The countdown is on. The days are running out to complete your Christmas shopping. Out of ideas? Read on for inspo on what to gift the foodie in your life and nail your food and drink shopping this Christmas. Here is Chatting Food’s guide to the best food and drink gifts for 2024.
AEONS Ancient Roots Olive Oil
Phwoar, with the hike in oil prices over the last few months, the gift of a bottle of well-sourced olive oil is pretty much like gifting gold to your average home cook these days. Keep the chef in your life in the kitchen with a bottle of this AEONS’ Ancient Roots Olive Oil. It’s been produced in heritage olive groves in Italy, grown in rich volcanic soils. This oil has exceptional flavour. It's too good for frying but ideal for salads, marinades, or just dipping bread. Lemon and truffle versions are available too.
£44.95.
Project # 173 Festive Rums
Jazz up someone’s drinks cupboard with these seasonal tipples from Project # 173 made by Atom Labs. For a festive rum, a bit of added chocolate will please most drinks fans. Project # 173 has taken a good quality base rum, and naturally flavoured it with chocolate, resulting in a rich, subtly sweet flavour profile. For the ultimate Christmas sipping, go one step further with Project # 173 Christmas Pudding Rum with notes of raisins, candied orange peel, mince pie filling, ginger and cinnamon.
£19.95
Five Farms Irish Liqueur
Tis the season, when downing Irish Crème by the bucketload is acceptable! Ditch the major brands for this frankly beautiful independent Five Farms Irish Liqueur instead. The bottle is adorable, like an old-fashioned milk bottle and there’s 10 times more whiskey inside than any mainstream brand or supermarket copycat, so win, win.
Five Farms 70cl is available at Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Master of Malt
£29.99.
Hilton Macarons
Colourful and laced with all the festive flavours from mulled wine to clementine and cardamon, these Hilton Macarons are a crowd-pleaser. The Parisian-style sweet treats are made with Italian meringue and hand-crafted in Framlingham, Suffolk. The limited edition Winter Warmers collection is available in a mixed box of 6, 12 or 18. Arrive at Christmas drinks with a box of these to increase your popularity tenfold.
Hilton Macarons gift boxes are available online from £18.
Bauli’s Panettone & Pandoro
You can’t go wrong with a Panettone or Pandoro over the festive season, whether you’re gifting your teacher or popping around to the neighbours for a pre-Crimbo sherry or two. We tried Bauli's Panettone, a dome-shaped, buttery Italian fruitcake studded with candied lemon and raisins, and their eight-pointed, star-shaped Pandoro, which has a buttery brioche-like interior and a pack of icing sugar for you to dust the cake with for a traditional finish. Get the kids to make it snow!
Bauli Pandoro Mini £3.45
Bauli Panettone £8.90
Espolòn Tequila
Nothing beats a bottle of tequila to get the party started so make yourself popular at your festive gathering, and gift the host a bottle. Extra points if you turn up with some lemons too. The Espolon Tequila range is made from 100% Blue Weber Agave and will jazz up your winter margaritas. Choose from Blanco, or if you're drinking straight up only Reposdado will do. Merry Christmas!
Espolòn Tequila Blanco - £34 from Ocado
Espolòn Tequila Reposado - £36 from Ocado
Della Vite
Rushing from party to party throughout December? Babes, you're just too popular! Grab this new Della Vite sparkling rose gift set to crash your next festive soiree. The pale pink sparkling wine is made in Valdobbiadene, Northern Italy, created by a third-generation wine-making family in collaboration with socialite family Poppy, Cara and Chloe Delavine.
£21.50
Book a Cookery Class
Le Cordon Bleu gift vouchers make the perfect present for food lovers. Visit their website and browse their medley of short courses on offer, from French artisan pastry courses to learning how to create fortified wines, plus perfecting the art of making exceptional Beef Wellington. Buy a voucher online and let the budding cook in your life choose their preferred cookery course.
In Spitalfields East London, Xi Home Dumplings Bay is running two-hour weekend dumpling-making classes. You’ll learn the history of Chinese dumplings before rolling up your sleeves to create fresh handmade steamed dumplings from scratch. Enjoy your creations at the end of the class and take away your own Xi Home apron and recipe cards.
Course prices vary:
Le Cordon Bleu London
15 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LS
Xi Home Dumplings Bay Masterclass is £49.50. You can buy a gift card online:
Xi Home Dumplings Bay, 10 Blossom St, London E1 6PL
The Beefy Boys
Hereford-born burger specialists The Beefy Boys have a range of gifts for burger lovers. Gift their heavy-duty Beefy Boys Burger Smasher (£69.99), the same as they use in their own restaurants. For the budding burger chef, The Beefy Boys Cookbook written by Beefy Boys Anthony 'Murf' Murphy is packed with recipes and know-how (£19.99). If you need a night off from the kitchen during the holidays, order their DIY burger kit. You'll get their winning sauces, burger buns, cheese, bacon and chunky Hereford beef patties, alongside a step-by-step recipe guide. Foolproof fun!
Lejay Cassis
Drink Kir Royale all festive season with a bottle of Lejay Creme De Cassis - the original blackcurrant liqueur and pioneer of the famous and delicious Kir Royale cocktail. Rich and velvety, the berries are hand-harvested every summer in Burgundy and slowly macerated in small batches and then gently pressed and mixed with French crystal sugar.
£21.95.
Old Pulteney Port
This limited-expression whisky from Old Pulteney in the Scottish Highlands is part of their Coastal Series and marries flavours for the winter season. You'll get notes of vanilla, baked apple and cinnamon as the single malt has been matured in ex-bourbon and port casks from the Douro region of Portugal giving the whisky a sweet, fruity and spicy taste.
Michelin-star chef Nuno Mendes has teamed up with the brand to create some recipes too, which you can check out on their website if you're looking for some whisky-inspired dishes for Christmas Day.
£76
For the recipes, and to buy the whisky itself, visit https://oldpulteney.com
The Tormek T-1 Morakniv 1891
Serious kitchen skills start with sharp knives. Based on the same innovative sharpening system developed for professional kitchens, the NEW Tormek T-1 Morakniv 1891 has a sleek industrial design and comes fully assembled with a powder-coated zinc body stamped with the collaboration logo, diamond grinding wheel, composite honing wheel and a solid birch handle the famous Morakniv red.
Quick, easy, clean and quiet, it precisely sharpens blades of any length and delivers a razor-sharp and durable cutting edge, ensuring the blade stays sharper for longer.
The Tormek T-1 Morakniv 1891, RRP £350
Tormek T-1 Morakniv 1891 + Morakniv1891 Utility Knife, RRP £450
Available from shop.tormek.co.uk
Features Editor, Chatting Food: Jo Aspin
Jo Aspin is a freelance writer specialising in UK restaurants, travel, food and drink. She is also a Director at hospitality PR agency Amy Williams Consultancy, based in London.
Follow Jo at:
Instagram: @welovechilli
Commentaires