food&drink Telegraph23 November 2013 Love at first All you need for your Christmas table Christmas bite SHEEPSKINS: MØBELLOFTET (0047 240-6521). CHRISTMAS BISCUITS: MIKAEL FORSELIUS. VINTAGE GLASSWARE LENT BY ZIIR KAFÉ ZIIR BY LENT GLASSWARE VINTAGE FORSELIUS. MIKAEL BISCUITS: CHRISTMAS 240-6521). (0047 MØBELLOFTET SHEEPSKINS: contents EDITOR MICHELE LAVERY 6 Let the feast begin The Norwegian chef Mikael Forselius guides us through Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. DEPUTY EDITOR KATHRYN HOLLIDAY 23 The sweetest things All the chocolate you could possibly wish for. 26 Ten degrees of frosting Cooks including Rose Prince, Paul Hollywood and Nigel Slater share their 10 favourite recipes for seasonal cakes, pies and biscuits. PHOTOGRAPHER Emma Hardy ASSISTANT David Hampton 34 Be merry Hamish Anderson chooses the wine. 37 Special delivery The best of the season’s food, brought to your door. PRODUCTION ASSISTANT Kristin Svanaes 42 Hampers to pamper Boxes of delights CHEF Mikael Forselius (mikaelforselius.no) FOOD PHOTOGRAPHER Laura Hynd PROP STYLISTS Karoline Fæmundshytten and Tina Forselius at Essence Røros Thanks to Linda M Ramberg at Destination Røros (roros.no), Gunhild Sun Bellsli, Brendan Coote, the mayor (essenceroros.blogspot.no) of Røros Hans Vintervold, Anne Line Kaxrud at Innovation Norway, Sarah Dean, Jo Henning Kolstad, Robin Schellenberg at Potteriet Røros (potteriet-roros.no), Røros Husflidsutsalg (roroshandelsstand.no/index. ART DIRECTOR Gary Cochran php/medlemmer/husflidenrorosdraktstuggu), Vertshuset (vertshusetroros.no). Norwegian flies direct PHOTOGRAPHY DIRECTOR Cheryl Newman PRODUCTION EDITOR Jeremy Farr from London Gatwick to Trondheim and Oslo. Widerøe (Star Alliance) flies direct from Oslo to Røros. DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR Danielle Campbell The team stayed at Røros Hotel (roroshotell.no) and Erzscheidergården (erzscheidergaarden.no)
Cover and contents Photographs by Emma Hardy
© Telegraph Magazine 2013. Published by Telegraph Media Group Limited, 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 0DT (020-7931 2000) and printed by Polestar Sheffield. Colour reproduction by Group FMG. Not to be sold separately from The Daily Telegraph There’s a tradition that if you live on a farm, like I grew up on, you have to leave a big bowl for the man who guards the animals – he is a myth, but it’s very important to treat him well
Shot on location at Rørosrein reindeer farm (rorosrein.no). Passengers: Maya Selboe-Coote, Vilja Bellsli Reinskou, Jesper Norvik, Jacob Herud Boothman, Sigve Ødegård, Julia Veldhuis, Jens Veldhuis
Run, Rudolph, run Few places conjure the spirit of Christmas quite like Røros, a historic town in the mountains of eastern Norway. But wherever you are celebrating, you can recreate the Scandinavian magic in the company of the chef Mikael Forselius, whose recipes will carry you on a wave of indulgence from Christmas Eve to Boxing Day. Let the feast begin – and don’t be late
6 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 7 WEED.COM). CLOTHES BY UGLY KIDS (UGLYKIDS.COM) UGLY BY CLOTHES WEED.COM).
The tradition in Christmas Eve and boil slowly for 20 minutes. Carpaccio of beef with Set aside to cool. KINS AND FURS: MØBELLOFTET (0047 240 6521). CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS: SOLOPPGANGEN (SOLOPPGANGEN.NO). BLANKETS: RØROS BLANKETS: (ROROST TWEED (SOLOPPGANGEN.NO). SOLOPPGANGEN DECORATIONS: CHRISTMAS 6521). 240 (0047 MØBELLOFTET FURS: AND KINS Norway on Christmas red onion marmalade and sour Whip the sour cream until stiff. Eve is to go to church cream with horseradish Add the horseradish. Season with at 3pm, then go home, All recipes serve 4 salt and pepper. To serve, put a spoonful of the start with some ● 400g beef sirloin, trimmed marmalade on the meat, then add gløgg – warmed wine ● 2 tsp salt a dollop of the horseradish sour cream, with spice – and ● 5ml olive oil and garnish with chopped chives. ● 5ml red wine vinegar a piece of cake. ● chives, to serve Then we have dinner around 5pm for the red onion marmalade ● 2 red onions, peeled and chopped ● 20ml red wine vinegar ● 100ml orange juice ● 3 tsp sugar Hamish Anderson’s wine choice for the sour cream 2012 Pecorino Terre di ● 200ml sour cream Chieti, Abruzzo, Italy £9.99, ● 20g horseradish, finely grated Marks & Spencer Pecorino is found mostly in Abruzzo At about 8pm, just Salt the meat and wrap it in clingfilm. and a few years ago was all but extinct. as the children With a rolling pin roll it as smooth as Named not after the cheese but possible. Place it in the freezer for about supposedly because its grape bunches are getting tired, Father an hour. Take the now slightly frozen resemble a sheep’s udder (pecora: sheep), Christmas comes meat out and cut it into thin slices. Divide it has a distinct, subtle perfume that with the presents and between four dinner plates. Mix the grows in the glass. This version has more olive oil and vinegar and brush the meat. weight than many and as such will make the children perk To make the red onion marmalade, a happy partner to both the carpaccio
SHOT AT RASMUSGÅRDEN (OLD.FORTIDSMINNEFORENINGEN.NO/PROPERTIES/58/110). WOODEN TOYS: HOPPSALANTAN WOODEN TOYS: (HOPPSALANTAN.NO). REINDEER S RASMUSGÅRDENSHOT AT (OLD.FORTIDSMINNEFORENINGEN.NO/PROPERTIES/58/110). up again mix all ingredients together in a pan and the halibut (recipe overleaf).
8 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 9 Halibut served with butter sauce and braised carrots with rosemary and apple cider
● 800g halibut fillet cut in 4 steaks ● 50g unsalted butter ● 1 large shallot, minced ● 120ml fresh orange juice ● 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
Preheat the grill to medium-high. In a saucepan, melt one tablespoon of butter over a medium heat. Add the shallot and half a teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring, until softened (about three minutes). Pour in the orange juice and vinegar and bring to the boil. Cook until thick and syrupy (about five minutes). Remove from the heat. In a shallow baking pan, arrange the fish, skin-side down; sprinkle with a quarter of a teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Grill for about six minutes, until the fish is just cooked through. Transfer the fish to a platter and keep warm. Return the reserved orange-shallot mixture to a simmer over a medium heat. Gradually add the remaining butter, whisking in a little at a time until incorporated and warm (about five minutes). Pour the sauce over the fish and serve with new potatoes and the braised carrots (below). for the braised carrots ● 400g carrots, peeled and sliced ● 1 large shallot, minced ● 20g butter ● 10g fresh rosemary ● 100ml dry apple cider
Put all the ingredients in a pan and slowly cook for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and serve.
Christmas Eve dinner is the most important of the three days; it’s the one you have with your close family
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 11 Classic Norwegian caramel pudding for the caramel ● 175g sugar for the custard ● 1 litre milk ● 1 vanilla pod, split ● 6 eggs ● 115g sugar to serve ● 400ml double cream ● 20g sugar
Preheat the oven to 125C/gas mark . To make the caramel, put the sugar in a large heavy-based frying pan. Heat slowly without stirring, moving the pan backwards and forwards on the heat until the sugar melts and forms a golden caramel. Brush the insides of a 20x10cm mould with the caramel until coated. To make the custard, place the milk and vanilla pod in a large pan and bring to just below boiling point. Pour into a jug and set aside to cool. Beat the eggs in a bowl and gradually beat in the sugar. Remove the vanilla pod from the milk and stir the milk into the egg mixture. Place the mould in a roasting tin and strain the mixture through a fine sieve into the mould. Pour boiling water into the roasting tin until it comes halfway up the sides of the mould. Place the tin in the oven and cook for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the centre of the custard comes out clean. Remove the mould from the roasting tin, cool and then chill for several hours. Whip the cream and sugar. Turn the pudding out of the mould, and serve with the cream and Cape gooseberries, if you have them.
