When it comes to Christmas food, for us, it’s all about the small add-ons that you don’t usually buy, cook, or provide.
From party snacks and countless bottles of Prosecco, to blanket-wrapped pigs, plenty of smoked salmon, and of course bean sprouts (fried, not boiled), to endless puddings, cakes and desserts. Then there is cheese, which will undoubtedly be picked until we are full.
For the owner, this usually means going to the supermarket endlessly, over-buying potato chips and not having enough space to store them. The rest of the family could only look at the Christmas food, and under strict orders, did not dare to touch it until the big day.
Therefore, if you are going to someone else’s home for Christmas and are looking for the perfect food gift for them, want something different to wrap up and put under a tree, or want to reward yourself-we all deserve it after we finish. This year later" has been there-these are the perfect gifts for occasions where we laboriously tested and tasted.
The list consists of some of our favorite products of all time, such as our top choice rosé or our favorite luxury chocolate. At the same time, the others are seasonal hospitality from producers and chefs we know and love. From reading books to test kits, peeking from behind the Advent calendar door, and sipping coffee from handmade cups, we have placed products in the kitchen at their pace. We are always looking for delicious, well-designed products (and business models), great value for money, and things we really like to accept (and eat).
The best gifts for gourmets in 2021 are:
For bumper gift boxes, this is one of the most exciting products you can buy, and it provides a high-quality selection of products. You will not lower your expectations of Chef Tommy Banks, who is behind the Michelin-starred restaurants The Black Swan and Roots in Oldstead and York.
Food boxes can be an impressive gift for your host, or add a delicacy to your own holiday decorations, and it's very helpful.
Our favorite foods include meat sauce spread on sourdough bread, and the famous root vegetable meat pie. Other highlights include cold smoked salmon and cured meats-bresaola, coppa and Yorkshire sausages are some of the best we've had. There are many other little things, including truffles, pickled cornice, glazed ham, chutney, fudge, and alcohol that will keep you going. This is a box of carefully selected delicacies.
Delivery time is Wednesday, December 22.
When it comes to the Advent calendar, everyone can find something for them, from beauty fans to Harry Potter fans, from chocolate fanatics to wine lovers—and now hot sauce. Sous Chef collaborated with one of the most well-known hot sauce brands, Thai Flying Goose, to bring fans around the world a countdown exclusively for them. 12 days, you guessed it, there is hot sauce in every door. Each 200ml bottle has a different flavor, from original flavor to green chili, from grapefruit to tikka. Our newly discovered favorite (after the hoisin sauce) is the smoked variant.
The doors are marked with labels such as "Day One", not the date, so how often and when you decide to open them depends entirely on you and your excitement. Your turkey leftovers will definitely thank you. It will be available from the beginning of November and we expect it to be popular, so please be sure to register for the "notify me" alert on the Sous Chef website.
There are cups and then there are cups. Not all cups are the same. These incredibly beautiful works were handcrafted in Bruton, Somerset by artist Richard Pomeroy, who lives in the village. They are made of porcelain and can be safely placed in dishwashers and microwave ovens. There are 18 colors to choose from, and we like orange the most because it can instantly brighten up our morning-or choose a pair that contrasts with royal blue. If you wish, there are also matching or contrasting milk jugs and teapots.
Loving food is more than just eating-of course, this is the key. There are other interesting parts; planning, delivering recipes and hosting dinner parties. Entering Papier's collaboration with food writer and chef Skye McAlpine, he designed this gorgeous collection. Composed of a recipe diary, menu cards, and location settings, it really adds the finishing touch to the hard work of any proud owner. Based on the cover design of her 2020 recipe, the friend's table, the theme throughout is the gorgeous Venetian green and pink marble design, paying tribute to Skye's childhood when he grew up in the city.
The diary is divided into parts such as breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Fill in useful content such as score, difficulty, preparation time and related content. There are also very useful notes about the conversion, and places to try. This is a beautiful souvenir that will help organize any budding chef or enthusiastic host. You can also personalize it.
