Welcome to November’s Observer Food Monthly
Christmas gifts, wines and indulgent festive recipes from Florence Knight – plus lunch with Nadiya HussainI cannot wait to make Florence Knight’s recipe for duck with cotechino and lentils. The recipe...
View ArticleFlorence Knight’s Christmas menu: fazzoletti, duck, and a quince tart
The Session Arts Club chef’s recipes ring the changes on the traditional Christmas lunchThere are some things that should never change at Christmas. Our towering pine tree will always bend as it...
View ArticleAdejoké Bakare’s secret ingredient: plantain
Mashed, boiled, baked, fried or as an ice-cream: nothing is more versatile, says the Chishuru chefThere’s a saying that goes, “If you don’t like plantain, there must be something wrong with you.”...
View ArticleNigel Slater’s Christmas sides: potatoes with goose fat, sausage stuffing
New essentials for the festive table – including roast parsnips with raita and a pistachio and cardamon custardOh my God, the accompaniments. Tiny sausages sticky from being cooked around the roast,...
View ArticleWhy is festive food so disgusting? | Jay Rayner
There’s no seasonal cheer in the supermarkets’ annual serving of dreadful edible trinketsIn an age that celebrates global free trade there are still times when we can be grateful that not everything is...
View ArticleHow panettone pass the parcel became one of my Christmas traditions
You know how it goes – someone, somewhere, buys the Italian cake, from where it embarks on a long circumnavigation of various friends and familyA normal Christmas is predicted, and thanks to this the...
View ArticleFergus Henderson: ‘I’m happy to eat most things – but I hate raw celery’
The St John restaurant co-founder on childhood steamed syrup sponge and the iniquity of food trendsMy mother was a wonderful cook, and my father was a wonderful eater.She was from Bolton – mothers from...
View ArticleWelcome to December’s Observer Food Monthly
Festive brunch recipes from Claire Ptak, Georgina Hayden’s Christmas Day kitchen tips, and life on a plate with St John’s Fergus HendersonIt is rarely just the food we eat that sticks in our memory,...
View ArticleThe best Christmas party food and drinks – tested by Ed Gamble
The comedian and Great British Menu judge’s verdict on crisps, bites and boozeThe best Christmas cakes and bakesThe best Christmas chocolate and cheeseTesco Finest Christmas Pudding Flavour Crisps150g,...
View ArticleThe best Christmas cakes and bakes – tested by Ravneet Gill
The chef and Junior Bake Off judge rates mince pies, stollen and panettoneThe best Christmas party foodThe best Christmas chocolate and cheeseby Amazon Our Selection Deep Filled Mince Pies£2.50 for 6,...
View ArticleThe best Christmas chocolate and cheese – tested by Anna Haugh
Chef and MasterChef: the Professionals judge samples vintage cheddar, fruity chutney and moreThe best Christmas party foodThe best Christmas cakes and bakesM&S Vintage Red Fox Red Leicester With...
View ArticleChetna Makan’s secret ingredient: hazelnuts
The cookery writer’s go-to nut for a filling for home-made profiteroles and a crunchy topping for barbecued vegetablesA crazy amount of hazelnuts are consumed in my house over Christmas. It’s the thing...
View ArticleThe 12 rules of Christmas cooking
Do you really need a starter? What’s the best bird? And when to do the prep? Observer Food Monthly’s expert guide to keeping your kitchen happyAs a food writer and stylist, I’ve spent almost 20 years...
View ArticleCardamom pancakes, pistachio galettes, salmon toasts – Claire Ptak’s festive...
Light but substantial dishes to keep you going on Christmas morning before the main eventI love London during the holidays and have spent nearly every Christmas here for the past 15 years. The capital...
View ArticleElderflower jelly, mincemeat baklava, cassata ice – Nigel Slater’s Christmas...
Dishes of chocolate-coated halva and bowls of sticky poached quince, these sweet treats will delight friends and families throughout the festive seasonThere is rough-hewn, sesame-scented halva with...
View ArticleFrom tomato salad in Spain to pumpkin rice: chefs and writers on the best...
Riaz Phillips had jollof rice in east London, while Stephen Toman ate fish and chips on the Northern Irish coast – 15 chefs and food writers share their most memorable meal of the yearChet Sharma,...
View ArticleWhat could my family love more than my braised ox cheeks? | Jay Rayner
I serve them up culinary delights, but when I’m not there it’s sausage sandwiches and jacket potatoes that they craveTo live in my house is to know gustatory joy. I wake each morning, thinking only of...
View ArticleMark Gatiss: ‘I’m terrified that we are losing the caff for ever’
The actor and director on his fears for a British institution, the day he stopped being vegetarian and why he’s a fast eaterI’m going to disappoint you with my terribly proletarian tastes. If I was to...
View ArticleSome dishes stay with you forever. Should I look for them again? | Rachel Cooke
Revisiting things we love often leads to disappointment. But there was this mousse with mussels, and I can’t resist…At this time of year, it’s tempting to devote a space like this to the making and...
View ArticleBuy a good knife and never say sorry: top chefs share the best cooking advice...
Jeremy Lee, Angela Hartnett and many more pass on the tips that have saved them in the kitchenJamie Oliver, cook, author and broadcasterContinue reading...
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