Wine choice 2008 Royak Tokaji 5 Puttonyos, Hungary £19.99, 50cl, Majestic Good Tokaji with its flavours of toffee and marmalade is always a sure match with anything that has caramel in it, and as ever with the best wines there is a gorgeous interplay between luscious sweetness and lip-smacking, palate-cleansing acidity.
Even though my family are Swedish my grandmother used to make this classic Norwegian caramel pudding when I was a small child
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 13 Christmas Day Refrigerate the salmon for three days, On Christmas morning Cured salmon with mustard turning it every 24 hours and basting it sauce and marinaded cucumber with the liquid that collects. we have porridge I make this three days in advance. Lay each piece of salmon flat on a for breakfast and we put cutting board, remove the bunch one whole almond ● 1.4kg fresh salmon fillet, centre cut – the of dill, and sprinkle the top with chopped thick part of the fish dill. With a long thin knife, slice the in the pot. Whoever gets ● 2 large bunches of dill (1 chopped for salmon thinly. the almond in their serving) Combine the mustards, sugar and bowl gets the luck ● 115g salt vinegar in a small bowl. Slowly whisk in ● 115g sugar the oil and stir in the chopped dill. Peel ● 2 tbsp white peppercorns, crushed the cucumber, cut it in half lengthways and remove the seeds, then slice it. for the mustard sauce and cucumber Mix the cucumber in the mustard sauce ● 30g mustard and serve with the cured salmon. ● 1 tsp ground dry mustard ● 3 tbsp sugar ● 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar Drink choice ● 80ml olive oil Lysholm Linie Aquavit, Norway ● 3 tbsp chopped fresh dill £28.45, The Drink Shop Christmas Day ● 1 large cucumber (thedrinkshop.com) is the day when your Aquavit comes in many versions but this Cut the salmon in half lengthways and Norwegian one has a unique, historic extended family place half the fish skin-side down in twist. It is aged in old sherry casks and come for dinner, so in a deep dish. Wash and shake dry the dill transported twice over the equator on and place it on the fish. Combine the salt, the ships of the Wilhelm Wilhemsen Norway we often sugar and crushed peppercorns in Company. It is dry, spicy and mellow with eat venison because it’s a small bowl and sprinkle it evenly over a hint of its Spanish parentage; traditionally free – you’ve shot it the piece of fish. Place the other drunk (at room temperature) with half of salmon over the dill, skin-side up. herring and cured meat, it forms an equally yourself – and it will
THANKS TO INGER GRØNÅS INGER TO THANKS Cover the dish with aluminium foil. delicious partnership with gravlax. feed all the family
14 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 15 Venison with cabbage and roast potatoes and root vegetables The cabbage needs to cook for several hours, so be prepared.
● 600g venison cut into 4 steaks ● butter
Sprinkle a tablespoon each of salt and black pepper over both sides of the venison steaks. Melt some butter in a frying pan and fry the steaks for about three minutes on each side, then wrap them in aluminium foil to rest for about 10 minutes, before serving.
for the cabbage ● 1 medium cabbage, shredded and sliced ● 5g cumin ● 6 tbsp sugar ● 5 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook the sliced cabbage for 10 minutes. Sour cream pannacotta with Take some of the cream mixture and Drain the cooked cabbage and discard blueberry coulis add the gelatine to it. Stir until combined. the water, then layer the cabbage in Add this gelatine mixture to the strained the large pan. Add the sugar, cumin and for the pannacotta cream mixture and mix well. Pour into vinegar, then simmer gently for ● 225ml cream small cups. Let it cool completely and about two hours stirring occasionally. ● 225ml sour cream refrigerate for at least four hours. Season with salt and pepper. ● 75g sugar Meanwhile make the coulis. Put all the ● 1 vanilla pod ingredients in a pan with four teaspoons of for the potatoes and root vegetables ● 1 tsp gelatine water and bring to the boil. Simmer for ● 4 medium carrots, peeled and sliced two minutes. Allow to cool until you can ● 3 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced for the blueberry coulis handle the liquid, then blend, extracting as ● 4 medium parsnips, peeled and sliced ● 190g blueberries much juice as possible. Allow to cool. ● 10g lemon thyme ● 2 tsp sugar Turn the pannacotta cups upside down ● 10g rosemary ● 1 tbsp lemon juice and serve with the blueberry coulis. ● 2 tsp sunflower oil Pour the cream and sour cream into a Preheat the oven to 175C/gas mark 4. pan. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla S’ OWNS’ Put the carrots, potatoes and parsnips pod and add to the cream mixture. in a roasting tray, sprinkle one teaspoon Bring this mixture to a boil and add the of salt and one of black pepper, the sugar. Mix well and simmer until thyme, rosemary and the sunflower oil the sugar dissolves. Remove from the over them, and shake from side to heat, strain and set aside. side to mix them up. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring from time to time to ensure even cooking.
Wine choice 2011 Château La Colombière Réserve, Fronton, France £11.25, Vine Trail (vinetrail.co.uk) Fronton is a region in the south-west of France (just north of Toulouse) that features the local négrette grape. Some can be a bit much for me but this is a fabulous version with its pure core of blackberry and blueberry cut with spice, earth and a distinct gamey character that makes it an ideal partner
SCULPTURES: TROND HAAGAAS AND ESPEN HAAGAAS ATTRAMADAL (0047 958 34 532; [email protected]). CLOTHES: UGLY KIDS AND MODEL AND KIDS UGLY [email protected]). CLOTHES: 532; 34 HAAGAAS958 HAAGAAS TROND ESPEN SCULPTURES: ATTRAMADALAND (0047 to wild animals – such as venison.
16 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 17 Boxing Day Cod brandade with chive oil Allow three days to make this.
● 400g fresh cod fillets ● 20g salt ● 1 bay leaf ● 5g lemon thyme ● onion, minced ● 2 cloves of garlic, minced ● 100ml milk ● 100g potatoes ● 40ml olive oil
for the chive oil ● 4 tbsp olive oil ● 1 tbsp chives, chopped
Salt the cod very generously. Place in a pan and cover with water. Put it in the refrigerator for two days, changing the water three or four times. Drain and rinse the cod. In a pan, add the herbs, onion and garlic to the milk and heat for five minutes. Do not let it boil. Add the cod and poach until tender (five to seven minutes). Gently remove the cod with a slotted spoon. Remove any bones and skin, and break the flesh into coarse chunks. Meanwhile peel and dice the potatoes. Cook in well-seasoned water or, better still, use the milk the fish was poached in. When the potatoes are tender, drain (reserving a couple of tablespoons of the cooking liquid) and purée, in either a ricer or a mixer using the paddle attachment. Take out one third of the potatoes and mix in the cod (at a medium speed, if using a mixer), drizzling in the olive oil and a bit of the cooking liquid. Add the rest of the potatoes SELIUS. VINTAGE GLASSWARE LENT BY ZIIR KAFÉ ZIIR BY LENT GLASSWARE VINTAGE SELIUS. gradually and keep mixing and adding liquid until it is the consistency you like. To make the chive oil, mix together the olive oil and chopped chives, season with salt and pepper. Pound with a pestle and mortar. To serve, shape the cod into an egg shape using two spoons and place on thin crackers. Serve the chive oil on the side. MØBELLOFTET BISCUITS 6521). AND CAKES: 240 (0047 MIKAEL FOR
Wine choice 2012 Finest Sauvignon Furmint, Slovenia £7.99, Tesco By Boxing Day I have generally had my fill of traditional grand bottles. I want something delicious but unchallenging, and this intriguing bottle fits the bill perfectly. Sauvignon’s instant appeal is supported by the spice and bite of furmint – a grape famous for making the sweet wine Tokaji. Refreshing,
LOCATION: VINTERFESTSPILL RØROS I (VINTERFESTSPILL.NO). SHEEPSKINS: interesting and highly drinkable.
