Great British Food - Christmas 2025

Look no further for inspiration on how tomake this year’s festivities your most delicious yet 21 WAYS TO HAVE THE MOST FABULOUS FOODIE CHRISTMAS 2 HOST A CHE E S E PAR T Y Hot cheese is all the rage this season, and if you want to offer something a bit different while hosting your pre-Christmas parties, you won’t fail to impress with a fondue or raclette. Many independent cheese shops and delis hire out raclette and fondue machines, but they’re also quite inexpensive to buy. All you need to then is stock up on Alpine-style cheeses and accompaniments, such as new potatoes, crusty bread, charcuterie and gherkins. An easy recipe for fondue is to melt equal parts fruity white wine, Emmental and Gruyere gently in a pan until silky. Stir a little cornflour (1tbsp for 200g each cheese and wine) into a dash of Kirsch and combine with the cheese mixture. Pour into your fondue and dive in! 1 CRAF T YOUR OWN I NFUS ED DR I NKS Minimumeffort, maximumeffect – that’s exactlywhat you can achieve by conjuring up an array of your very own drinks this Christmas. Presented in pretty bottles and labelled beautifully, theymake stand out gifts. Or hoard themaway in the cupboard to offer to guests dropping by throughout December. You can infusemost spirits (though we wouldn’t do it with cream liqueurs). And you only need two to six weeks to brewyour concoctions. Grab a 1.5 litre lidded jar and add 1 litre of your chosen spirit, adding your ingredients before sealing. Shake regularly tomingle everything together. Taste after twoweeks and thereafter once aweek until you’re happywith the flavour. Then strain and decant into a bottle. We love: • Vodka with pieces of Turkish delight • Vodka with crushed fresh cranberries, orange peel and thyme • White rumwith crushed fresh plums (including stones), orange peel and star anise • Dark rumwith banana peel, cinnamon sticks, cloves and cardamom 3 ORDE R YOUR CHE E S E EAR LY There will be shortages of certain cheeses this year because of European import bans, with the pressure on British cheesemakers to ‘fill the gaps’. The earlier you can order your favourites from your local deli or cheesemonger, the better. After all, you don’t want to be left without that prized Stilton, chunk of cave-aged Cheddar, or creamy Brie on the big day. T radition often dictates food and drink at Christmastime. Every family usually has its own set of ‘rules’ to follow, from what the centrepiece of the tablewill be to how the spuds will be cooked, down to the exact wine and cheeses being offered in the afternoon to accompany the King’s Speech. If youwant to ring the changes in 2025, why not give one of our suggestions a try? 13 greatbr i t i shfoodawards.com FEATURE | WINTER INSP IRAT ION