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10 Christmas gifts for foodies- Part 2: food gifts and hampers

December 2, 2015 6 Comments Filed Under: Christmas, Food, Recipes, Uncategorized

At Christmas it’s a moment to spend a bit more on food and if you can afford it, eat better quality food, it is after all a midwinter feast. Food might seem mundane as a gift but the list below will make people change their minds. I particularly like gifts that are subscriptions throughout the year, it’s a little treat. One of the perks of being a food writer is that you are often sent food. The doorbell rings and the postman is there with a box of something, it can really make your day. Buying a gift like a subscription is a way of feeling a bit like a food writer! All of the gifts below I would describe as ‘experiential’.

Balsamic vinegar from La Tradizione

Balsamic vinegar

You’ve never tasted proper Balsamic vinegar. Really I’m telling you that you haven’t. This is the real stuff, La Tradizione from Modena, a cooperative of craftsmen: dark, thick, syrupy, caramel, fruity, figgy, aged. It only comes in two shapes of bottle. Genuine Balsamic vinegar is expensive, and this is a complete Christmas treat. Too good for salads, drizzle it on cheese, into avocado, over strawberries.  You can buy the bottles from La Tradizione from £12 to £155.  One I tried (on the left) was aged for 12 years and costs £46 which I know is a lot of money but I can assure you it is worth it and would make a very special present.

Bottarga

I wrote earlier this year about this wonderful ingredient, compressed dried fish roe which is wonderful sliced thinly or grated onto pasta or crostini. Order from Delicatezza. £9.99 plus delivery

chocolate selection

Chocolate

Cocoa Runners do a monthly chocolate club where you are sent a selection of high quality chocolates from around the world, costing around £200 a year.

Citrus

Last year I ordered fragrant Meyer lemons (6 for about $30) from Lemon Ladies Orchard who run a citrus farm in California. I made a Meyer lemon meringue pie from them and made a little video of it in my half-hearted bid to be the foodie Zoella. This failed miserably mainly due to frequent on-camera swearing from myself and behind-camera criticism by my darling daughter who was ‘directing’. You never know, I may edit and upload it some day. Still Meyer lemons are ace and virtually impossible to get here in the UK. 
From a site I’ve just discovered Citrus and Life, you can order fresh yuzus (around 78 euros) and other exotic citrus.
You can order British grown wasabi , different from horse radish, (from £12.50), the plants and fresh yuzus (about £4 each) is The Wasabi Company.
You could also give a present of a kaffir lime tree £25 (you can use the leaves for Thai curries) or a yuzu tree £40 from Plants4presents. 

cafedirect coffee

Coffee

I’ll be frank, I’m not a coffee person even after my visit to Portland where I tried ‘cupping’, but even I was impressed by the Cafédirect coffee discovery plan, where you pay £7.95 a month and get sent a different coffee every month. So far I’ve tried the Colombian and the Rwandan coffee; I particularly like the latter which is smooth and not too acidic. I’m drinking coffee again as a result. (A cup of coffee a day is good for your health, fights against obesity and diabetes).

Pomora olive oil

Olive oil

I recently went to visit Pomora olive oil in Sicily. You can adopt or foster one of their olive trees for £29 a quarter. Choose from two farmers, Carmelo in Sicily or Antonio. You can even visit the tree.

POuring tea

Tea

Now I am a tea person. My mother drinks a cup of tea every 20 minutes and I’m rapidly turning into her. As my palette refines I’m less satisfied with ordinary tea and, like wine, once you’ve had good tea, it’s hard to go back to the factory-floor-shavings tea bags. My favourite teas are by the following people:
The pioneering tea entrepeneur Rare Tea Lady (my blog post on her here) does a monthly tea subscripton which costs £77 a year. Every other month you are sent four different teas.
This year at my historic afternoon tea at Dennis Severs House, I discovered Newby Teas and was extremely impressed by their perfumed black teas such as Earl Grey, Lapsang Suchong and Darjeeling. Even their herbal teas and green teas are good (so often they taste dusty or bitter). Gift sets here.
You could do worse than purchase MsMarmitelover’s Secret Tea Party book as a gift. It’s gorgeous and I wrote it!

Wine

I’ve worked with a new company Winetrust100.co.uk over the last couple of years and am consistently impressed with the selection of wines, carefully picked by MW Nick Adams and reasonably priced. Favourite include an Italian Primitivo, Paul Cluver’s Gewurtraminer from South Africa and well-made Chardonnay from Argentina. They do a wine club costing  from £96 to £198 per year,  if you want to work your way through the list. Eastenders stars and other TV celebrities buy from them.

Hampers

I love hampers and would like to be buried in something wicker with leather straps and a champagne glass, sort of a death picnic.  I also like the fact that you can learn about new foods with a hamper, there is such choice, items known and unknown.