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 19 Pork ribs slowly baked in In a saucepan combine the honey, Stewed plums with vanilla custard milk to a simmer. In a bowl whisk the egg honey, with mashed potato and vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. Bring to a yolks and the sugar together. Whisking red cabbage boil; reduce the heat and simmer for ● 600g dried plums constantly, slowly pour the hot milk into Allow plenty of time for the red cabbage. about five minutes. Drizzle the honey ● 20ml fresh lemon juice the yolk-sugar mixture. mixture over the ribs and return to the ● 100ml apple juice Return the mixture to the saucepan. for the red cabbage oven. Bake, uncovered, for 30 minutes. ● 1 cinnamon stick Over a low heat, stir constantly with ● 1kg red cabbage Meanwhile put the potatoes in ● 100g sugar a wooden spoon until the mixture ● 200g apples, peeled, cored and chopped a saucepan. Add a teaspoon of salt and thickens. Be careful not to overcook or ● 100g onions, chopped sufficient water to cover the potatoes. for the vanilla custard the eggs will scramble. The sauce is ● ¼ whole nutmeg, freshly grated Bring to the boil, reduce the heat and ● 1kg red cabbage ready when you can dip a spoon into ● ¼ level tsp ground cinnamon simmer, covered, for 15 to 20 minutes, ● 200g ap it, then draw your finger over the back ● ¼ level tsp ground cloves or until done. Warm the cream and ● 200ml milk of the spoon and leave a track that ● 3 level tbsp brown sugar butter together, either in a microwave ● 3 egg yolks is almost sauce-free. Remove from the ● 3 tbsp wine vinegar or in a pan on the stove. Drain the ● 8 tbsp sugar heat and stir in the vanilla. Allow to potatoes and put in a bowl. Add the ● ½ tbsp vanilla powder cool, then serve with the plums. for the pork cream and melted butter, and mash the ● 2kg pork spare ribs, cut into serving-size potatoes until smooth. Season to taste. In a large saucepan bring all the pieces ingredients for the plums to a boil with ● 220g honey 200ml of water, then leave to simmer for ● 3 tbsp cider vinegar about 30 minutes. Allow to cool. ● 120ml soy sauce Now make the vanilla sauce. In a small ● 3 cloves of garlic, finely minced saucepan over a medium heat, bring the for the potato My grandma used to ● 600g potatoes peeled make ribs with lots ● 4 tbsp double cream of herbs and spices and ● 2 tbsp butter ● 1 tbsp milk cook them until they were very tender. To make the red cabbage, first discard It was my favourite the tough outer leaves, cut the cabbage into quarters and remove the hard as a child stalk. Shred the rest of the cabbage finely. Put the cabbage and all the other Beer choice ingredients in a large casserole and Beavertown ‘8 Ball’ Rye IPA, £3.05 leave to cook very slowly in the Beer Merchants (beermerchants.com). oven (150C/gas mark 2) for about British beer is undergoing a startling two and a half hours, stirring a couple revival, with micro-breweries opening times during the cooking. weekly. Beavertown models itself on For the pork ribs, preheat the oven to the craft beers coming out of the US, 175C/gas mark 4. Place the ribs in a beautifully packaged and uncompromising large roasting tin and season with salt and in their depth of flavour. There is a pepper. Cover with foil and bake for one real malty intensity to this brew before hour, or until tender. Drain off all liquid a bite of citrus bitter hop kicks in, which but keep the ribs in the roasting tin. will act as a foil to the sticky pork ribs.
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 21 The sweetest things Feast your eyes on this year’s finest seasonal chocolate
Right the Christmas market, Røros
1 Large milk chocolate coins, 13cm 5 White chocolate snowman, £6, and Tiddly Penguins, £5.50 for eight, all chocolate teddy bear, £6.95, Melt diameter, £3.95 each, Liberty (liberty. 6 milk chocolate reindeer, £6, both Hotel Chocolat (hotelchocolat.com). (meltchocolates.com). 14 Milk chocolate co.uk). 2 Milk chocolate penguin, £7, Godiva (godiva-online-store.eu). 10 Mini dark chocolate tinsel tree, £4.95, fawn, £4.95, and 21 white chocolate polar The Conran Shop (conranshop.co.uk). 8 Valrhona chocolate fish and chips, Creighton’s (wearecreightons.com). bear, £5.85, both Bettys (bettys.co.uk). 3 Dark chocolate Father Christmas, £15, £16.95, Gorvett & Stone 11 Bespoke solid milk Valrhona Jivara 15 Small chocolate coins, 140g bag, £2.50, and 7 milk chocolate Father Christmas, (gorvettandstone.com). 9 Milk chocolate Lactee-chocolate Name Bar, £10, plus and 19 milk chocolate penguins with £15, both William Curley (williamcurley. Dasher the Reindeer, £7, 16 milk £8.75 for five letters, Cocomaya a soft hazelnut filling, £3.95 for seven, co.uk). 4 Milk chocolate teddy bear chocolate Tiddly Reindeers, £5.50 for (cocomaya.co.uk). 12 Milk chocolate Carluccio’s (carluccios.com). with natural colouring, £9.45, Paul Wayne eight, 17 white chocolate Tiddly Penguins, Christmas tree, £7.50, Charbonnel et 18 Milk chocolate reindeer faces, £3.95
FULL STOP FULL Gregory (paulwaynegregory.com). £5.50 for eight, and 20 dark chocolate Walker (charbonnel.co.uk). 13 Milk each, Chococo (chococo.co.uk)
8 14
4 7 12 9
13 2 6 5
3 10 1 11
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TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 23 FULL STOP FULL
1 Chocolate bars, 50g, £1.80 each, Space Hopper, milk with orange; Spice dark chocolate with orange, £85, Melt and blueberries, Paris tart tatin), £17.50, Willie’s Cacao & Chocolate Shop it Up, dark with dragon ginger), £13.99, (meltchocolates.com). 4 Chocolate bars, Cocomaya (cocomaya.co.uk). 6 Artisan (willieschocolateshop.com). 2 The Montezuma’s (montezumas.co.uk). 100g, from £5.50 per bar, Amelia Rope chocolate bars, 70g, £4.50 each, Rococo Christmas Bar Library, five 100g bars 3 Stack of 17 90g bars, with flavours (ameliarope.com). 5 Around the World, Chocolates (rococochocolates.com). (Lordy Lord, dark with cocoa nibs; including milk chocolate with natural five 70g flavoured milk-chocolate bars 7 Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh Minted, milk with crunchy peppermint; dried raspberries, milk chocolate with (Mumbai spices, Seville orange, Kingston bar, 50g, £5.95 each, Paul A Young Sea Dog, dark with lime and sea salt, Maldon sea salt, 100 per cent bar and banana and coconut, Toronto cranberry (paulayoung.co.uk)
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24 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK down, flat side uppermost, on a cake tiramisu without the Savoiardi biscuit lightness. More slowly, whisk in the board that is 5cm larger than the size of layer, and sometimes with pieces mascarpone and double cream, then the cake. of chocolate stirred through the gradually whisk in the Marsala and carry Brush the sides and the top of the cake mascarpone mixture. I have brought in a on whisking until the mixture is thick and with the warm apricot jam. cassata element, which means I add, along spreadable. Remove 250ml to a bowl Liberally dust a work surface with icing with the chocolate, some crumbled or other container, cover and put in the sugar and then roll out the marzipan to marrons glacés (although any candied or fridge; this is for the top layer, which is about 5cm larger than the surface of the dried fruits could do) and chopped not added until you serve the cake. cake. Keep moving the marzipan as you pistachios. The pomegranate seeds Crumble the marrons glacés into the big roll, checking that it is not