Читать книгу Fortnum & Mason: Christmas & Other Winter Feasts - Tom Bowles Parker - Страница 42

The list here is a sort of Christmas survival guide, an exhaustive collection of everything you need to have on hand to deal with those last-minute drop-ins. Or late-night hunger pangs. Or mid-afternoon snacks. It takes in the obvious (Champagne, coffee, wine, cheese, mince pies, brandy butter), through to the more exotic (glacé fruits, marrons glacés, Elvas plums and pruneaux d’Agen), and right up to the lavishly lovely (caviar). Christmas has never tasted so good.

BISCUITS TO GO WITH CHEESE

I hardly need to explain this one. But if you’re insisting on the finest cheese (which you are, naturally), find biscuits to match. Fortnum’s has a range to suit every cheese, but I’m also a fan of the Highgrove oat biscuits, and of the classic water biscuits.

BRANDY BUTTER

For me, brandy butter is easily the best thing about Christmas pudding, and makes it just about bearable. In fact, I could eat it straight from the jar. But it’s a Yuletide essential, and just as good melted over mince pies, crumble and other classic puddings.

CAVIAR AND (FRESH) BLINIS

OK, so caviar is not exactly cheap. But then this is Christmas, the time to splash out on the things you really love. And that includes the divine eggs of the sturgeon. It’s now illegal to sell wild caviar in this country, but the farmed stuff is so good these days that even the great experts would be pushed to tell the difference. Beluga is the most expensive variety, as it’s the rarest, and has the biggest eggs. Gunmetal grey in colour, it has a subtle, slightly creamy taste with the merest hint of walnut. My favourite is Oscietra, with smaller eggs but a more pronounced nutty taste, whereas Sevruga has a distinct tang of the sea.

Caviar is best eaten with a non-reactive spoon, as metal tends to give an unpleasant tang. So go for spoons made of horn, mother-of-pearl, or even plastic. If you must. Caviar works beautifully with eggs of any kind (scrambled, boiled, even fried), and with smoked fish, too. I like it piled high on a homemade blini (you can buy decent shop-bought versions, too, which keep well, and are also good with smoked salmon and soured cream) or fresh Melba toast. Some folk like to sully their caviar with chopped egg and onions. Sacrilege! Although each to their own, I suppose. For me, though, caviar needs nothing more than the merest drizzle of lemon. When you’re eating something this rare and exquisite, you want to keep it blessedly simple.

CHAMPAGNE

There is, of course, a Champagne for every mood and moment, from the elegantly light Blanc de Blancs to the rather more nutty, rich and complex Fortnum’s Vintage, made by the great Louis Roederer. And there should always be a couple of bottles sitting chilled in the fridge, ready for any eventuality or hospitality emergency. See it as Christmas First Aid.

CHEESE WITH MULLED WINE JELLY

Another addictive addition to your groaning cheeseboard, this Christmas spiced wine jelly confection works wonders with anything it touches. Add a little to your gravy, for sweet, subtle depth.

CHRISTMAS CAKE

If you can’t face making your own, then leave the heavy lifting to Fortnum’s. They have cakes that taste every bit as fine as those made at home – and some, dare I say, that taste even better.

CHRISTMAS MUSTARDS, BOXING DAY CHUTNEYS

These are the essential Christmas artillery, no-nonsense troopers that add all manner of pungent, pickled and vinegar-drenched magic to anything they touch. Seriously, imagine York ham without a splodge of sinus-clearing English mustard, or cold turkey minus a neat pile of seasonally spiced chutney. Although they might be seen as unglamorous store-cupboard staples, their role is paramount. The saviour of leftovers, they add vim and vigour, light and life to every part of the Christmas feast: yesterday’s curry, warmed up and anointed with a dollop of hot mango chutney; Chilli Lilli pickle with cold roast potatoes; hot garlic pickle with cold lamb; pickled beetroot and red cabbage chutney with roast duck, green tomato chutney with a brace of fried eggs. And, just like a puppy, they’re not just for Christmas. They continue to delight the whole year round.

CHRISTMAS PUDDING

Like the mince pie, the beloved Christmas pudding started off with a distinctly savoury appeal. Known in the fifteenth century as plum pottage, the recipe contained chopped beef or mutton, as well as onions, dried fruits, wine, herbs and all those exotic spices brought back from the Middle East. By the Crusaders, some will say. And far from being the merry globe it is now, this pottage had the soft, runny consistency of porridge.