If you are going to participate in other people's important days, it is always great to show up with your own performers. Not a baker? We caught you. This beautiful (and huge) panettone will do all the conversation. As if gorgeous tins with orange and blue Dolce & Gabanna patterns are not enough, there are cakes to make. After opening the package, the room will be filled with the scent of Sicilian almonds and decorated on top of the pasta. Although this is not in line with the traditional Milanese recipe, we are willing to ignore it. Thanks to the real Sicilian baker Fiasconaro, the top makes a pleasant crunch, while the rest is springy and soft. It is huge, so you will want to bring it to the crowd to share. Just make sure you leave with that jar, if you can!
Calling us boring (as if), but these are indeed the best tea towels we have found-so many that we stocked up a few packs. They are not too thin, are considered useless after drying two plates, and they are not as brittle as cheap tea towels. Don't get us wrong, we like novel tea towels as much as the next person during the holiday season, but we also need quality for the rest of the year. These are the hard work from the Copenhagen brand Nomess, which is literally meaning-they will not mess around.
Good coffee is essential, but you don't need to go to the coffee shop every day to buy it-this ethical coffee is one of the best coffees we have tasted. Made from a blend of coffee beans from Minas Gerais, Brazil and Alto Boqueron, Colombia (fair trade), and roasted at Cafe Tate (one of the most respected roasters in the country), with sweet tomatoes and mangoes , The wonderful aroma of lime, brown sugar and chocolate. This is one of the two coffees of the brand-the other, Wakey Wakey (£8, Turtlecup.co.uk), will get you up in the morning-we really like these color combinations. The entire bag is also completely plastic-free and compostable, including stickers made of plant ink, so you can compost at home or reuse it as you like (they are suitable for plant seedlings). Choose caffeine from whole coffee beans or ground coffee, and coffee lovers in your life will thank you.
Graphic designer Luci's commercial Hand and Palm (Hand and Palm), created during the lock-in period, flourishes with bright, bold and simple prints. We like the "What to Eat for Breakfast" printout, which contains one of our favorite morning routines in confinement: Italian coffee and French toast. Any serious bruncher will also like to frame it in their kitchen. You can choose blue or green text on an orange background. When you shop, you may also find other things for yourself in Hand and Palm, from notebooks to refrigerator magnets, stickers and many other beautiful prints. We also like that all printed materials use 100% recycled paper, and the brand's packaging is plastic-free, using a compostable transparent protective cover and recyclable cardboard.
As a professional chef, he has always been a man's world for a long time. Women are home chefs, but Michelin starred chefs? They are men. Look at the Michelin list or the 50 best restaurants in the world-very few women. However, this does not represent the incredible chefs all over the world who do amazing things-and they happen to be women. Food writers Clare Finney and Liz Searbrook’s confinement project aims to showcase these women who, as the title says, redefine the British food scene. From Thomasina Miers, owner of the Wahaca chain, to Andi Oliver and Olia Hercules, they are all women who are pioneering changes in the industry. Every woman celebrated in the form of a double page, talking honestly about their experiences and where they are now, and of course! -One of their favorite recipes. This is an insightful and important book that supports the incredible talent of British female chefs-and provides an absolutely perfect gift for aspiring chefs.
If your recipient is serious about snacking, please stop here. The brand's slogan is "Life is too short for dice snacks." We tend to agree-so when we say that the brand's dry pickled cucumbers are the ultimate snack you don't know you need, trust us. This is an absolute winner, but it is not the only incredible snack of the brand-into the grilled cheese slices. Yes, you heard that right... These works sound as dirty and delicious as they sound. Both are in this ultimate snack selection box, which includes 17 packets of some of the best products from Serious Pigs, which also includes peanuts, and our favorite fennel-flavored snack salami.
Best: For cheese board
If you have not encountered these genius biscuits, you can thank us later for taking your cheese board game seriously. Specially made for slimy Brie and piping hot Camembert, these grilled slices and filled with chewy fruits, seeds and other delicious things really make your cheese sing. There is no doubt that they will be the first finished biscuits, and the water biscuits are curled up in the shadows. Our favorites are boxes of dates, hazelnuts and pumpkin seeds, but if you can’t choose, go for four packs (£14.20, Finecheese.co.uk).