sticking to the I tumble over the top at the end are bowl of mascarpone cream mixture, work surface. Dust the work surface with there for their beauty as well as to add followed by 100g of the chocolate chips more icing sugar as necessary. a further seasonal touch but, importantly, and 75g of the chopped pistachios, Carefully lift the marzipan over the are thought to bring luck and should and fold in. Use half of this creamy filling cake using a rolling pin. Gently level and therefore be an indispensable part of the to top the panettone layer that is smooth the top of the paste with the Christmas table. lining the cake tin. rolling pin, then ease the marzipan down If you would like to make this cake Use another third (approximately) the sides of the cake, smoothing it at the without the uncooked eggs, then simply of the panettone slices to cover the Mary Berry classic Christmas cake 140C/gas mark 1. Measure the butter, same time. If you are careful, you should omit the eggs and caster sugar. Then cream filling, again making sure there are serves 12 sugar, eggs, treacle and almonds into a be able to cover the cake with no excess whisk 50g icing sugar into the no holes for the cream to escape very large bowl and beat well (preferably marzipan to trim, but if necessary neatly mascarpone and double cream, carrying through. Dampen with another two for the cake with a free-standing electric mixer). Add trim excess marzipan from the base of on with the recipe as normal. You could tablespoons of liqueur. Spoon on the ● 175g raisins the flour and ground spice and mix the cake with a small, sharp knife. Cover add two tablespoons of Advocaat along other half of the cream mixture and ● 350g natural glacé cherries, halved, rinsed thoroughly until blended. Stir in the the cake loosely with baking parchment with the Marsala if you would like to spread it evenly. Then top with a third and thoroughly dried soaked fruit. Spoon into the prepared and leave for a few days to dry out emulate the original’s eggyness. and final layer of panettone, covering ● 500g currants cake tin and level the surface. before adding the royal icing. the cream as before, and drizzle over it ● 350g sultanas Bake in the centre of the preheated For the royal icing, whisk the egg ● 625g panettone (or pandoro) the last two tablespoons of liqueur. ● 150ml brandy or sherry, plus extra oven for 4-4½ hours, or until the cake whites in a large bowl until they become ● 6 tbsp Tuaca liqueur (or other liqueur Cover tightly with clingfilm, pressing for feeding feels firm to the touch and is a rich frothy. Mix in the sifted icing sugar a of choice) down on the top a little, and put in the ● the zest of 2 oranges golden brown. (Check after two hours, tablespoonful at a time. You can do this ● 2 large eggs, at room temperature fridge overnight or for up to two days. ● 250g butter, softened and if the cake is a perfect colour, cover with a hand-held electric whisk, but keep ● 75g caster sugar When you are ready to serve, take the ● 250g light muscovado sugar with foil.) A skewer inserted into the the speed low. ● 500g mascarpone cheese, at room cake out of the fridge, unmould it and sit ● 4 free-range eggs, at room temperature centre of the cake should come out Stir in the lemon juice and glycerine temperature it on a flat plate or cake stand, then ● 1 tbsp black treacle clean. Leave the cake to cool in the tin. and beat the icing until it is very stiff and ● 250ml double cream, at room temperature spread with the reserved mascarpone ● 75g blanched almonds, chopped When cool, pierce the cake at intervals white and stands up in peaks. ● 125ml Marsala mixture. Don’t try to lift the cake off ● 250g plain flour with a fine skewer and feed with Cover the surface of the icing tightly ● 75g marrons glacés (pieces) the base, as the panettone slices at the ● 1½ tsp mixed spice a little of the extra brandy. Wrap the with clingfilm and keep in a cool place ● 125g mini chocolate chips (or regular bottom are too delectably damp. completely cold cake in a double layer of until needed. chocolate chips or finely chopped Scatter the top – and all around the for the covering greaseproof paper and again in foil and To ice the cake, place all the icing on chocolate) cake, if wished – with the remaining ● about 3 tbsp apricot jam, warmed store in a cool place for up to three to the top of the cake. Spread evenly ● 100g shelled pistachios (chopped) chocolate chips and chopped pistachios and sieved months, feeding at intervals with more over the top and sides of the cake with ● 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds and your pomegranate ‘jewels’. These ● icing sugar brandy. (Don’t remove the lining paper a palette knife. For a snow-peak effect, sprinklings also provide beauteous ● 675g marzipan when storing as this helps to keep the use a smaller palette knife to rough up Using a serrated knife, cut the panettone camouflage for any less than aesthetically cake moist.) the icing. roughly into 1cm slices, then use uplifting edges of the springform base for the royal icing The week before you want to serve it, Leave the cake loosely covered about a third of these to line the bottom which may be visible. ● 3 free-range eggs, whites only begin covering the cake. overnight for the icing to harden a little, of a 22-23cm springform cake tin. From Nigellissima by Nigella Lawson ● 675g icing sugar, sifted For the covering, stand the cake upside then wrap or store in an airtight Tear off pieces to fit so that there are (Chatto & Windus, £26). ● 3 tsp lemon juice container in a cool place until needed. no gaps; panettone is fabulously soft © Nigella Lawson 2012 ● 1½ tsp glycerine From Mary Berry’s Christmas Collection and mouldable, so this isn’t a hard job. (Headline, £20) Drizzle two tablespoons of the Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall For the cake, place all the dried fruit into Tuaca (or other liqueur) over it so that Cherry mincemeat makes a large mixing bowl, pour over the Nigella Lawson Italian Christmas the panettone lining is dampened. five 340g jars brandy and stir in the orange zest. Cover pudding cake makes 12-14 slices It looks like a beautiful golden patchwork This recipe has everything I want in with clingfilm and leave to soak for three This recipe is my own but at the same made out of cake. a mincemeat: lots of citrus zest, a hit days, stirring daily. time a conflation of a couple of Italian Now get on with the luscious filling. of tangy tartness from dried cherries Grease and line a deep, round 23cm Christmas must-haves: the glorious, fruit- Whisk – using a free-standing electric and a generous slosh of booze. But feel tin with a double layer of greased studded panettone and crema di mixer for ease – the eggs and sugar until free to customise it to your own tastes: greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven to mascarpone, which is best described as very frothy and increased in volume and use chopped dried apricots and/or Ten degrees of frosting It may be icy cold outside but it’s baking hot in the kitchen, as top cooks share their 10 favourite recipes for seasonal cakes, pies and biscuits. Illustrations by Ryo Takemasa
Traditional Christmas treats from other countries ring the changes on our own national favourites. Model: Vilja Bellsli Reinskou
26 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 27 prunes instead of raisins and/or currants, perhaps; add candied peel if you like it; and feel free to leave out the nuts.
