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If you’re looking for foodie gift inspiration ahead of the festive season, look no further. We’ve got chocolate stocking fillers, African spices, artisan cheeseboards from local producers, affordable wine hampers, boxes with all the trimmings, and even a brownie box subscription service. Yes, you heard that right.
Christmas is so close we can almost taste it. And remember: you can’t go wrong with giving the gift of something delicious this year.
Heartbroken about not being able to visit the German Christmas markets this year? Don’t worry, bring a slice of Lübeck home and count down to the big day in style. Niederegger marzipan is the perfect festive delicacy and for 2020, there’s an impressive carousel advent calendar packed with marzipan, truffles, and pralines.
Ditch those sickly sweet mince pies and change things up this year. Try London-based Filipino supper club The Adobros’ Bibingka instead. It’s a coconut milk and rice batter cake baked in banana leaves that’s a popular snack during the yuletide period in the Philippines. Think of them as a muffin crossed with a crumpet, sweet, fluffy, and chewy – perfect to enjoy with salted butter, ice cream, or hot coffee butter sauce.
Crank up the heat and discover a taste of Sierra Leonean flavours. Give the gift of fire and flavour with a jar of hot chilli sauce made from scotch bonnet chillies, garlic, ginger, onions and yellow bell peppers. It’s a versatile chilli sauce that will enhance hot and cold dishes, ideal for meats, fish and salads – or whatever your heart’s desire. Not for the faint-hearted.
Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without all the trimmings, so let someone else do the hard work in providing the best sides you could possibly ask for. The box includes pigs in blankets, unsmoked streaky bacon, crispy roast potatoes, sticky sage and onion savoury stuffing, sweet cranberry sauce, and rich gravy – absolute mainstays that need to adorn any Christmas table. Oh, and did we mention it’s all sustainably farmed sustainably and locally sourced in Devon?
What do you do with the leftover turkey when Boxing Day rolls around? Sod the sarnie. Get creative and turn it into a comforting bowl of laksa noodles. “The king of noodle soups,” says chef-owner, Mandy Yin who runs Malaysian Laska bar Sambal Shiok. She’s created an umami-packed pot paste filled with hot spicy fragrant prawn flavours. It’s essentially a hug in a bowl, which is perfect for a cold winter’s day. Mix the whole jar of laksa paste with 500ml of water and whole can of coconut milk, bring to boil, add tofu puffs or leftover meat, add noodles and some greens or beansprouts if you wish. Job done.
The guys at Shop Cuvée have you covered this Crimbo with their ‘Natty Christmas Hamper’. Packed with goodies including natural fizz, homemade ‘actually nice and not sickly sweet Christmas market headache juice’ (their words not mine) mulled wine, after dinner pre-made Negroni cocktail, a slab of Comté cheese, savoury snacks, salami, hot sauce and more. Delivered in a fluro orange reusable crate.
Salted caramel? Been there done that. The Welsh salt experts Halen Môn have managed to capture the essence of a smoky campfire and infused it with rich and smooth salted caramel giving you maximum nostalgia. Play around with this with different sweet desserts or the ideal gift for fellow bakers to use in their bakes. Serve with Christmas pudding, ice cream, brownies, cheesecake, or even toasted marshmallows for the big kid in you.
Nasi Lemak Meal Kit, Mei Mei, £23.99
Gift a restaurant-quality meal at home to your loved ones. After all, food is the way to everyone’s heart. You can recreate one of Singaporean Kopitiam Mei Mei’s bestselling dishes at home. Their Nasi Lemak meal kit is a delectable coconut rice dish with Ikan bilis (fried salted anchovies), roasted peanuts, cucumber and sambal tumis belachan (chilli with chrimp). Think of it as the Malaysian equivalent of Christmas dinner with all the trimmings.
Tony’s Chocolonely bars are an ideal stocking filler for those looking to celebrate Christmas with a conscience. Their mission is to make all chocolate 100% slave-free – their two new bars come in bright festive wrappers and are made with Belgian Fairtrade chocolate. Both bars come in a decorative Christmas tree shape to pop out, so the lucky recipient can also hang it as a decoration (that is, if you haven’t eaten it all.)
Pass on a little culinary magic with Zoe’s Ghana Kitchen cookbook, which comes with a set of signature house blend suya, jollof and kelewele spices. And who knows? if you’re lucky, you might even get a home-cooked meal in return from a grateful recipient. The book’s bursting full of big Ghanian flavours and tonnes of mouthwatering recipes to try out. A must-have for any foodie.
There’s no greater gift than giving the gift of happy tastebuds. Deliver some of the UK’s most loved brownies nationwide and hassle-free through your letterbox. Each box is beautifully packaged in hot pink leopard print (no need for gift-wrapping, score!) and even more brownie points for being able to add a personal note. The fudgey, indulgent brownies come in a variety of flavours and they also happen to be vegan (and most varieties are gluten-free) and can be part of a subscription, too.
No Christmas is complete without a mountain of cheese – and the good people at Devon-based Quicke’s Farm are here to make it easier. After many British cheesemakers have been hard-hit earlier this year, now’s your chance to support local and get a taste of the West Country. They’ve partnered with like-minded cheesemakers across the South West, who’ve honed their craft creating cheeses using local milk from nearby dairy farms. Give one of the cheesiest presents ever to grace the dinner table.
Give the gift of bountiful fresh rainbow produce from a black-owned independent fruit and veg box delivery company. If you know someone who loves to experiment in the kitchen using exotic fruits and rare vegetables that you won’t find on supermarket shelves, this is the ideal present. They deliver in London Monday to Tuesday and Leeds and Manchester Thursday to Friday but are able to deliver nationwide – just send them a message on Instagram.
Perk up a friend or a loved one’s day with one of Allpress’s Christmas coffee bundles. The Chocolate Bundle comes with a Christmas coffee blend, with beans from Guatemala, Sumatra and Ethiopia, and bursting with berry, cocoa and sweet spice flavours. It pairs beautifully with the two bars of chocolate by Bennetts of Mangawhai that are included.
Indian Spice Tin With Handmade Silk Sari Wrap, Spice Kitchen, £29.95
Having trouble getting something for that person who has everything? Spice up their lives with this beautiful collection of home ground, hand-blended spices. It comes with nine individually packaged spices in reusable stainless-steel storage tins, a small spoon, and all bundled together in a handmade silk wrap made from silk sari material. Perfect excuse to crack this out for the annual Boxing Day leftover turkey curry.