  • Italian: Lina Stores in Soho do some cute tins of tomato collections from £18 up to large hampers costing £100
  • Posh: Fortnum & Mason’s hampers are world renowned and beautifully packaged. Anything from £55 to £1000. 
  • Cheffy: one of my favourite online shops souschef.co.uk do book/food hampers with some essential items from the ingredients list in famous cookbooks. Examples include my own V is for Vegan collection at £35, Ivan Ramen’s book and Asian food collection at £85,  Sabrina Ghayour’s Persian collection with book £37.50, plus plenty of other inspirational foodie hampers. 
  • Japanese: the Japan Centre does a big selection of food hampers for making sushi, ramen, tea, miso from £11.95 to £49.99
  • Modern: a tin box hamper from Toast £125
  • Ethnic: Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem hamper £75
Celia Brooks doing the Borough Market food tour

A food tour

A London food tour with chef and cookbook author Celia Brooks (above) is a fantastic experience. You can choose from Borough Market (she is the only official tour), Covent Garden, Portobello or Marylebone. Prices are from £60 to £75, there are plenty of tastings and all specialist diets can be catered for. I went on one of Borough Market in September and even though I’m a Londoner, I learnt new things and tried new foods.

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Comments

  1. asharpknife

    December 3, 2015 at 1:01 am

    Only you could come up with a line like this; 'I love hampers and would like to be buried in something wicker with leather straps and a champagne glass, sort of a death picnic.'. Brilliant. I fully agree!

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      December 3, 2015 at 12:57 pm

      If you died in the summer I suppose. I think in the winter they could just bung me on a bonfire and warm their hands on it while baking potatoes in the embers…

      Reply
  2. Nic M

    December 3, 2015 at 7:29 am

    Tesco sells Meyer lemons in season and they're pretty good quality. I've been trying to source Buddha's hands with little success.

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      December 3, 2015 at 12:56 pm

      People have mentioned that before but I've literally never seen them.

      Reply
  3. Rachel Lucas

    December 3, 2015 at 6:49 pm

    Yes to the Tesco/Meyer lemon thing! Our Tesco Extra here in Aylesbury stocks them in January, wrapped in tissue paper…about £1.25 each. Being a foodie wilderness hereabouts, no one else ever buys them so I snap them up! Gorgeous things…

    Reply
    • Kerstin Rodgers aka MsMarmiteLover

      December 4, 2015 at 9:19 am

      I'm glad to hear these mythological Tesco Meyer lemons actually exist. I'm going to have to put a call out on Twitter in January to find out if there are any Tescos near me that sell them.

      Reply

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MsMarmiteLover aka Kerstin Rodgers.

Chef, photographer, author, journalist, blogger. Pioneer of the supperclub movement.

This is my food and travel blog, with recipes, reviews and travel stories. I also stray into politics, feminism, gardening.