● 500g cooking apples (or use half cooking apples, half eating apples) ● 200g dried cherries (or dried cranberries) ● 350g raisins ● 200g currants ● the finely grated zest and juice of 2 oranges ● the finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons ● 1 tbsp ground mixed spice ● 150g vegetarian suet ● 300g light muscovado sugar ● 100g walnuts, roughly chopped ● 100ml brandy, rum, Calvados or cider brandy
Peel, core and chop the cooking apples (neatly dice the eating apples, if using) and place in a large bowl. Add all the other ingredients, except the alcohol, and mix together well. Cover and leave to stand overnight. Preheat the oven to 140C/gas mark 1. Put the mincemeat in a large roasting dish, cover with foil and bake for two hours, stirring thoroughly once, halfway to glaze the pastry before baking) icing, but you can both fill and top it with until stiff but not dry. Gently fold a through. Leave to cool completely, ● about 4 tbsp cold milk (or water) the chocolate icing if you like, doubling up spoonful of egg whites into the chocolate stirring regularly to help amalgamate the the quantities. mixture to lighten it, then carefully suet as it cools. Put the flour, icing sugar and a pinch of fold in the remaining whites with a large Sterilise your jars by washing them salt in a food processor and blitz briefly ● vegetable oil for oiling metal spoon (use a gentle action thoroughly in hot, soapy water, rinsing to combine. Add the butter and blitz until ● 150g caster sugar and avoid overmixing). Pour the mixture the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. ● 6 large eggs, separated gently into the prepared tin. (Or you can rub the butter into the ● 250g good quality dark chocolate, broken Bake for 12-14 minutes (no longer), flour/icing sugar in a bowl, using your into small pieces until the sponge is risen and just firm to fingertips.) Add the egg yolk and just ● 4 tbsp cold water the touch. Place the tin on a wire rack enough milk (or water) to bring the and leave to cool for at least two hours. mixture together into large clumps. Tip for the raspberry cream filling Lay a sheet of greaseproof paper on to a lightly floured surface and knead ● 400ml double cream on a board. Once the sponge is cold, with lightly into a ball. Flatten into a disc, wrap ● 250g raspberries one bold movement, turn it out on to in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes before ● a little Drambuie (optional) the paper and trim off any scraggy edges. using to make the mince pies. For the raspberry cream filling, whip Bake at 200C/gas mark 6 for 15-20 for the chocolate buttercream the cream until it holds soft peaks. Spread minutes, until golden. ● 125g unsalted butter, softened the inverted sponge with the whipped ● 225g icing sugar, plus extra for dusting cream, scatter over the raspberries and well, then putting them upside down on a • Use to stuff the cavity of cored eating ● 25g unsweetened cocoa powder sprinkle with a little Drambuie if you like. tray in a low oven (at 120C/gas mark ½) apples, bake at 180C/gas mark 4 for ● 1½ tbsp milk Roll up from a long side towards you, to dry for 20 minutes. Remove from the 30 minutes or until tender and serve with using paper to roll; don’t worry about the oven and leave to cool. custard or ice cream. You will need a 23x33cm swiss-roll tin. cracks. Transfer to a flat serving dish. When the mincemeat is cold, stir in • Spread a generous spoonful over half Heat your oven to 220C/gas mark 7. To make the chocolate buttercream, the alcohol, then spoon into the a freshly cooked pancake, fold in half Line the tin with greaseproof paper and beat the butter until soft. Sift the icing sterilised jars. Seal and store in a cool, and then in half again. Serve with yogurt brush the paper lightly with oil. sugar and cocoa together over the dry place for up to two months. or crème fraîche. Using a hand-held electric whisk, whisk mixture, add the milk and mix to a soft • Warm a few spoonfuls of mincemeat the caster sugar and egg yolks together icing. Carefully spread the icing over Using your mincemeat in a small pan until bubbling, then take in a large bowl until creamy. Put the the cake and mark decoratively with the There are so many possibilities for this off the heat and stir in an extra slug of chocolate and the water into a heatproof prongs of a fork. Chill until needed. lovely preserve, and you’ll have enough brandy or rum. Serve over vanilla or bowl set over a pan of gently simmering Sift some icing sugar over the log just to explore all of the following. chocolate ice cream – or a scoop of each. water and leave until melted. Cool slightly, before serving. Finish with some From River Cottage Fruit Every Day! then fold into the whisked mixture. festive decorations if you like. • Make mince pies in a bun tin tray, using by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl From How To Bake by Paul Hollywood sweet shortcrust pastry. (Bloomsbury, £25) (Bloomsbury, £20)
for the pastry Paul Hollywood Bûche de Noël Fiona Cairns ● 300g plain flour serves 10-12 Five Christmas shortbreads ● 50g icing sugar I have filled this decadent Christmas log Take one simple, delicious, buttery ● 175g cold butter, cut into small dice with whipped cream and berries and shortbread recipe and transform it very
HUSKY SLEDGING RIDES: KETIL REITAN, ALASKAN HUSKY TOURS (HUSKYTOUR.NO) TOURS HUSKY ALASKAN REITAN, KETIL RIDES: SLEDGING HUSKY ● 1 free-range egg yolk (keep the egg white topped it with a chocolate buttercream easily into a whole array of flavours
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 29 and shapes… Use your imagination to about which everyone says, ‘It’s very rich,’ create your own flavours and shapes – before going on to third helpings. the possibilities are endless. Packed into little boxes or bags they make a lovely ● 500g sweetened chestnut purée gift and, in my experience, will always be ● 175g soft unsalted butter very gratefully received. ● 300g dark chocolate (minimum 70 per cent The uncooked shortbread dough cocoa solids) freezes brilliantly so you can make and ● 3 tbsp dark rum cut them out weeks ahead, lay them between sheets of baking parchment in to serve a freezer container, and freeze; defrost ● crème fraîche and bake freshly as required. All the ● crystallised violets baked shortbreads do store in an airtight tin for a week or so (except for the Beat the purée in a bowl until it’s smooth, glazed clementine and cardamom rounds, and then add the butter, beating again to as they will go soft after a day or two). make a well-blended mixture. But for all shortbreads, just cooled Melt the chocolate and let it cool and straight out of the oven is when slightly, before adding it to the chestnut they are at their very best. and butter in the bowl. Beat in the rum, The exact quantities and the baking and spoon the chocolate mixture into times will of course vary slightly, a 23x10cm loaf tin, lined with clingfilm, depending on the size and thickness in two batches, making sure the first layer of the shortbreads. reaches the corners and sides of the bottom of the tin before you smooth Classic shortbread makes about 20 over the rest. Wrap the overhanging clingfilm over the cake so that it is ● 125g salted butter, softened, in pieces completely covered, and put it in the ● 50g golden caster sugar, plus more to fridge to set for at least four hours, but sprinkle (sprinkle only the classic a day or so in advance if you want. shortbread and the cardamom rounds) Don’t take the loaf tin out of the fridge ● 125g plain flour, plus more to dust until you want to eat the cake, when you ● 60g cornflour just unmould it, cut it into thin slices and serve with crème fraîche or sour cream, Line a baking tray with baking parchment. sprinkled with the violets. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Cranberry coconut snowballs Glazed clementine and From Nigella Bites by Nigella Lawson (Chatto Place the butter and sugar in the bowl Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract cardamom rounds & Windus, £20) © Nigella Lawson 2001 of a food mixer (or use a bowl and a when creaming the butter and Add half a teaspoon of freshly ground hand-held electric whisk). Cream the sugar. With the flour, add 30g dried cardamom with the flour. Using a 4.5cm Rose Prince Christmas bread butter and sugar, then gradually sift in the cranberries, roughly chopped. Roll into cutter, stamp out 20 rounds. Chill as makes 1.5kg, enough for 10 flour and cornflour, mixing as you do, 20 equal-sized balls. Chill and bake before. When the shortbreads are on Serve this loaf warm for tea just until everything is blended. Do as before. Melt 200g of white chocolate. the tray, top each with a very thin slice of not over-mix. Wrap the dough in Hold each ball on a fork and spoon clementine, dried very well on kitchen ● 540g pasta flour (Italian ‘00’) flour clingfilm and chill for 20-30 minutes, to the chocolate over, then set the balls paper. Bake for 20-22 minutes. Sprinkle ● 7g fast-action dried yeast make it easier to handle. on a wire rack with baking parchment over 2-3 tablespoons of caster sugar ● 8g salt On a lightly floured worktop, roll the underneath. Sprinkle with 60g of as soon as they come out of the oven, ● 20g melted butter dough out to about 5mm thick and, using desiccated coconut. and leave to cool. Remove the baking ● 150ml lukewarm whole milk a 4.5cm round fluted cutter, stamp out parchment from under the shortbreads. ● 200ml lukewarm water the shortbreads as closely together as Walnut and cinnamon squares Using a blowtorch, glaze each clementine ● 200g butter, cut into 1cm dice you can. Gather the scraps and re-roll Lightly roast 30g of walnuts in the oven slice. The star shape of the cut them. (The fewer times you roll the for five minutes. Cool, finely chop and clementine will be highlighted. These for the filling dough the better, as rolling will toughen add with the flour and one teaspoon of are best