When making plans for the festive season, there are several key areas which merit some forethought: what to wear on Christmas Day to strike right the balance between dressy and capacious; what to get the inevitable uncle/sister/mother-in-law who insists they don’t want anything but will openly accuse you of Scroogery if you take them at their word; and what to eat (and who’s going to cook) on the big day. We’ve identified six trends which you can expect to see dominating social feeds throughout December – hashtag foodstagram at the ready.
1. CHUTNEYS
This one is all about traditional, classic flavours. Bonus points for making it yourself or opting for small-batch, sustainable shop-bought. We’re a fan of the collection from Tracklements.
2. HOT HONEY
The hot honey trend has moved from being drizzled on pizzas, to being lavished over just about everything. It’s easy peasy to make; just add heat in the form of pepper flakes or hot sauce to your favourite honey and warm through to loosen.
3. ALCO-FREE SPIRITS
The lo-or-no movement has been gathering pace for a while and there is now a wealth of very palatable options on offer for those wishing to swerve the booze, for any reason. CleanCo’s award-winning range is sugar free as well as alcohol free and made using natural ingredients. Chin chin.
4. ALPINE CHEESE
Whether it is fondue, raclette or simply a board groaning with the good stuff, it seems as if we are looking to the Alps in terms of our tangy preferences this year. That said, to be frank, cheese in any form is always trending as far as we’re concerned.
5. ASIAN CONDIMENTS
Soy sauce, gochujang, chilli oil, the list goes on. All add a punch of flavour to cooking but star of the show is hot sauce which (as long as you can handle the heat) works brilliantly well on just about anything. Our preferred combo is a little hot sauce dabbed over crème fraiche, served up on Little Gem leaves as an alternative canape. Sounds odd? Try it first and thank us later.
6. CHOCOLATE DESSERTS
Apparently, this one is led by the youth who shun the dense fruit cakes and puddings traditionally associated with the season and opt for chocolate favourites, especially when they are zhuzed up with the (now-ubiquitous) salted caramel or – like the Terry’s Christmas classic we all want to find in our stockings – the chocolate orange.
Want to know what the Christmas connoisseurs will be eating over the holiday season? Us too. We grabbed five minutes with the Development & Innovation Chef at M&S Food. Their job is to work with product developers and suppliers to bring the highest quality food and most innovative ideas to M&S customers first.
When does M&S start making decisions about the holiday season?
Christmas is one of the most important times of the year. Typically, we begin making decisions about our Christmas range over a year in advance. This includes everything from product development to sourcing ingredients and working with suppliers to create unique, delicious, and festive offerings.
What are the perennial favourites?
Among the favourites in our Christmas food range are our turkeys, and of course, our Christmas puddings and mince pies. In terms of party foods, pigs in blankets are number one. This year, we’ve double wrapped ours for the first time ever. And then we have chicken Kyivs, which obviously M&S are famous for: we introduced them in 1979. It now seems that Kyivs and Pigs in Blanket are embedded in the British psyche. Third, our mini pies have been popular for a long time.
What should stylish hosts be serving up this season?
Centrepieces like our Shellfish Thermidor Pie with a whole langoustine baked in and hand-finished desserts. Our Best Ever Yule Log has taken months of development, using restaurant-style techniques and we’re so proud of it.
What foods are currently trending?
Over the past few years, we’ve seen a number of exciting trends shaping Christmas dining and, looking forward, we anticipate continued interest in the ultimate foodie mash-ups. Fragrant curry spices in traditional pies, roast turkey lasagne and the swicy trend – sweet and spicy. Fusion continues to be popular but then there are new things like our Ham Hock Cheese Scones, which couldn't be more British.
We love the hot honey trend; we have a baked Hot Honey Brie Brûlée - a whole creamy brie, drizzled with English Provender hot honey and sprinkled with brown cane sugar – coming to your TikTok soon.
Finally, what might you buy in yourself, and what will you be making on the day?
I’ll probably do my own roasties and sprouts but the thing to buy in is our Best Ever Slow Cooked Turkey which comes with a pot of gravy. It's already been wrapped in bacon with its own gorgeous stuffing: everything is done for you and, as it has been slow cooked, you can just pop it in the oven for under two hours.
In terms of desserts, a trifle is always a favourite in my family, so I'm going to make that myself. The kids can't live without a Colin, so we’ll have the Sleigh Ride Colin the Caterpillar cake and this year our Best Ever Yule Log is it is the absolute creme de la creme, forgive me, of festive desserts.
Images and food from marksandspencer.com