As time passed, and breadcrumbs and eggs were added, so the mixture thickened. And the meat was gradually replaced by suet. It was then wrapped in a cloth, and became the shape we know today.

Fortnum’s has a long pudding tradition, supplying either the ingredients or complete puddings to military clients on overseas service. As ever, a taste of home in the outposts of Empire. But they didn’t actually make and sell their own puddings in store until the First World War. Yet from the very start, the shop filled with muscatel raisins, currants and sultanas, China oranges, lemons and candied peel, fragrant cloves, and dark sugars and treacle from the West Indies. Customers from across the globe placed large orders for the vital exotic ingredients needed to create enough puddings for their families and guests. It’s a tradition that goes on to this day. And you can find a pulchritudinous pudding in store for every single taste. The choice is ever dazzling. Whether you make it yourself, or buy it ready to steam, you can be sure of one thing – no one knows the Christmas pudding quite like Fortnum & Mason.

COFFEE

Since writing the first Fortnum & Mason cook book, I’ve become a coffee bore. Meaning I buy my beans whole, grind them fresh for each cup, then use a Chemex drip coffee maker to produce a cup that fills me with pure caffeinated delight. Fortnum’s has a huge range of both beans and ready-ground, from the delicate, fragrant notes of Jamaican Blue Mountain to the rather more robust (but ever elegant) Guatemalan Santa Clara. I could bang on and on about the idiosyncrasies of each different variety, the beauty of blends, and the niceties of roasts. Before moving on to a deep discussion about the joys of drip brew versus machine. But I’ll spare you the lecture, and offer one last piece of advice – instant may be easy, but it’s certainly no match for the real thing.

DUNDEE CAKE

The classic fruit cake, unadorned, save a topping of fresh almonds, this is no-nonsense teatime tucker. One for the purists, who see a Christmas coating of marzipan as an unnecessary embellishment.

ELVAS PLUMS

A Fortnum’s Christmas classic so beloved it even inspired its own sugarplum fairy. And 200 years back, Fortnum’s would take out an advertisement in The Times, announcing their arrival in store. And still do. They were that popular, and remain so to this day. They’re not actually plums, but rather greengages, grown in the Upper Alentejo region of Portugal. Hand-selected in June, they’re then steeped in vats of sugar cane syrup for two months, before being washed, sun-dried and packed into beautiful wooden boxes. They go really well with port (which makes sense, as they were made popular by the British port-producing families who were once so powerful in the region), as well as with Cognac and Armagnac. Cheese too, both hard and soft. As I said, a true Christmas classic.

FIG CHEESE

Not a cheese, rather a rich and wonderfully fruity addition to the cheeseboard, this is especially good with soft cheese. Though I find it ever versatile, something to bring out previously unknown depths in everything from good Cheddar to Manchego and anything goaty.

FLORENTINES

Cupboard essentials, and one for the stocking, too. In fact, I find these chewy, chocolate-coated, dried-fruit-studded delights near impossible to walk past. They add a touch of Italian glamour to any tea, and magic to a midnight feast.

FOIE GRAS

Certainly a somewhat controversial ingredient, the Fortnum’s version uses livers from outdoor-bred farms in Strasbourg. It’s available tinned, potted, studded with truffles, flavoured with spices and even as a whole lobe, ready to cook. Serve with Champagne or pudding wine.

FONDANT FANCIES

These delectable iced sponges have come a long way since they sat prettily in the window of our local country baker, available in a mere handful of flavours. At Fortnum’s, they come in every variety from Earl Grey tea to marmalade. You can also bake them yourself, and it’s one of those recipes that children adore. But if, like me, your baking abilities are somewhat lacking, there’s no shame in relying on Fortnum’s rather superior skills.

GLACÉ FRUITS

I’m never sure whether to eat these crystallised fruits. Or display them in a case, such is the jewel-like beauty of every one. My favourites are the amber glacé clementines that glow like some rare crystal. The Corsican fruits are cooked, then steeped in a sugar solution for two weeks, creating something that is wonderfully sweet, with a crisp exterior, yet still contains the very soul of the fruit. You can also find glacé pears, figs, plums, apricots, and even chillies. Devour them with a cup of mint tea, or serve them after pudding. Hell, serve them as a course on their own, allowing dinner to stretch on languidly until deep into the early hours.

