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1 month ago
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We’ve assembled some of the most delightful and desirable culinary-adjacent items you might wish to give, or receive, this season.
Kitchen utensils that are as aesthetically pleasing as they are useful, quirky homewares and jars of things we love to eat – our list runs the gamut from “essential” to “truly essential”.
Wonder Oven
A multifunctional air fryer/oven that actually looks good on your countertop.
£195, fromourplace.co.uk
Gestura chef’s spoon
The act of measuring out one tablespoon – or freeing your poached egg – has never looked better; the flared lip means every skerrick of sauce can be scraped up, and drizzled over dishes with style.
From £34, souschef.co.uk
Penguin cocktail shaker
An elegant, bow tie-wearing bird from which to dispense your pre-dinner drinks.
£30, johnlewis.com
Letterbox brownies
Top-tier brownies, made fresh and delivered to your door from Exploding Bakery. A truly first-class postal service. (See also their standout, gluten-free Christmas cake.)
£15.95, explodingbakery.com
British tinned fish
Seafood from British waters, preserved in Sea Sisters’ craft cannery in west Dorset – an exceptional product.
£10, seasisters.co.uk
Fennel tea towel
Also available in beetroot, carrot, and spring onion.
£8.50, re-foundobjects.com
Toast toppers … and beyond
Indulge in one of the year’s food trends with pistachio butter, £14.90 eataly.slerp.com; Pollen Bakery’s croissant butter is rich, addictive and best eaten straight from a spoon, £10, delli.market; the clue is in the name – Sublime butter in flavours from chilli-lime to bearnaise to finish steaks, from £4.50, sublimebutter.com
Mauviel M’150B saucepans
Classic, covetable kitchenware; a copper pan that’s gold standard.
From £279, boroughkitchen.com
Blasta books
The Irish publisher’s 2024 range of cookbooks from new voices in food writing covers fish cookery and fermentation, and recipes of Malaysian and Afro-Caribbean heritage.
£13 each, blastabooks.com
Pasta baubles
Deck the halls with ravioli – pasta baubles from restaurant Pastaio and designer Jenny Dyson.
£12 each, pastaio.co.uk
Botivo
Non-alcoholic aperitif for grownups.
£27.50, botivodrinks.com
La Sablésienne cat tin
Moreish buttery biscuits in a covetable – yes, slightly eerie – tin.
£29.99, souschef.co.uk
Cider and cheese box
A taste of Somerset – superior cheddar cheese, fig and elderflower chutney, and Durslade cider.
£35, farmshop.co.uk
Engine oil gin
The fuel you need to get you through the Christmas period.
£37.99, selfridges.com
Cherry-picked presents
Fabbri amarena cherries in syrup are essential for luxe desserts and cocktails – and the opaline glass jar is unthrowawayable, £12.99, souschef.co.uk; sweet cherry necklace, £48, wolfandmoon.com
Thermos
Retro anniversary edition in wintery white and gold. Looks cool as it keeps your contents hot – and vice versa.
£45, thermos.co.uk
Chocolate sardines
Trick or treat – or both? Nothing fishy about these charming stocking fillers.
£2.25, brindisa.com
Delicious prints
For lovers of caff culture, mouthwatering images from irreverent independent publisher Sausage Press.
From £30, sausagepress.uk
Seafood scarves
Knitwear from Brightonian Kate Jenkins that won’t leave you fishing for compliments.
£50, katejenkinsstudio.co.uk
Top Cuvée Christmas hamper
Natural wine, olives, hot sauce, truffle crisps and more.
£85, shopcuvee.com
Nata food candles
For pasta that’s lit – plus crisps, butter, olives and other essentials.
£14, nataconceptstore.com
Hermès rhubarb cologne
A fruity fragrance that’s “exquisite”, according to Observer Magazine’s beauty editor Funmi Fetto.
From £74, selfridges.com
Fiasconaro ‘Maximus’ panettone
Yes, that’s 3kg of panettone. Christmas is officially catered for. Truly showstopping.