Rocco does a perfect job of chocolate. For example, these real heavenly snacks, every bit in the price tag of 12 pounds, before you try it, these price tags seem to be expensive. Wrapped in a thin and hard speckled sugar shell is a small milk chocolate egg with rich salted caramel ganache-this is a perfect little luxury, any chocolate with great taste The monsters would be very grateful to be able to take it out of their socks. Prompt.
Making pasta may feel very closed, but for those of us who could not get 00 flour to make our own pasta, but want to try it, well, now we can. Sous Chef puts this very beautiful set with everything you need, so when you can't get the ingredients, you won't fall into the first obstacle again. Food writer Rachel Roddy (Rachel Roddy) has become an authority on all pasta after moving to Rome in 2005. This book was published earlier this year and contains various imaginable pasta shapes. Recipes-some you will know and a lot you will not. The set also includes 00 flour, two cans of San Marzano tomatoes, semolina, pasta and gnocchi, pasta knife and a Sous Chef drawstring bag.
If you need to use it out of the box and think on a smaller scale, this little ode to Daylesford’s own wine brand, Leoube, ticked us. It's beautiful and cute, and it goes well with the mixed bag that we decorate for the tree. You can't give it if you don't have the authentic product, you can also pack the brand's actual bottle (£18.99, Daylesford.com), or whisper an angel with the rose from the moment we show below. Using the re-embroidering method called Zardozi, each decoration takes about 5-6 hours to make and is handmade in India. It can be booked now.
One of our favorite chocolate brands has just introduced gift baskets in its products. We tried the salted caramel gift basket, which is definitely a choice that chocolate lovers like to open from under the tree. Comes with seven boxes (yes, seven boxes) of luxury candies, including truffles, crepes, chocolate bars and chocolate bars, all of which are delicious sea salt caramel flavor, and some soft candies. What is new for us is the golden chocolate drops: the delicious and sweet droplets that are golden in color and taste like caramel. As if that is not enough, you will also get a box of Skye Sea Salt Caramel Drinking Chocolates-pure joy. All this comes from the absolutely exquisite packaging created by the brand in collaboration with local artists. Warning: You may actually feel guilty for opening it because it looks perfect.
If you are worried about finding someone who has all of this, then an edible gift is your best choice. If they like food delivery on Friday nights, please entertain them with this kit. Parson's Nose, a small family-owned butcher from southwest London, is one of the best burgers we have eaten in a long time. That's because the quality of the meat is very good, it has actually fallen apart, it has so many flavors, and it is not made overseas to make up for the lack of flavor. But what really differentiates any high-end burger from the ruffian is the little extras — we're talking about pickled cucumbers, jalapeno mayonnaise and the star of the show, crispy onions. Served with gorgeous smoky chunks of pancakes, we turned it into crispy and melted cheese. It was a delicious meal and they would think about it a long time after eating it.
Ottolenghi has always been a household name, but this is the first cookbook that gives us an in-depth understanding of the chef’s own test kitchen world. Born in 2020, when most restaurants were closed, the kitchen testing team who claimed to be unsuitable brought their experiments to life and organized them into books for all of us to appreciate.
The thing about Ottolenghi's usual great recipes is that sometimes, there are many ingredients. There is no doubt that sometimes you can't find some, or you forget a certain spice and find yourself looking for energy to appear in the store again. However, this book is perfect for anyone who is passionate about cooking, they also like to choose one or two alternatives, and provide you with the skills to learn how to use all the bits and pieces in the cabinet and refrigerator. This is a method that became more useful at the beginning of the book. It groups recipes by ingredient, so you can quickly find inspiring recipes based on the rest of the content. We are going to make curry cauliflower and cheese pie next.
This is our favorite mulled wine that we have been buying for many years. Not only does it taste smoother than any other mulled wine you might buy in the supermarket, but its sleek white ceramic bottle with a flip top makes it look more luxurious as a gift. In addition, after you have enjoyed it, it is great to insert a long red candle into it to burn it.
