Christmas Countdown: The Foodie Gift Hunter’s Fabulous Top Ten Festive Foodie Presents
So okay, its 1st November and as such it’s far too early to be uttering the dreaded C word, even for die-hard Chrimboaholics like me. But hey, planning in advance often means you can do things better, easier and sometimes cheaper too, so over the next 8 weeks I’ll be giving you loads of fab recipes to plan, make and even freeze in advance, as well as advice and great ideas for the big day itself. I’ll be trying to persuade my BFF and wedding cake maker extraordinaire, Jen, to do us a step by step Christmas cake decorating lesson and I’ll also be teaming up with the wondrousness that is Helen: all-round Queen of Presents and editor of The Foodie Gift Hunter to give you some great ideas for Christmas gifts: foodie and non-foodie.
And so, without further ado, I’ll pass you over to Helen:
I love Christmas, and it usually starts in about June. About the 25th, when I get the 6 month countdown panic! When you have a reputation for finding great gifts, you’ve got to start early. In fact my top tip for finding great gifts is don’t leave it till the last minute. Presents bought in panic will haunt you for years to come as the recipient endlessly reminds you how bad it was.
And foodies can be pretty difficult to buy for, because only the best will do, but the best isn’t necessarily about price. With most gourmet foodies, it’ll be as much about the provenance of the food, the rarity, the way it’s made, not to mention the taste! So, I probably wouldn’t pick up a chocolate fondue set from Sainsburys on Christmas Eve if they have such high standards. Here’s some alternatives:
1. I like FoodFullStop for a great selection of artisanal food producers. Regardless of their favourite food type, you’ll probably find something there to suit them. Delivery costs and timings vary, and they only ship within the UK at present. No one will guess that you are sending them a box of handmade Scotch eggs. Well, not unless they leave them somewhere warm for a week.
http://www.foodfullstop.com/2. For the luxury end of food, then there isn’t much London Fine Foods won’t deliver, and they deliver across the UK and EU. I have always wanted to present someone with a gift wrapped whole acorn fed Iberian ham. Can you imagine them guessing what it is? It’s great for really unusual ingredients, that would earn real gourmet food points, definitely worth a look. I’ve asked Santa to consider the White Truffle Oil, just in case I’m good between now and December.
http://www.efoodies.co.uk/3. I couldn’t do a list like this without including Lakeland. Stuff you never even thought about needing pops up here and you wonder how you ever did without it! It’s a great place for gadgets for gourmets as well as food treats. They will deliver outside of the UK, but you can’t order online with a card issued outside of the UK, you just have to ring them instead. I love the nostalgic look of the Tala Icing Syringe Set, imagine it could provide hours of fun. And mess.
http://www.lakeland.co.uk/4. One of my new favourites is the wonderfully named Pong. If you’ve got a cheese lover to buy for, this is a great site to get to know. You can choose your own selection, or buy one of their gift boxes, but the recipient won’t be disappointed. I love that they even have a selection of vegetarian cheeses, and goats cheese for those who are dairy intolerant. There’s also a concise but tasty selection of biscuits and chutneys you could add in too. Cheese can be shipped throughout the UK and the Republic.
http://www.pongcheese.co.uk/shop/5. I am somewhat addicted to cookbooks, as the weekly Friday Five will testify. And a foodie can always manage another cookbook. My advice is you’ll probably need to go a bit less mainstream than Nigella and co, and dig out the writers the chefs admire, or go obscure on a type of cooking you know your loved one is really into (I bought Dr T Extreme Barbecue, which is definitely inspiring for the barbecue kings out there!). Or try Alibris for out of print, first edition and just plain hard to track down titles. Go for something unusual and interesting sounding!
http://www.alibris.co.uk/6. Not just for the foodies around, but NotOnTheHighStreet is one of my favourite sites for bringing together such an amazing collection of talent from all over. My fave gift on here is adopting an olive tree with Nudo, and get some of their olive oil too, but then there’s also beautiful kitchenware, from modern to kitsch, and some of the best apron choices around.
http://www.notonthehighstreet.com/7. If you’ve got an avid cake baker to shop for, then I would highly recommend Splat Cooking, for every kind of tin, cookie cutter and embellishment they could ever, ever want, let alone need. Want a corset cookie cutter? They’ve got one. Designer gingerbread kits? Everything from chalets to rabbit hutches. And a proper cake stand for their creations? One tier or two?
http://www.splatcooking.net/thestore/store.php8. Lets go full on carnivore, but with a difference. The Real Boar Co., aside from a great name, will provide you with meat treats from boars reared in the UK and all produced here too. Salami sounds like a good buy, easy to wrap, and not prone to going off! There’s probably also some comedy value and there’ll be a few comments about big sausages on Christmas morning. If you’re buying for a very greedy meat eater, then the 4 pack may be just the thing.
http://www.therealboar.co.uk/charcuterie.html9. To spice things up, then, I highly recommend Spices of India for giving you all the ingredients you’ll need for fantastic curries. Not just the spices though, you can buy things like spiced masala tea, a Bombay sandwich spread which has to be worth a go and even a tandoor oven for the real authentic experience. Again, another present they are going to guess ahead of time!
http://www.spicesofindia.co.uk/10. Of course you can always buy them wine or champagne but for non drinkers, or those likely to go on the wagon in January, buy them fabulous tea from Lahloo Tea. No PG here, this is top quality tea with huge variety, including their own breakfast blend, Rose Congou and the delightfully named Dragon Pearls. One for the in-laws perhaps?
http://www.lahlootea.co.uk/So not so much a top ten as a starter for ten! Given all the issues around the post this year, if you’re going to shop online then start early for the non-perishable stuff. Either that or go back to the old fashioned thing of visiting shops, but make it the small, local ones who really, really need your business, this year more than any year.
18 Responses to “Christmas Countdown: The Foodie Gift Hunter’s Fabulous Top Ten Festive Foodie Presents”
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[...] No post from me on here today (although Twitter followers will find photographic evidence of Dr T’s black eye in my tweets!) as I am returning a favour. A few weeks ago, English Mum gave us her 5 favourite old farts, or the cookbooks by them, and today I am starting her Christmas countdown with my top 10 favourite festive foodie presents. [...]
You do the ressup, right? I’ve my cakes made – ALL EIGHT OF ‘EM!!!!
Preparing ahead + Freezing = More Plonk.
At last! Maths makes sense!! LOL!
Will email you the recipe xx