eaten within two days, as ● 150g marzipan, rolled into 2cm balls it.) Lay the shortbreads on the prepared ground cinnamon. Cut into 4.5cm they will soften. ● 12 soft Smyrna figs, hard stalk removed, baking tray and chill for 20-30 minutes squares. Prick each three or four times From Seasonal Baking by Fiona Cairns chopped into 1cm pieces (so they will hold their shapes better). with a fork. Chill and bake as before. (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £25) ● 1 tbsp brandy Bake the shortbreads in the preheated ● 100g dried cherries oven for 15-20 minutes. Nigella Lawson ● 100g flaked almonds Sprinkle with caster sugar and leave Chocolate chestnut refrigerator ● 100g soft dark brown sugar to cool on the tray. cake makes 10-12 slices ● 1 tsp cinnamon This is one of my maternal grandmother’s ● ½ tsp nutmeg Vanilla Christmas trees recipes. I’ve changed it a bit, not least ● ½ tsp allspice Add one teaspoon of vanilla extract substituting dark rum for her juice and (or the seeds from one-third of a vanilla zest of an orange and a slug or two of to finish pod) when creaming the butter and Grand Marnier. It’s not that I didn’t like ● melted butter sugar. Cut out 7cm Christmas trees with her version but it was a bit too much like ● sifted icing sugar a cutter and press six or seven a homespun Terry’s Chocolate Orange multicoloured dragées (for baubles) for comfort. You do as you please. It’s Put the flour, yeast, salt, melted butter, on to each tree. Chill and bake as for incredibly easy to make, and dangerously milk and water into a bowl or table-top the classic shortbread recipe. compelling to eat, one of those puddings mixer and mix until you have a smooth
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 31 dough. Knead on the worktop for more special; feel free to play around five minutes; don’t add flour – the dough with flavours here – you could add a little should be sticky. Put it back in the stem ginger to the mix if you prefer. bowl, cover with clingfilm and leave to rise for two hours. ● 3 oranges Meanwhile loosely mix together all the ● 350g caster sugar ingredients for the filling. ● 1 star anise Dust the worktop with plenty of flour. ● ½ vanilla pod Punch all the air out of the dough and ● 6 cardamom pods, bruised put it on the worktop. Use floured hands ● 1 cinnamon stick to stretch it to a large, 40x30cm ● ½ tsp pink peppercorns rectangle. Dot one third of the butter all ● 200g dark chocolate, chopped over the surface. Fold it in three like a ● finely chopped pistachios/edible gold letter – dust it with flour and make sure leaf (optional) it does not stick to the worktop. Gently roll the dough again, and dot with Take a small, sharp kitchen knife and cut another third of the butter. Fold and roll through the skin of each orange; you as before. Repeat a final time with the want to just cut through to the flesh and remaining butter. Leave to rest for 10 mark each orange into quarters. minutes then use your hands to stretch it of them. Beat the egg whites until they are you roll up the roulade. If the surface Carefully peel the skin away from the to a 40x30cm rectangle again. Scatter all thick and capable of standing in a soft cracks, then all to the good. Dust with orange in neat quarters and slice into the filling over the surface and brush one peak, then fold the juice and zest into the icing sugar and cut into thick slices, with strips 1cm wide. Save the orange flesh short edge with water. Roll from the egg-yolk and sugar mixture, followed by the remaining passion fruit juice and for use in another recipe or simply eat as opposite short edge, so you have a Swiss- the sifted flour and the egg whites. Add seeds squeezed over each slice. it is and boost your vitamin C intake. roll effect. The wet edge will seal the join. the egg whites slowly, firmly but gently, so Place the sliced peels in a saucepan, Preheat the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. the air is not knocked out of them as you Rose Carrarini Gingerbread cover with cold water and bring to Place the bread on a baking tray lined mix them in. It is crucial not to over-mix. biscuits makes 15-25 the boil. Simmer for two minutes and with baking parchment. Dust with flour Scoop the mixture into the lined baking These are very popular ginger biscuits as then drain. Repeat this process twice so the surface stays soft. Leave to prove tin, smoothing it gently out to the edges. they are not too sweet. At Christmas we more (the blanching softens the orange for 45 minutes in a warm, draught-free Bake for about 10 minutes, until the decorate them with lines of white icing. skin and removes any lingering spot. When the loaf has risen and is top is very lightly coloured and it feels bitterness), then drain the peels and set almost twice the size, bake for 30-40 softly set. Leave the sponge to cool for ● 125g unsalted butter, softened, plus extra aside while you prepare the syrup. minutes, until the loaf is golden and feels a few minutes. for greasing Tip the sugar into a heavy-bottomed light. Remove from the oven and brush Put a piece of greaseproof paper on ● 90g brown sugar pan and add 350ml water. Pop the star with lots of melted butter until the a work surface, cover lightly with caster ● 3 tbsp molasses anise, vanilla and cardamom pods, surface is glossy. Allow to cool a little sugar, then turn the roulade out on to it. ● 1 egg, beaten cinnamon stick and peppercorns into the more, then dust with icing sugar. The cake should be crust side down. ● 370g plain flour, sifted pan and place over a medium heat to I find this easiest to do it you are fairly ● 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda gently dissolve the sugar, stirring from Nigel Slater Passion-fruit roulade forthright about it, just tipping the roulade ● ½ tsp salt time to time. Add the peels to the pan serves 10 out of its tin in one swift movement. ● 1 tbsp ground ginger and boil slowly and steadily for about 40 Carefully peel away the paper and cover ● 1 tsp ground cinnamon minutes, stirring occasionally until the ● 6 large eggs the roulade with a clean, moistened tea ● 1 tsp ground mixed spice peels become soft and translucent and ● 100g caster sugar towel. It will be fine like this for an hour or almost all of the syrup has been ● 2 lemons two (I have even left them overnight and Beat the butter with the sugar and absorbed. Keep a close eye on the pan ● 2 heaped tbsp plain flour they have come to no harm). molasses until light and well mixed. Add for the last 10 minutes as the syrup ● icing sugar for dusting When you are ready to roll the cake, the egg, then fold in the flour and other becomes very thick and can easily burn. remove the towel and spread the lemon dry ingredients, sifted together. The Using tongs, remove the peels from for the filling or orange curd over the surface, then mixture should come together easily. If it the pan one at a time, and lay on a sheet ● 350g lemon or orange curd whip the cream until it will stand in soft is too wet, add a little more flour; if it is of baking parchment in a single layer, ● 280-300ml double or whipping cream peaks, and spread it over the curd. Cut too dry, add more egg. Put the dough in leaving space between each piece. Leave ● 12 passion fruits, ripe and wrinkled eight of the passion fruits in half and the fridge for 30 minutes to chill. Preheat the orangettes on the paper to dry ● caster sugar, to finish spread the juice and seeds over the cream. the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Butter overnight. Once they are candied and Now take one short end of the a baking tray and line it with parchment no longer sticky, store in an airtight box You will need to use a baking tray greaseproof paper and use it to help paper. Roll out the dough to about 5mm between layers of waxed paper. measuring approximately 30x30cm, thick. Cut into your desired shapes and Melt the chocolate in a heatproof bowl with shallow sides. place on the prepared tray. Bake for set over a pan of barely simmering water, Set the oven at 200C/gas mark 6. 10-15 minutes, until slightly firm. Cool. making sure the bowl doesn’t touch the Line the baking tray with a piece water. Stir until smooth, remove from of baking parchment, making sure it Annie Rigg Orangettes makes 50-60 the heat and cool slightly. Dip one end comes up at the sides. I always think of orangettes as ‘man of each orangette into the chocolate and Separate the eggs, putting the yolks chocolates’ – partly due to the fact that leave to dry on baking parchment. Once into a food mixer and the whites into they are a particular favourite of my set, add a tickle of edible gold leaf and a bowl large enough in which to beat stepfather, and his Christmas stocking is serve with the pistachios, if you so wish. them. Add the sugar to the yolks and incomplete without a package of these Orangettes, either coated or not, whisk until thick, pale and creamy. tucked in among the brightly coloured will keep in an airtight box or jar out of Grate the zest from both lemons, taking socks and a good book. These candied direct sunlight for two to three weeks. care not to include the bitter white pith orange peels are tickled with a hint of From Sweet Things by Annie Rigg underneath, and squeeze the juice of one spice in the syrup, making them a little (Kyle Books, £16.99)