Made from wine from the Zellertal and Palatinate regions of Germany, and mixed with traditional holiday spices, it is also vegetarian and organic. It is great if your recipient has specific dietary requirements NS. To prepare it, all they need to do is lightly simmer in a pan and serve with a slice of orange.
Best: easy-to-cook food
These beauties can never go wrong. These pies are handmade on the Scottish border using high-quality ingredients and have won 30 British Pie Awards, as well as a series of Good Taste awards. Of the 16 flavors, we tried most of them, but our top picks are pork and blue cheese (won the Best Scottish Meat Pie and Good Taste Award 2018), Moroccan lamb and vegetarian curry.
If you’re a host, you can keep them on hand during Christmas, when you’re not sure what to do, or just can’t face the rustling things from scratch at Twixmas-you can store them in In the refrigerator, and then whip them into the oven when you are ready. Each small wrapper is also compostable. There are 4, 8, 12, and 16 boxes, but this is not just a great gift, because Jarvis Pickle will donate one pie to FareShare for every four pie purchased by mail. This is A charity to help food poverty. Prices start from £18, but if you buy 12 or 16 pieces, you will get free postage.
The behemoth that needs no introduction has published another book. Although it may be small or even small, the title is full of Rayner's signature wisdom on all foods. A collection of only 40 columns-the author himself calls a deadly storage room-all about 600 words long and "succinctly pleasant", but literally, they are all immersed in cooking and food metaphors In, he also suggested that he should be a book for the entertainment of the toilet downstairs. Think of it as a pocket book with comedy tidbits, very easy to consume in batches, just like a good snack should be the same.
Our favorite part is the holiday-themed "Jing Dong" chapter, which starts with Reina’s own Christmas commandment, suggesting that we don’t combine our Christmas with Mary, Nigera, and Jamie’s seasonal episodes In comparison, he reminds us that the TV is with a lot of help. Our personal favorite? "You shouldn't serve Christmas pudding...no one likes it." Words from the heart.
This bottle of wine from West Sussex Vineyard is one of the best British fireworks. It is made in a single year and is the first style produced by Nyetimber in the 90s, and it is still strong thirty years later. Made from 100% Chardonnay grapes, but here, it is not what you expect and is much more complicated on the pallet. It is light-both in color and taste-and slightly floral and refreshing, a far cry from the overly oak style grapes that are usually closely related to Chardonnay. This is a perfect bottle for Christmas morning. It will not be too heavy. It will definitely kick off a beautiful day or open some snacks at the reception. All Nyetimber wines are also vegan.
Our other snack is these small butter, delicious cheese nut plates. Take these to a friend's cocktail party, you will be a hit, or they can make cracked stocking fillings. Made from mature cheddar cheese from St. Andrews Farmhouse in Scotland, it has an excellent deep flavor. They have a rich flavor and warm spices from peppers. They are designed to be paired with Belgian or craft beer (our favorite pairing with them), Riesling or Malbec wines, and peat whiskey. You can even recognize them from Dragon's Den, where Deborah Meaden invested wisely in this company.
Anyone who is obsessed with cooking from Vietnamese to Korean and Chinese dishes will have a slight obsession with sauces. We know that their condiment cabinet will be filled with xxx shrimp to mirin and too many kinds of soybeans, fish and oyster sauce, but in our opinion, you will never have too much. The team behind Taiwan's mini-bag restaurant chain knows this very well and has opened an online store full of food, from DIY kits to T-shirts, and most importantly the restaurant’s sauces. Each of the four bottles has a label designed by co-founder and creative director Erchen Chang. We also tried the burnt chili sauce and tiger sauce. The first is made with green chilies and ginger. It has a strong sour taste and can match almost anything. Tiger sauce is very suitable for dumplings due to the mixture of garlic, vinegar, chili and sesame oil. Each bottle is sold separately.
If your task is to bring mince pies to the Christmas reception, these from London bakeries Melrose and Morgan are the only ones you can bring. Don't just believe our words-they also won the Great Taste Award. The pie is thick, buttery, and not crispy, while the meat filling is handmade. All in all, they will set off a storm, so we recommend buying in bulk.