£119.50, souschef.co.uk
Crisps and clip
Clips that are (crinkle) cut above all other bag sealing systems, and crisps so good they’ll barely need one.
Crisp clips, £2.80, pophamshome.com; Superbon crisps, £3.50, welovecrisps.com
Oat milk vase
A rather lovely ceramic vase.
£25, shop.balticmill.com
Campari and pasta magnets
Add a touch of la dolce vita to your fridge.
£7.50, souschef.co.uk
Tea advent calendar
Countdown in organic teas from Swedish company Lykke.
£29.99, selfridges.com
YiaYia and Friends olive oil
An ingredient that keeps an eye on you – high-quality, cold-pressed (and, crucially, Greek grandma-approved) extra-virgin olive oil in a range of flavours.
£22.99, selfridges.com
Yuletide Grazing hamper
Give someone the ultimate cosy night in with an abundance of treats from Michelin-starred chef Tommy Banks, including a pate de campagne pork pie, crackers and charcuterie, and ready-to-bake Christmas cookies.
£110, madeinoldstead.co.uk
Sardine napkins
Hand-printed on natural cotton by Norfolk designer Lottie Day.
£48, souschef.co.uk
Smeg digital kitchen scale
A precision-engineered weighing tool with a look that’s off the scale.
£129.99, boots.com
Ingredient-specific graters
A spring onion cutter is the kitchen tool you didn’t know you needed – perfect for stir-fries and salads; and the black coating on this Microplane reduces friction (and increases coolness factor), making it the most essential truffle slicer on the market. Fine, it does mushrooms too. Wooden spring onion cutter, £10, kitchenprovisions.co.uk; Microplane truffle slicer £64.95, boroughkitchen.com
Bipod container set
Beautiful food storage with a space-age twist: the rechargeable vacuum device sucks the air out of the container, preserving food for longer and making marinades the work of moments.
£69 (containers only); £319 (full set with vacuum device), bipod.it
Hot chocolate lovers’ starter pack
Florence Mytum wiggle mug, £35, florencemytum.com; Dualit Cocoatiser hot chocolate maker, £69.99, dualit.com; Pump Street drinking chocolate, from £14.50, pumpstreetchocolate.com
Fish stacking glass tumblers
There are plenty more fish in the sea, but few stack as pleasingly as this set of four tumblers.
£30, johnlewis.com
Butter dish
Spreadable butter is better – keep it out of the fridge and in this beautiful, translucent green dish, made entirely from recycled glass.
£45, fermliving.co.uk
Morello cherry preserve
Add a luxe touch to trifle or your holiday breakfast with a limited edition flavour from Single Variety, small batch jam makers of renown.
£6.50, singlevariety.co.uk
Chocolate advent calendar
Twenty-four hand-painted chocolate bonbons in 12 flavours, from Glasgow’s ARD Bakery, which specialises in delicacies as beautiful as they are delicious.
£42, ardbakery.com
Electric hot pot
Recreate your favourite Chinese restaurant at home – brothy, dunking family fun.
£75, souschef.co.uk
Bowl of cherries table runner
An eye-catching, artfully-designed trompe l’oeil table runner in 100% cotton.
£33.50, re-foundobjects.com
Turrón treats
This nougat is a Spanish festive essential – here it’s in its soft form, and inside one of the nicest panettones we’ve had.
Turrón panettone, £29.50; turrón, £9.50, both brindisa.com
Family games
Battle the timer in card game Pear Shaped, or go traditional with dominoes – if it causes an argument you can simply eat the set. Pear Shaped card game, £14.99, camdengames.com; chocolate dominoes, £3, asda.com
Garlic earrings
Almost every recipe, or outfit, is better with garlic.
£72, wolfandmoon.com
Lemon futsol shirt
When life gives you lemon T-shirts … wear them (as the saying doesn’t quite go).
£95, futsol.co
Cherry amour
Vintage glass pedestal bowl, £15, re-foundobjects.com; M&S cherry liqueurs, £3.50, ocado.com
