2008 Christmas magazine roundup
I always get a good selection of the foodie magazines at this time of year, and look at what the trends are. This year was fascinating. Although a lot of these feature spreads are planned months ago, the credit crunch was obviously in the air already. There's a definite seventies feel about the recipes - retro without being fashionable, just what 50-year-olds remember as being celebration food without expensive frills. There is no new exotic cuisine - some Thai noodle salads but those are almost domestic standards now. Lots of cheap and seasonal fruit and vegetables, fish and meat. The treats use classic Christmas treat foods - glace fruit, chocolate, smoked salmon, booze.
The main recipes were almost all:
- Smoked salmon parcels for starters (the one that bucked the trend had prawn and avocado cocktail)
- Plain turkey with plain veg - roast potatoes, sprouts, parsnips, red cabbage
- Celeriac gratin
- Jerusalem artichoke soup
- Roast root veg with different spices and coatings
- Roast pork as the alternative big joint
- Nut roasts for vegetarians, especially en croute
- Old fashioned desserts - date pudding, fruit crumble, ginger sponge, apple tart
- Yule logs / sweet roulades - mostly chocolate, some with cherries (Black Forest, yay!)
- Baked Alaskas - especially individual ones, or with special fillings (orange and chocolate)
- Cocktails
- Home made things - including a recipe for home-made "Irish Cream Liqueur", haven't seen one of those for about thirty years
There were some minor things that seemed to pop up whenever the opportunity arose:
- Parsnip crisps - bought (M&S, Waitrose),
or home-made - for soup garnishes, mostly
- White chocolate / cranberry mix - cookies, squares, cheesecakes, even trifle
- Leeks (in soups, pies, stews, and risottos)
- Hot griddled slices of pear - with pate, as a soup garnish, with sauce as dessert
The winner of the chef who's everywhere is Anjum Anand - and the recipes are simple and homely. We're trying her spiced lambshank with chestnuts tonight, although with rice rather than the official side of parsnip mash.
