Last-minute Christmas gifts for food lovers

Where did the past twelve months go? If, like me, you feel like you got sucked into a time-bending vortex, you’re probably in need of some last-minute Christmas gift ideas. Much as I abhor a listicle, I’ve pulled together a nice round ten such things, including some of the best charcuterie, cheese and sake – that just happen to be made in the UK. There’s not the equivalent of socks and slippers among them, but there is a gift certificate or two (this is last-minute, after all…).

CHEESE

A proper Christmas table ought to groan under the weight of cheese, but if you want to give a turophile a gift to last well into the New Year, go for a cheese subscription. Everyone knows that Neal’s Yard Dairy is one of the finest shops in the land, and there’s not a cheese lover on the planet who wouldn’t be overjoyed to receive one of their Cheese of the Month subscriptions – a selection of four, with tasting notes, delivered straight to the recipient’s door.  

Another of my favourite purveyors, Fen Farm Dairy in Suffolk, makers of Baron Bigod cheese and Bungay butter, have some excellent festive treats: a Christmas Bundle (a Baby Baron Bigod, plus a jar each of pickle and medlar jelly); and, if you’re running very late, a £20-£100 gift voucher.

CHOCOLATE

As with cheese, so with chocolate. Life-enhancing stuff that gives more pleasure, ounce for ounce, than it really ought to. Cocoa Runners have been spreading the word about quality craft chocolate since 2013. As well as a monthly chocolate subscription (who could say no?), you can gift an online chocolate-tasting. I’ve taken part in an in-real-life tasting at their London HQ and can guarantee it’s well worth it.

I’m also a fan of Dundee-based Ocelot chocolate. Their bars are beautifully packaged, but their beauty is more than skin-deep – sustainably sourced and great-tasting (I recommend the Buckwheat bar). For a gift, mix and match their bars and drinking chocolate, and get 15% off your first order.

CHARCUTERIE

Hammond Charcuterie makes some of the best cured meats I’ve had anywhere in the world, all made with high-welfare, compassionately farmed local or wild meat. Rachel Hammond is based in Berwick-upon-Tweed, is a regular at Edinburgh Farmers’ Market and occasionally pops up at Venn St Market in southwest London (which is where I met her). Festive offerings include ‘partridge in a pear tree’ salami, winter spice salami, and a gorgeous version made with mostarda and quince. Anything she makes will grace your festive table or, for gifts, there’s a Hammond Charcuterie monthly subscription box or a £10–£100 gift card.

SAUCY STUFF

Amy Poon, daughter of Bill and Cecilia Poon (of Poon’s of Covent Garden fame), is a chef, entrepreneur and now a restaurateur – she recently opened Poon’s at Somerset House. Her cooking is exquisite, and her range of Poon’s sauces makes that magic portable. The sauces are deeply flavourful and umami-rich – spoonfuls of pure pleasure, some with a fiery kick. I can thoroughly recommend her WO Sauce made with wind-dried bacon and salted shrimp – or go the whole hog with the Poon’s London 7 Sauces gift set).

TINNED FISH

Beautifully packaged, artisan-produced tins of fish are now highly covetable items among the food cognoscenti – a fact that owes much to the people behind The Tinned Fish Market. Just try going past their stall at Borough Market and not buying a tin or two. Impossible. They have a huge range of gift boxes and subscriptions – the Discovery Boxes make an excellent starting point, or opt for the monthly tinned-fish subscriptions for those with a particular penchant for, say, anchovies or sardines.

ENGLISH WINE

English wine stopped making excuses for itself long ago, and the UK’s wine-tourism sector is burgeoning. A visit to Tillingham wine estate near Rye in Sussex will put any remaining doubters right. A 70-acre former hop farm, it now grows 20-plus grape varieties regeneratively and takes an experimental approach to winemaking. Some wines are aged in earthenware qvevri, and they make excellent Italian col fondo-style sparkling wines (fermented in the bottle without filtering). The on-site restaurant has a Green Michelin star, plus there is a range of rustic-chic rooms to make a proper holiday of it. The Classics bundle of three wines would go down a treat, as would a gift voucher (from £10) for tours, tastings and overnight stays.

BRITISH SAKE

Japan’s national drink is being made by several producers here in the UK, and the sakes made by Kanpai London Craft Sake – a brewery and taproom founded in Peckham and now based near London Bridge – are (rightfully) winning awards. The sake-curious on your list would be thrilled to receive the trio of premium bottles in the Junmai Sake Series, and for the hardcore enthusiast, a Kanpai gift card can be used toward a sake tasting or a brew-your-own-sake experience. For experimental cooks, the yeast lees left over after fermentation, called kasu, are a key ingredient in Japanese marinades and ferments.

VEGETABLE SEEDS

A packet of plant seeds is the lightest, easiest-to-carry, least-expensive gift you can buy, but the amount of pleasure they can give is immeasurable. For children, growing sunflowers or radishes can kickstart an interest in food, and for existing gardeners, vegetable or flower seeds will spark the joy of anticipation when spring comes. Fothergill’s is a reliable supplier and Franchi (widely available) is excellent for Italian produce.