Paper Palate

Christmas is less than two weeks away. I have been diligent: two puddings, one cake, several jars of mincemeat and some salt beef are all in the process of being ready for the big day(s). Paradoxically though, I’m still craving the food I ate in the summertime. The warm, grass scented days are refusing to leave my memory and although they are now long gone and a long time coming, my tastebuds are tingling with a desire for greek salads, lemony puddings and margaritas. Ah well. I must simply accept that we are firmly ensconced in dried fruit season and that I must make the most of it.

With that in mind, I recently decided to pull out my Christmas Cookbooks. It seems that every chef or TV cook has either made a series or written a book devoted to that most magical time of the year. Let’s be honest though: how many recipes for Mince Pies or Guides to Roasting Turkeys do we really need? Apparently it is an infinite number.

Regular readers of cookery magazines such as the Good Food (UK) or Fine Cooking (USA) will, like myself, revel in the quirky new twists that their home economists slaved over in July. To help cut through the flotsam though, I have a few tried and tested cookbooks, ones that never fail to let you down and that, if you were so inclined, you would pass down through the generations of your family. Other books just fill you with a sense of Christmas spirit. Whether or not you choose to cook from them is another matter altogether.

A book that I could read all year round is from the New York Times Restaurant reviewer Mimi Sheraton, Visions of Sugarplums (with the wonderfully alliterative subtitle: A Cookbook of Cakes, Cookies, Candies and Confections from all the Countries that Celebrate Christmas!). First published in 1967, this book collects together a variety of luscious sweets and cakes that are only made once a year. Whilst many of the recipes listed would not be suitable for the home cook (candy canes anyone?), there are some wonderfully evocative descriptions of how other cultures celebrate Christmas that should inspire the most jaded person to at least attempt a batch of Gingerbread Men. Unfortunately this book has been out of print since the mid-80s but with revived interest in home cooking, perhaps a reissue could be on the cards?

If you want someone to decide on your every move, Christmas-wise, from October onwards, then Delia Smith will ensure that you carry off a successful Big Day with military precision. For the American readers who may not be blessed with Delia, she is our equivalent of Martha Stewart (I am recalling an episode of The Winter Collection where she ‘suggests’ how the viewers should eat spaghetti). Delia is not as glamorously curvaceous as Nigella Lawson nor as trendy as Nigel Slater but she offers the reader good, solid, reliable recipes. Her book, Delia Smith’s Christmas has every traditional recipe you could wish for, with some classics that have been updated too. Where some books might be a little vague on timings or quantities, Delia’s are spot on to the very last molecule of flour. Some readers may find her style to be a little dry or old fashioned but if you find yourself disorganised at Christmas, Delia does remove a lot of the stress for you with her suggested timetables and menus. I enjoy her no nonsense approach to cooking and undoubtedly she has been one of the most important culinary figures in British cooking in the last 30 years.

Not strictly a Christmas Cookbook in its entirety but an important read nonetheless, is Diana Henry’s Roast Figs, Sugar Snow – Food to Warm the Soul. Diana Henry is one of Britain’s most intelligent food writers. Roast Figs, Sugar Snow is a beautiful collection of winter recipes from around the world, starting in Scotland and working through to New England, via Russia, Sweden and Quebec. The wonderful thing about this book is that the recipes are unusual but really delicious. Like the book itself, the recipes are hidden gems, for example the beetroot knodl is outstanding and would make a delightfully recherche Christmas Day starter. Her Ale Soaked Christmas Pudding is fruity and alcohol sozzled (as should all good Christmas Puds!).

The recipes have romantic names like Peasant Girls in a Mist (a sort of apple and cream fluff dessert) and her essay on the New England tradition of making Sugar Snow make you want to curl up by a warm fire and dive straight into the recipes. If you feel a bit budget conscious, buying a book that will only be dusted off once a year, Tamasin Day-Lewis Kitchen Bible has a concise section on Christmas and the book is useful for the rest of the year too…and Nigella Lawson, whilst she is yet to release a Christmas Cookbook (the time will come), Feast offers up many variants of the Christmas celebrations, with her own seductive twist on things. Ina Garton’s Barefoot Conessa series of cookbooks never fail to put me in a party mood, her sense of joy is contagious and her food just looks delicious AND achievable for the home cook  - always important at Christmas when you have guests to impress.
And finally, to another British culinary stalwart, Elizabeth David. Her posthumous Elizabeth David’s Christmas is short on glossy pictures but reads like a passionate novel, such is the author’s devotion to food. She concentrates on some archaic foods that we no longer even consider as part of our seasonal celebrations, such as salt beef (of which the author is currently making some of her own!), Mediterranean feasts (the Italians in particular having the greatest skill in really celebrating special occasions) and some of her own concoctions. It is a lifetimes work in one book: she had started compiling this long before her death. Proof that even a prickly sort as Elizabeth David was touched by the goodwill of Christmas.

As a final note, I would like to wish the hardworking team at the Well Fed Network and all its readers a Happy Christmas and Merry New Year!

Visions Of Sugar Plums Amazon.co.uk from £3.53 Amazon.com from 1c

Delia Smiths Christmas Amazon.co.uk £5.89 Amazon.com $8.95

Roast Figs Sugar Snow Amazon.co.uk £13.60

Elizabth David’s Christmas Amazon.co.uk £10.19 Amazon.com $13.26