The Friday 5 #118
Special wines for Christmas Day, champagne bargains and the most controversial restaurant in London
A slightly longer post than usual ‘cos of all the wine recs so you may have to end up reading it on the app.
It’s still a month until Christmas and already I feel slightly overwhelmed. There seem to be nothing but Christmas present round-ups in my inbox. Am I the only one who leaves it until December to start shopping or thinking about Christmas food?
Contradicting myself immediately this Sunday, as you may or may not be aware, is Stir-up Sunday, the occasion on which Christmas puddings were traditionally made.
My favourite family recipe doesn’t have to be made that soon but you can if you want to get ahead. I’ve removed the paywall so you can all have a crack at it if you like.
I like it because its a lighter pudding than the traditional dark treacly one but fragrant with spice and fruit.
You may of course be more preoccupied with Thanksgiving which I mistakenly thought was yesterday (could have sworn it was the third Thursday in the month but it’s the fourth one). So, just to repeat, here’s a useful post on stuffing and one about the difference between a Thanksgiving and a British Christmas turkey when it comes to picking a wine
Talking of wine I thought I’d concentrate this week on the better quality wines you might be inclined to buy for Christmas Day. I remember when I was writing for the Guardian and trying to focus on cheaper alternatives getting the indignant response from some readers that they wanted to spend more so why wasn’t I recommending pricier bottles. You just can’t win!
Of course there are - as always - bargains to be had for more immediate drinking - I’ve highlighted some of the offers below, including a great champagne deal. For some reason not many seem to be linked to Black Friday. I guess it’s ‘cos wine is on promotion most of the time.
It’s also a weekend when you’ll find some Beaujolais Nouveau in the shops so even if you didn’t celebrate it yesterday you could this weekend. My friend Claire Thomson of 5 o’clock apron and I made a reel together which you can find on our respective instagram feeds and if you wanted to make Claire’s scrumptious sausage, cep and chestnut galette the recipe is here.
It’s also the right kind of weather to get stuck into casseroles and stews so do get inspired by this month’s cookbook challenge. I’ve also updated my post on what wine to sip with soup on matchingfoodandwine.com so you might find that useful in this cold weather. You can now buy a bundle of credits to use on the site as a gift by the way.
And if you’d like to join me for next month’s online wine tasting and get some up-to-the-minute tips on what to drink for Christmas it’s at 6.30pm on Tuesday December 10th