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Kerstin Rodgers/MsMarmiteLover
My piece in the @hamandhigh about the 3 day @heat My piece in the @hamandhigh about the  3 day @heathostile training course. Incredibly interesting & challenging. Link: https://www.hamhigh.co.uk/things-to-do/hostile-environment-training-9037980 to read more #hostileenvironmenttraining
Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot Supper club dishes from Saturday: pickled beetroot eggs, cheeseboard, stracciatella & cucumber, tomato/strawberry/peashoot salad with real balsamic & spruce oil, home cured dill gravlax, smoked salmon, homemade sourdough crisp bread, potato salad with wild fennel & lots more! #supperclub #midsummer #eattherainbow (miss you @linnsoederstroem)
Last nights supper club. My first supper club in 2 Last nights supper club. My first supper club in 2 years was great fun. I’m pleased with my food, the guests were lovely, it looked magical in the garden. But the weather! I even had to bring my duvets from the bedroom out. They looked like refugees. But this brought even more laughter! Next event September
My first supperclub in two years will take place t My first supperclub in two years will take place this Saturday 18th June starting at 7.30pm. Tickets are £50 byo you can book here: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club there are still a few places left. Pescetarian menu. Scandi and botanical influences. #gettingbackonmyfeet #postpandemic #smallbusinesses #supperclub #london
I recently completed the 3 day @heathostile train I recently completed the 3 day  @heathostile training course. On the last day I was kidnapped by ex-special forces for a few hours & learnt how to deal with compliance training & a hostile environment. It was one of the most interesting experiences of my life. 3 intense days of combat first aid, navigation & how to survive in a war zone. I handled short, long guns, mortars, grenades, bullets, and tourniquet & bandaged an amputee. I learnt where to sit in a car, where to hide from a bullet, where to protect myself if in a car. It was brilliant. Highly recommended for any journalists, photographers, cameramen, charity workers, paramedics going into any difficult environment say a disaster or war. The stories from the tutors & the other participants were so interesting. My piece on it out soon. Book a course: https://hostile-environment.co.uk/  They also do jungle & desert training. I’d love to join the Antarctic expedition. Anyway that’s me hooded in the front. #adventures #het #hostileenvironmenttraining #experiences #travel
Bundoran beach, Donegal. I spent a week knocking o Bundoran beach, Donegal. I spent a week knocking on doors, going to libraries, searching through graveyards for my Irish forebears. It’s really hard to find information prior to 1850. I found this in last years trip to Arbroath in Scotland. Headstones wear out, records are lost or burnt in a fire, everybody has the same name and are known by nicknames, successive children have the same first name, that usually means they died and the next one is called by the same thing. Women did have children out of wedlock, and people remarried more often than you’d think, plus families fall out & never see each other again. I learnt that my Irish great grandfather michael went to Glasgow & met a woman who came from a similar place: somewhere wild & beautiful by the sea. Then they and their children came to london. Chasing the work & the money always. Politics and economics matter for they push people around from rural to city. And now we rodgers are Londoners. #ireland #scotland #family #travel #roots
How some of us celebrate the Queen’s jubilee! My How some of us celebrate the Queen’s jubilee! My sister & a random Irishman come for the Rory Gallagher festival in ballyshannon. Sis has pulled already!  #getyourcoat #sexpistols #ballyshannon #rorygallagherfestival #ireland
Tullaghan, county Leitrim, Donegal, where my grea Tullaghan, county Leitrim, Donegal,  where my great great grandfather john Rodgers was a postman, then a tailor, then a pawnbroker. #irishheritage #donegal #myancestry #irish #rodgers #travel
I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor I’ve taken down the previous post as it’s poor timing considering what’s happened over the last 24 hours. Being British I’ve not grown up around guns. It’s interesting to be on this course and find out more about the reality of them, although my focus is learning the ‘golden triangle’ of first aid, communications and navigation. But at the same time It’s depressing how in America nothing will ever change regarding gun law. RIP.
Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa Me as a punk. #pinkhair @caplanmelissa
Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite Sniffin’ glue: Me n @Jaybladesmbe at the Loctite pop up yesterday. I’m all about repairing and upcycling my brocante finds: this time a beautiful pale wood lamp shade stand which had broken off at the bottom. I’m going to rewire it with 2 core sky blue twisted fabric wire, pop on my hand sewn pleated lampshade I learnt to do @workshopminerva and it shall be beautiful. Don’t chuck out your chintz: repair it! #therepairshop #selfie #interiors #popup
in June I’m having my first supper club in two y in June I’m having my first supper club in two years: here is the link to book: https://msmarmitelover.com/product/midsommar-supper-club £50 18th June  Saturday night. Byo.
#chelseaflower coming up. Last year I bought these succulents and planted them in a vintage zinc garden sieve. Now they are flowering. My balcony is like a little greenhouse: I can grow aubergines & other plants that usually need to be under glass. #londongarden #may #plants #succulents in the garden
Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on t Lemon drizzle cake. The trick is not to stint on the citrus. I used 7: 2 Italian lemons (from Lidl):some ordinary lemons and some limes (18p) at Lidl. Don’t be afraid to mix and match your citrus. I also used buttermilk from @fenfarmdairy in Suffolk from their honesty shop. Last night we ate it still warm from the oven. #cake #lemondrizzle #homebaking #citrus #buttermilk
A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spa A Simple tomato, goats cheese and basil salad, spanking fresh asparagus / fried in olive oil, season, then add a little boiling water, not too much, put on the lid, dressed with lemon zest & Parmesan, @fenfarmdairy baron bigod cheese, good bread. This is how I like to eat. Claire’s plates found at the beccles brocante. #suffolk #suffolkfood #supper #dinnerwithfriends  #vintageplates
Can’t wait to see what they will be like when th Can’t wait to see what they will be like when they are fired. All my favourite themes: gingham and scallops. Thanks to @clairebelljar for a wonderful weekend and pottery workshop. Such fun! #workingwithyourhands #playtime #creativity #ceramics #pottery #suffolk
Making plates with talented potter & old South Ham Making plates with talented potter & old South Hampstead girl @clairebelljar in Suffolk. She has the most beautiful house I’ve ever seen. Such a joy to be reunited with her. #friendsreunited #makers #potters #scalloped #wildflowers #cowparsley #pottery
Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian capona Another budget gourmet recipe, the Sicilian caponata, which is like a more interesting ratatouille, in which you add capers, olives & vinegar. £2.50p. I was asked to develop a series of recipes which were delicious enough to serve at a dinner party but also cheap. I shopped at Lidl. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #recipe #vegetarian #vegan #lidluk
Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Mackerel pâté, a recipe that cost under £2.50. Lemon & herb smoked mackerel fillets from @lidl (take off skin)3 big scoops creme fraiche from Lidl and juice of half a lemon. Blend. Plenty of black pepper. Serve with bread. #budgetgourmet #costoflivingcrisis #eatorheat
Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh o Just wrote a very personal piece for @hamandhigh on my decade as a single parent on benefits, how I learned to cook & how things are so much harder now because not only are ingredients pricier but the cost of cooking them is too. 3 budget gourmet meals serving 4, for £2.50 each. #costoflivingcrisis #budgetgourmet #povertyshame #singleparents #foodblogger
Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons. Easter Sunday. Daffodil skeletons.
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