The website also very helpfully stated that if you buy them on Christmas Day, please do not order them before December 1st, so they will be as fresh as possible. While you are there, the bakery also offers many other delicacies, such as candied orange slices wrapped in brandy butter and dark chocolate.
Who said that pink is only suitable for summer? When surrounded by hot red wine and red wine, we are always eager to change the rhythm and are willing to drink a glass (or two) of pink things, and we know that we are not the only ones. In this festive season, we will prepare a bottle of Whispering Angel for you, you will no doubt see it on Instagram. Brewed by Sacha Lichine, which uses pioneering winemaking technology, it is a beautiful, pale and classic Provencal rose. Due to its acidity and the delicate aroma of grapefruit and apple, it will help reduce the heaviness of the Christmas diet. But if you want to match it, it helps to match smoked salmon.
In our opinion, cheese boards are never boring. But the team from the Cheese Society came up with the idea of this party game, letting you work for your kids (just a little bit). Packed in a large pre-packaged parcel, wrapped in festive green, red and ordinary brown wrapping paper, under each layer is everything you need to make a cheese board. There are eight cheeses of the right size-our favorites include the fine gorgonzola dolce, the rich creamy goat cheese buche de chevre, and an astonishing amount that we don’t usually touch, a type called the old-fashioned red fox Old Red Leicester. The last two packages contain extras-Welbeck Bakery's sourdough shortbread and a Hawkshead Seasoning Company apple, dates and sweet chutney.
If you think the fun ends here, think again. You will even get a suggested cheese party playlist, think of "Ive Gouda Get Through This" by Daniel Bedingfield. It also shows you how to cut cheese-we have realized that we have been cutting the Brie cheese by mistake. Hey, every day is school day. Christmas delivery will last until Wednesday, December 22, 2021 (including weekends).
Smeg is known for its refrigerators and toasters with a fifties look, and has recently expanded to other kitchen appliances including frying pans, casseroles and woks, all of which are designed and manufactured in Italy, with its recognizable retro look.
This one is huge and very suitable for families, or just greedy/organized people who cook for a week. It fits our recent obsession with cooking a lot of vegetable fried rice, we inevitably sway on the edge of our much smaller wok, which now pales in comparison.
Smeg's is heavy, the sides are very high, the stainless steel handles are long and well-balanced, and there are slight jagged grooves on the sides to increase grip. Even if there are many things inside, it can be operated easily and comfortably. The base is nice and wide. Although we tested it on a gas stove, it is also designed for induction, electric or ceramic cookware. In our test, the food cooked evenly and quickly, and the food did not stick to the bottom. It is also super easy to clean.
We all know that the resistance of any meat-eater’s Christmas meal is a pig wrapped in a blanket. Only reserved for this day, these little sausages wrapped in bacon are just pure decadence and considered too extravagant at any other time of the year.
We are sure that we have nothing better than Helen Browning's organic family farm in Swindon. It is famous for its high welfare pork, and all meat produced there is 100% organic certified by the Soil Association. The rest of the farm uses methods that actively regenerate the soil.
For the ultimate pig fan in the blanket (read: everyone), this little DIY kit means you can also craft your piglet. It includes two packs of organic mini sausages, two packs of organic unsmoked pork belly bacon (about 26 can be made) and a jar of organic cranberry sauce, which contains oranges and Christmas spices, which can be dipped or glazed. They are delicious, very sweet, oh so festive. If you have a small number of people at Christmas, you can use half for dinner and the other half for delicious snacks. Um.
Tommy Alstead’s food basket is very good. You will want to eat it all, not waste at all, and after careful consideration, there is no filling product that you are not interested in. This is a wonderful gift for your holiday host, or a very nice treat to yourself.
For hot sauce fans, the Sous Chef Flying Goose Advent calendar is obvious, and the Rococo Seagull Egg is the ultimate sock filling for any chocolate fan.
For the latest discounts on wine and other alcoholic beverages, please try the following links:
For more holiday gift ideas, please go to our Christmas gift section
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