Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities (34 page)

STOCKISTS

Not all the ingredients or items below will be hard for you to find, but some could be, so – being an internet shopping addict myself – I feel it only right to give a short list of online suppliers to help you source something I’ve mentioned in the text but that might elude you on the high street. For a wider range of stockists, see www.nigella.com.

DRINKS

Crème de lychee, Pama, Todka, Bramley and Gage quince liqueur, Tuaca, butterscotch and peppermint schnapps and many other cocktail ingredients and glasses; Monin syrups; lychee purée www.thedrinkshop.com

Cornish Camel Valley sparkling wine and Bramley and Gage quince liqueur, Todka www.kernowharvest.co.uk

Pedro Ximénez sherry www.jeroboams.co.uk

Dr Stuart’s apple and ginger tea www.goodnessdirect.co.uk

CAKE DECORATING AND SPECIALIST BAKING EQUIPMENT

Fir-tree cake tin, and cake papers, edible gold stars, gold lustres, disco glitters, gold leaf, ready-to-roll icing, crystallized rose petals and various Christmas sprinkles and cutters, gift bags and boxes www.jane-asher.co.uk

Large variety of Christmas sprinkles, decorations, cutters, and related paraphernalia www.splatcooking.com

Sugar poinsettias for decorating Christmas cupcakes and other Christmassy icing items www.thecakeplace.co.uk

Candied and crystallized fruits and flowers www.confiserieflorian.com

Chocolate covered clementines, golden sultanas, mini marshmallows, chocolate-covered coffee beans www.panzers.co.uk

CULINARY AMERICANA

Mini marshmallows, peppermint candy canes, canned black beans, canned pumpkin purée www.americansweets.co.uk

Canned black beans, canned pumpkins, mini marshmallows www.panzers.co.uk

MEAT AND POULTRY

Geese and wide selection of meat cuts www.donaldrussell.com

Turkey (with turkey/meat thermometer thrown in) www.kellyturkeys.com

All meat and poultry and wide variety of other foodstuffs www.natoora.co.uk

OTHER FOODS

Mellow Yellow rapeseed oil www.farrington-oils.co.uk

The Food Doctor original seed mix www.thefooddoctor.com

SPICES

Red peppercorns, white peppercorns, and huge variety of other produce and ingredients www.oakleaf-european.co.uk

Nigella seeds and other seasonings www.seasonedpioneers.co.uk

OTHER ITEMS

Meat thermometer, decorative cocktail sticks, jam and preserving jars and bottles, gift bags, cardboard cake cases and a rich supply of other kitchen paraphernalia www.lakeland.co.uk

Trees, baubles, fairy lights, wrapping paper and all things Christmassy www.christmastimeuk.com

This is the first time, since I began with How to Eat in 1998, that I have published a book two years running. I don’t feel it’s something I should make a habit of, but nor can I regret it. Writing and making a book is something I love above all else and, besides, self-denial has never been my strong suit. I just feel grateful that I have work I enjoy so much. But such gratitude is really owed to the raft of people whose hard work allows me to enjoy myself, and whose support and encouragement are crucial. Thanks – heartfelt and enduring – to (in alphabetical order) Olivia Antolik, Jan Bowmer, Louise Dennys, Moyra Fraser, Mary Gibson, Vivienne Gill, Poppy Hampson, Caz Hildebrand (the sine qua non of any enterprise I embark on), Julie Martin, Lis Parsons, the inspirational and pitch-perfect Gail Rebuck and Alison Samuel, the most elegant and erudite of editors: without all these, it wouldn’t be as much fun; indeed, it wouldn’t even be possible.

The same is true of those whose names follow (again, alphabetically) and who make up what I think of as my work family, and who, teasingly I think, call themselves Team Nigella: Kate Bull, Elisabetta Grillo, Francesca Grillo, Mark Hutchinson, Rose Murray, Hettie Potter, Ed Victor, Zoe Wales and Anzelle Wasserman. I know how fortunate I am to be thus surrounded by those I love and trust.

Over the last year my home has looked like a cross between Santa’s Grotto and Miss Havisham’s apartments. Much of this agreeable clutter I provided myself, but as much again was gratefully harvested especially for this project and I owe thanks to those who have so generously helped furnish the pictures in this book, even if simultaneously feeding my addiction for seasonalia, in particular B&Q, Best Season, Big Tomato Company, Cath Kidston, Ceramica Blue, Cherubim, ChristmastimeUK and the ever helpful Alfred Rose and his elves, The Conran Shop, The General Trading Company, Heals, Jane Asher Party Cakes & Sugarcraft and the fabulous David Trumper, John Lewis Partnership, Krebs International Glass, Laura Ashley, Marks & Spencer, Merchant Gourmet, Nordicware, Ocean Spray, Papstar, Peter Harvey, Star Trading, Steelite International, Sur la Table (notably Olivia and her staff at the Dallas branch), VV Rouleaux, Wedgwood and Wild Card.

This book is subtitled “Food, Family, Friends, Festivities”, and it remains only for me to say that the food and festivities would mean nothing without those other two components; it is to my family and my friends that my deepest gratitude are owed, not just – as the RSPCA admonitory poster used to say – for Christmas, but for life.

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

Epub ISBN: 9781446412572

Version 1.0

Published by Chatto & Windus 2008

2 4 6 8 10 9 7 5 3 1

Copyright © Nigella Lawson 2008

Photographs copyright © Lis Parsons 2008

Nigella Lawson has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work

This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

First published in Great Britain in 2008 by

Chatto & Windus

Random House, 20 Vauxhall Bridge Road,

London SW1V 2SA

www.rbooks.co.uk

Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:

www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

The Random House Group Limited Reg. No. 954009

A CIP catalogue record for this book

is available from the British Library

ISBN 978 0 701 18322 6

Design and Art Direction: Caz Hildebrand

Cookery Assistant: Hettie Potter

Editorial Assistant: Zoe Wales

Props: Rose Murray

Layout/Design: Julie Martin

Home Economics adviser: Moyra Fraser

Table of Contents

LIST OF RECIPES

LIST OF CHRISTMAS DAY RECIPES

COCKTAILS, CANAPÉS AND MANAGEABLE MASS CATERING

SEASONAL SUPPORT

SOUPS, SALADS, SAUCES AND SERVE-LATER SIDES

COME ON OVER …

STRESS-FREE SUPPERS

THE MAIN EVENT

JOY TO THE WORLD

CHRISTMAS BAKING AND SWEET TREATS

ALL WRAPPED UP

EDIBLE PRESENTS AND PARTY PRESERVES

A CHRISTMAS BRUNCH FOR 6–8

A BEVY OF HOT DRINKS

DR LAWSON PRESCRIBES …

STOCKISTS