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 33 Good soave is one of Italy’s great If you told me this was Be merry white wines; sadly they are far a vintage port costing outweighed by the awful ones. Inama is From fizzy to sticky, Hamish Anderson has all one of the few to aim high. Made from three times as much the wines you’ll need this Christmas the garganega grape it has the delicate I wouldn’t be surprised perfume of a spring meadow and a satisfying nutty, herbal taste that is very much savoury rather than fruity. 2007 Savennières ‘Clos de Saint Yves’ Baumard, Loire Valley, France £16.99, Hawkshead Wines (hawksheadwines.co.uk) Savennières is a small region in the This is a brilliant, refined wine with Loire Valley, next to Angers, and a core of dark cherry fruit, around is where the chenin blanc grape which dance an array of flavours makes some of its most profound such as allspice. Drink it now or wines. Honey, ripe pears and a waxy cellar for another decade. quality lead you towards thinking this is a rich, heavy wine, before a Sweet wines cooling blast of acidity and lime juice Marsala Superiore Dolce Five refreshes. I’d decant this and let it Year Old NV Martinez, Sicily, Italy take its place next to the turkey. £6.49 for 37.5cl, M&S While other fortified wines undergo Red wines a renaissance, Marsala remains in the 2012 Syrah Domaine de doldrums, going straight into the cooking Montval, Pays du Gard, France pot. A waste, because this is a superlative £6.99 (when buying two), Majestic glass of coffee, dried figs, toffee and This stood out in a line-up of technically citrus. It will take both the Christmas pud correct but instantly forgettable sub-£8 and a hard cheese board in its stride. reds. Although grown further south 2008 Sandeman LBV, Douro Valley, it has the ring of a northern Rhône syrah Portugal £15.99, Waitrose like Crozes-Hermitage, with its wild, LBV (late-bottled vintage) ports are spicy perfume and mid-weight, defined among the world’s great wine deals. black fruit. Delightful and pretty, If you were to tell me this was a true it is a late contender for best-value vintage port costing three times as much red of the year. I wouldn’t be surprised. It’s big, 2010 Finest Bolgheri, Tuscany, concentrated and full of ripe plum and Sparkling wines and fruity. This provides a whole lot more Italy £12, Tesco chocolate. Decant, and buy extra to Finest Pignoletto NV, Emilia- – berries (raspberry and redcurrant) Bolgheri is a region known for its stick away for five years. Romagna, Italy £8.99, Tesco supply charm, but it’s the toasty, creamy glamorous (ie expensive) reds made La Bota de Palo Cortado (No 34) I had never heard of pignoletto before underbelly that adds gravitas. from Bordeaux grape varieties. This Equipo Navazos, Spain £48.50, tasting this wine (grown in the hills 1999 Billecart-Salmon Cuvée features cabernet sauvignon, merlot and The Sampler (thesampler.co.uk) south-west of Bologna), but with most Nicolas François, Champagne, cabernet franc and could be the best- One of the most astonishing wines decent prosecco now more than £10 France £78, Berry Bros & Rudd value example I’ve had. Juicy blackcurrants I have drunk for some time. Navazos a bottle it may well become my party fizz (bbr.com) are cut with leather and dried herbs – specialises in small parcels (here 3,000 of choice. Soft and floral, it possesses Billecart eschews the commercially ideal with traditional roast beef. bottles) of top-grade sherry released as that most crucial of attributes for an driven norm and releases its vintage 2010 Yabby Lake Pinot Noir one-off bottlings (this being the 34th). everyday sparkler: supreme drinkability. when it is ready to drink, rather than in Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Bewilderingly complex, it is one of Jansz Rosé NV, Tasmania, chronological order – hence this 1999 Australia £34, Swig (swig.co.uk) those strange wines that smell sweet Australia £15.25, Oddbins coming after the 2000. A lovely mellow Yabby Lake has just won the equivalent but are bone-dry, with a list of flavours One of many highlights of a recent tour to colour, it treads the fine line between the of the Australian wine Oscars (the Jimmy that goes on and on: orange peel, Australia was Tasmanian fizz; it competes flavours of old Champagne (warm bread Watson trophy) with a single-estate brown sugar, cigar and mint to pin down with the world’s best. Most rosé at this and nuts) and fresh elegance (citrus zest pinot noir, the first time in the award’s a few. Serve cool and finish within price tries to be little more than bubbly and acidity) that defines Billecart. 51-year history pinot has triumphed. 10 days (no hardship).
White wines 2012 Eclipse Riesling Cono Sur, Bío Bío, Chile £7.99, M&S Riesling is a necessity over the festive period; it has the ability to revive a jaded palate like nothing else. Bío Bío is a cool region in the south of Chile, ideal for the variety. This is a fruity easygoing example with lemon and flowers. Ideal aperitif material, it also likes Asian spices. 2012 Soave Classico Inama, Veneto, Italy £12.99 (when
FULL STOP FULL buying two), Majestic
34 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK Rose Prince takes the pressure o$ the Christmas food shop with her selection of the best seasonal o$erings that can be delivered to your door. Illustrations by Stuart Kolakovic
free-range bronze, serves the now popular three-bird feast. One of their larger 10-12 and costs £79. roast – a boned pheasant inside ducks, which can be pre- a boned chicken inside a boned ordered for Christmas, weighs Goodman’s Geese (01299- turkey, with various stu#ngs 3.5kg (serves 6-8) and costs 896272; goodmansgeese.co.uk). between each bird (£18.35/kg). £25. Boned and rolled duck The Goodmans have been The result is an easy-to-cook roasts, duck liver parfait and rearing geese, free range, on roast with multi-layered "avours, duck fat are also available. their Worcestershire farm for and one that is simple to carve. more than 50 years. An additive- The Symington family are on Franklin’s of Thorncote free diet and access to pasture hand to o$er useful advice on (01767-627644; franklinsfarm. delivers roast goose that is both cooking and portions – a very co.uk). A delightful, small-scale rich and lean, with a lovely crisp personal service. poultry and game specialist in skin. Their website gives wise Bedfordshire, whose free-range advice and recipes for novice Bakewell Ducks (01299- geese, ducks, turkeys and goose cooks. Turkeys and 250206; bakewellducks.com). chickens reveal their low-stress, Aberdeen Angus beef are also Debbie and James Bakewell are slow growth and natural diet Poultry and game more than 40,000 in a free- available. A 5kg goose, which third-generation duck farmers when you taste the meat. The Copas (01628-499980; range system, slow-rearing the feeds six, costs £69.50; a 5kg who have been rearing birds on birds are hung, non-eviscerated, copasturkeys.co.uk). The Copas birds, feeding them a natural bronze turkey costs £69.80. their farm near Kidderminster for at least a week to develop family have lived in Cookham, diet. The result with both the since 1937. They produce the "avour. Three-bird roasts, Berkshire, since 1698 but only bronze and white turkeys is Seldom Seen Farm (0116- Barbary ducks, a slow-growing Gloucester Old Spot pork and began farming turkeys in 1957. joyfully juicy and !ne "avoured. 259 6626; seldomseenfarm.co. breed with darker, full-"avoured Greensand Ridge beef are also That year they sold 153 turkeys Each comes in a neat box with uk). Specialists in geese and meat, good with roasted apples available. A 5.5kg free-range but now the family produce cooking instructions. A 5-5.99kg turkeys, and also pioneers of for an alternative Christmas bronze turkey costs £64.58.
Meat (beef, pork, lamb) scored ready to make the best The Blackface Meat crackling. Free-range turkey Company (01387-730326; (from £40), French-trimmed blackface.co.uk). The Weatherall beef rib roasts and game birds brothers have more than a are also available. decade of experience farming the challenging hills of Dumfries Waitrose (waitrose.com). and Galloway. Their slow-reared This year the speciality on the Galloway beef, Blackface breed service counter (so not pre- lamb and mutton are packed) is Hereford beef, all of exceptional; their animals’ diet it dry-aged for 30 days (from of wild grasses and herbs is £18.99/kg) to develop the taste evident in the meat. They are and tenderise the texture. The also game specialists, delivering chain has recently been beautifully dressed, oven-ready commended for reintroducing largest being in Penrith, Always specialist in salt-marsh six weeks. Choose from meat birds, venison and pie mixes all beef marrow bones to Cumbria, which sells a large lamb and mutton from boxes and festive roasting joints over the UK. Try the Iron Age supermarket shelves. For range of fresh meat sourced Wales and the Somerset Levels, (minimum order £35). pork whose layer of natural fat Christmas roast a joint of beef from local farms. Venison is Andrew Moore is now makes crackling like honeycomb with marrow bones on the side. a speciality (£18 for a haunch producing the very interesting Elwy Valley (01745-813552; (mixed boxes from £38). Scoop out the marrow and approx 1kg), but also the local Luing beef. This is a cross elwyvalleylamb.co.uk). Daphne spread on sourdough toast with lamb from the fells and naturally between the furry Highland Tilley rears her lambs on hills Marks & Spencer fresh parsley, and try it with reared beef. You can buy online cow and a Highland Shorthorn more than 1,000 feet up, not far (marksandspencer.com). M&S the beef in place of Yorkshire but visitors to the shop will and yields meat with quite from the Snowdonia mountains. is taking a step back this year pudding. You may be converted. !nd a wealth of other foods extraordinary depth of "avour. This is lamb with an almost wild with a range of rare, traditional that cover Christmas. Grazed only on wild ‘turbary’ taste, bred from a cross Gloucester Old Spot pork. Cranstons (01768-868680; pasture on the Blackdown Hills, between a Beulah Hill and Blue Large roasts are available to cranstons.net). There is more Thoroughly Wild Meat managed by English Nature, the Faced Leicester sheep. Tilley order for Christmas, neatly than one branch of this family- (01963-824788; beef from the animals is then also produces great Welsh Black butchered and with the fat run butchery and food hall, the thoroughlywildmeat.co.uk). matured for a lengthy four to beef. Prices on request.
