry Sherry

1/4 cup coarsely chopped pistachios or walnuts

2 eggs

1/4 pound cooked tongue, diced

6 squabs

3 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium chicken broth

At least one day before stuffing birds, cut chicken, fatback and bacon into 1-inch pieces. Place in non-reactive bowl.

Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes or until onion is tender. Remove from heat and add to chicken.

Add salt, pepper, cloves, thyme, brandy and Madeira. Mix, cover and place in refrigerator overnight or up to 4 days.

Fit meat grinder with medium blade and grind chicken mixture twice, mixing well. Add nuts, eggs and tongue and mix well again.

Bone squabs, leaving wings and lower portion of leg intact. Stuff about a sixth of the chicken mixture into cavity of each squab. Secure openings with wood picks. Wrap each bird in double layer of cheesecloth and tie ends of cheesecloth with string. Place birds in freezer to chill 20 minutes.

Bring stock to boil in pot just large enough to hold squabs in 1 layer. Place chilled squabs in pot. Add hot water, if necessary, to cover birds. Weight squabs with plate to keep submerged. Cover pot, reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes.

Remove pan from heat, then remove squabs from liquid. Place birds on plate, allow to cool, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Strain cooking liquid and reserve for another use.

Unwrap squabs, remove wood picks and pat dry. Tie ribbons around feet and hang from bonsai pear tree. Slice to serve. Makes 6 stuffed squabs.

CHOCOLATE LAMB SAUSAGES

1 cup red wine

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 small onion, finely diced

1 teaspoon salt

4 slices bacon, diced

1 1/2 pounds lean lamb, ground

1/4 cup egg whites

Sausage casings

Combine wine, cocoa powder, cloves, cinnamon, cayenne, garlic, onion and salt in small saucepan. Cook over medium heat until wine is reduced by half, about 6 minutes.

Transfer mixture to food processor. Add bacon and process until smooth.

Transfer to mixing bowl, add lamb and mix well. Mix in egg whites.

Stuff mixture into sausage casings. Cook sausages on hot grill or under broiler 5 minutes on each side. Makes about 8 sausages.

BRIE WITH ROQUEFORT FROSTING AND WALNUTS

1 (1-pound) wheel Brie cheese, slightly chilled

1/4 pound Roquefort cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon cream cheese, at room temperature

24 walnut halves

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

Gently scrape excess white surface of Brie with back of knife. Cut Brie in half horizontally, forming two rounds. Set aside. Combine Roquefort, butter and cream cheese in mixer or food processor, blending until smooth.

Spread cut surface of bottom half of Brie with 1/4-inch layer Roquefort mixture. Place remaining half of Brie on top, cut side down. Transfer reassembled Brie to platter, and frost surface with remaining Roquefort mixture.

Place walnuts around outside of Brie and sprinkle top with parsley. Cover with plastic wrap and chill at least 6 hours. Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before serving. Makes about 20 servings.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

1/2 cup dried currants

1 cup golden sultanas

1/4 cup chopped dried apricots

1/4 cup chopped dried figs

1/2 cup chopped dried prunes

1/4 cup chopped pitted dates

1/2 cup chopped candied orange peel

2 cups Madeira

2 cups bread crumbs

1/4 cup flour

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 cup unsalted butter

5 eggs

1/2 cup molasses

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons melted butter

Hard Sauce

Brandy

Combine currants, sultanas, apricots, figs, prunes, dates, orange peel and Madeira in large bowl. Cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours or overnight.

Combine bread crumbs, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and ginger in separate large bowl. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring with wooden spoon or whisk, until foam subsides on surface and butter browns.

Remove from heat and stir into bread-crumb mixture. Add eggs, molasses and vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add marinated fruit, mixing well.

Grease 2 (1-quart) pudding molds with melted butter. Divide pudding mixture between molds and cover tightly with lids or foil.

Place molds in deep roasting pan on middle rack of oven. Fill roasting pan with hot or boiling water 3/4 way up molds. Bake at 350 degrees 3 hours.

Store pudding in molds or unmold and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Moisten puddings every few weeks with brandy.

To serve, place puddings in steamer over simmering water and steam 30 minutes or until warm. Accompany with Hard Sauce. Makes 2 puddings.

Hard Sauce

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup powdered sugar

3/4 cup brandy

In small bowl of mixer, cream butter and sugar until smooth and fluffy. Slowly add brandy 1 tablespoon at a time until incorporated. Do not refrigerate. Makes 2 cups.