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 37 Cheese you can build a cheeseboard d’Or (from £11.95), Selles-sur- cheese. Ian Mellis opened his "rst Hamish Johnston (020-7738 that will see you all through Cher (from £4.85) – all of these shop in Edinburgh, determined 0741; hamishjohnston.com). A Christmas. It also sells fruit and more have been identi"ed to sell cheese that had been so small cheese shop in Northcote cheeses, British rye crispbreads by the expert Bath-based cheese skilfully matured it would turn Road, London SW11, with a and even beautifully crafted olive shop and online shop as ideal anyone away from bland well-edited range of British and wood cheese boards. Christmas cheeses. supermarket cheeses. Six shops continental cheeses, all kept in on, he seems to have won the perfect condition. Sta! will guide Fine Cheese Co (01225- IJ Mellis (0131-447 8889; argument. Scottish cheeses are you, o!ering a taste of something 448748; "necheese.co.uk). mellischeese.co.uk). With several a speciality, of course; look out traditional, such as Cropwell Richard III wensleydale (from branches throughout Scotland, for those from the delightful Bishop stilton (£19.30/kg) or £9.80), Colston Bassett stilton IJ Mellis is the region’s most Loch Arthur creamery, such as new, such as St Jude (£6.25), so (from £12.80), Vacherin Mont experienced provider of artisan the Cri!el (£3.16/100g).
Larder green packaging as recognisable Valvona & Crolla (0131-556 as a Union Jack. Fortnum’s covers 6066; valvonacrolla.co.uk). An everything at Christmas. This exemplary Edinburgh deli that year there’s a Christmas pudding can be relied upon to "ll the with wild hedgerow ingredients larder with charcuterie, cheeses, (£40), a banquet terrine "lled pickles and pots of delicacies with layer upon pretty layer of you and your guests can graze venison, cranberries, chicken- on through the Christmas days. liver parfait, pistachios, wild boar From well-stu!ed hampers and tru#es (£45); a "ve-bone (from £25) to whisky (single rib roast of Himalayan salt-aged malts from £29.95) to amaretti beef (£140) and masses more. biscuits (£1.99), this is a one- You can order online, but a tour stop store-cupboard "ller full of of the shop is always a joy. rarities and favourites alike. exciting larder section: tru#e Forman & Field (020-3601 serves 4), and even a replica Marks & Spencer honeys (from £3.99), mostarda 5464; formanand"eld.com). Deli of Nobu’s famous black cod in Fortnum & Mason (marksandspencer.com). di frutta (from £3.49), Spanish experts, who can deliver fresh miso sauce (£17.95, serves 2). (0845-300 1707; After years of only doing ‘own rice (from £1.99), torta game pies (from £13.95), pork Marmalade-glazed hams from fortnumandmason.com). The brand’, M&S now displays serenissima (layers of wafer and pies (from £9.95, serves 2-4), Alderton (from £52.50) will suit wicker hampers are a Christmas a wide range of other good chocolate) (£6.99) and zinging homemade Scotch eggs (£6.95 the bigger parties, lobster the institution, the familiar pale international names in its sauces for all manner of snacks. for two), coulibiac (£16.95, smaller ones (£29.95, serves 2).
‘The works’ Ottolenghi (020-7727 1121; little spice and aromatics. Expect Moen & Son (020-7622 1624; Pipers Farm (01392-881380; Daylesford (0800-0831233; ottolenghi.co.uk). The Middle the unexpected, with gloriously moen.co.uk). Celebrated as one pipersfarm.com). The Greig daylesford.com). Removing all Eastern and Mediterranean food colourful vegetable dishes and of London’s best butchers, Gary family have created some of the pain from Christmas, the specialist and charismatic chef turkey with a twist. And there Moen and his team can provide best ready-made food in the UK, organic, Gloucestershire-based Yotam Ottolenghi will cater for are always those giant, signature every aspect of Christmas, cooked with locally sourced farm can deliver a boxed your whole Christmas, adding a meringues. Prices from £35. including some sublime produce and a great deal of Christmas dinner, complete charcuterie, a vast range of imagination and expertise. They with a turkey, all the vegetables, sausages, from £6.95/kg (the can furnish your Christmas table beautifully homemade sauces, Italian-style are a favourite), with great oven-ready meat and mince pies and cheese (from hams, pastries (from £1 each), poultry, complete with delicious £100). But that is not all by home-smoked salmon, basics stu%ng, stock and sauces. We any means. Three-bird roasts, such as fresh stock (£2.98 for recommend that you add a few stollen, mince pies, sea-salt a ½ litre) and excellent red of their homemade pies and caramel chocolates, mulling potatoes (£2-3/kg). Ask for casseroles to the box, so you spices, even a spiced cooking advice over the counter can sit back and enjoy Christmas cranberry granola for a healthy and you will get the best from while it all bubbles up in the Christmas breakfast. Moen’s knowledgeable sta!. oven. Prices on request.
TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK 39 Hampers
FULL STOP FULL to pamper This year’s boxes of delights include organic, biodynamic and luxury Italian selections
Daylesford Cotswold Crate £195, daylesford.com. Château Léoube; mulling spices; raspberry vodka; baked Wiltshire ham; Cheddar; blue cheese; Penygoat cheese; slate cheese board; red onion chutney; farmhouse pickle; wholegrain mustard; Fortnum & Mason Christmas Host marcona almond, Parmesan and chilli biscuits; £300, fortnumandmason.com. St James Christmas pudding; brandy butter with Christmas pudding; Cognac butter; Persian Cognac and orange; six mince pies; pistachios and Christmas biscuits; Christmas spiced dark-chocolate-dipped candied oranges; marmalade; cranberry jelly with silver leaf; lemon curd. All organic, supplied in a Christmas coffee; Empire Blend tea; Christmas wooden crate with a cool bag. Banquet terrine; Cherub Christmas cake; marzipan fruits; box of dark chocolates; table bomb; a copy of Smart Tart by Tamasin Day-Lewis. Supplied in a wicker hamper.
Selfridges Celebrate & Share £500, selfridges.com. Strong mints; apple and ginger chutney; balsamic vinegar; black rustica olives; Bramley apple sauce; brandy butter; cafetière coffee; caramelised red onion relish; chocolate selection; Christmas cake; Christmas pudding; cranberry and orange sauce; damson jam; sweet biscuit selection in tin; English truffle selection; extra-virgin olive oil; fudge in tin; giant milk-chocolate coin; breakfast, afternoon and Earl Grey teas; horseradish sauce; hot chocolate; mint sauce; panettone; piccalilli; tin of savoury biscuits; Seville marmalade; tin of English toffees; Brut Champagne; Châteauneuf-du-Pape; Côtes du Rhône; Selfridges Finest port; Selfridges rosé Champagne; Touraine Sauvignon. Supplied in a basket with leather straps.
Carluccio’s Il Massimo £65, carluccios.com. Santa Sara Prosecco Brut; fettucce egg pasta; wild boar-ragù; Sicilian extra-virgin olive oil; orecchiette durum wheat pasta; tomato, chilli and basil sauce; honey cantucci biscuits; gianduiotti box; panettone; chocolate-coated coffee beans; giant milk-chocolate gold coin. Supplied in signature red gift box.
Fattoria La Vialla Party at the Farmstead £115, flavialla.it. Casa Conforto Chianti Superiore 2011; Torbolone 2011; Barriccato 2010; Vernaccia di San Gimignano 2012; Spumante Le Chiassaie 2012; Vin Santo Occhio di Pernice 2008; extra-virgin olive oil; Pecorino; fennel salami; spicy salami; balsamic vinegar of Modena; sun-dried tomatoes; spaghetti; fusilli; pesto; rosemary tomato sauce; box of biscuits containing cantucci, viallini, brutti ma buoni and torta ubriaca. All biodynamic, supplied in a stout ribboned box.
42 TELEGRAPH FOOD & DRINK