GRIOTTES

Another sweet delight, this sees Kentish cherries steeped in brandy for a whole three years, then de-stoned by hand, enveloped in the most soft of fondants, and hand-dipped in dark chocolate. So it’s a treat that is literally years in the making. And there’s a limited supply, too, so order early, as they say, to avoid missing out on boozy, chocolate-covered cherry joy.

HAM

Christmas just isn’t the same without a great leg of ham, preferably York, with its dry texture, subtle sweetness and pale pink tinge. The story goes that it got its name thanks to the ham being smoked in the ruins of York Minster, many centuries ago. But, charming as that tale is, it’s also untrue. Traditionally, the ham can be smoked or unsmoked, but either way, it’s a classic, perfect for slicing thickly and serving with fried eggs, chutney or mustard. In fact, I find it very hard to even pass by without hewing off an impromptu snack, at any time of day or night. A true Christmas essential.

HANDMADE ENGLISH AFTER-DINNER MINTS

Always have a few boxes of handmade English mint chocolates – not just the perfect present, but something no house should ever be without at Christmas.

MARMALADE

Fortnum’s probably has one of the widest ranges of marmalade in the world, from the thick-cut, deeply-flavoured charms of Sir Nigel, through to the tangy, medium-cut thrills of Old English Hunt, to the dark, rum-infused punch of Old Navy. In fact, Fortnum’s is so marmalade-mad that it even sponsors the Dalemain Marmalade Awards, where the winner gets a place in the Fortnum’s line-up. In 2018 the winner was Janice Miner’s G&G, which mixes grapefruit with gin to produce a marmalade with a wonderful sweet/sharp balance. But whatever your taste, make sure it’s proper marmalade, rather than some sorry, mass-produced mountebank.

MARRONS GLACÉS

More sugar-coated succour, this time candied chestnuts. Eat them on their own, purée them to make Mont Blanc (not exactly the easiest of puddings, but well worth a try), or simply eat with ice cream.

MINCE PIES

An utter Christmas essential, and available in all manner of sizes. Once made with minced meat and suet, most of the carnivorous ingredients have now gone. But all they need is a few minutes in the oven, and you have wonderfully spiced comfort, encased in crumbly, buttery pastry. A dollop of brandy butter never goes amiss either. At Fortnum’s, as ever, the range is dizzying, covering everything from traditional mince pies to the almond-topped.

NAPOLITAINS

Serious, grown-up chocolate, flavoured, individually, with salt, ginger, peppermint, lemon or orange, and individually wrapped. Blissfully addictive and eternally popular for any time of day or night.

NUTS AND DRIED FRUITS

For as long as I can remember there’s been a packet of dates that come out for Christmas then seem to disappear back into some distant cupboard for the rest of the year. But one taste of Fortnum’s soft, succulent Medjool dates, known as ‘the king of dates’, and you know these won’t hang around for long. Nuts are another essential, from the humble peanut right through to the delicately spiced wonders of their Scheherazade’s almonds.

PANETTONE

An Italian Christmas classic, this sweet Christmas cake (originally from Milan) contains the usual candied citrus peel and raisins, and can be served with sweet wine, amaretto or crema di mascarpone. It keeps well, so can be used as emergency teatime supplies too. For unexpected drop-ins. At Fortnum’s their version is made by the legendary Cipriani, of Harry’s Bar restaurant fame. And it’s used in the recipe for Marmalade Bread and Butter Pudding. Damn good it is too. Eat it warm for breakfast, with a cup of good coffee.

PICKLED WALNUTS

As English as David Niven strolling down Jermyn Street in a three-piece and a bowler hat and whistling ‘Rule Britannia’, pickled walnuts are a soft, sharp delight. Serve with thick slices of ham, or a great chunk of Stilton.

PORK PIES

A proper pork pie is a thing of pure porcine majesty: properly seasoned, peppery pork, surrounded by wobbling pork jelly and clad in a crisp, lard-based pastry. Triple pig, and all the better for it. You could, of course, make your own, but that hand-raised crust can be hard work. I tend to leave it to the experts. And buy a huge pie. The problem is, I find it very hard not to snack on it, slathered with piccalilli, or a great smear of proper English mustard. It’s also a Boxing Day stalwart, although in my house it rarely makes it through Christmas Day.

PORT

This fortified sweet wine makes a perfect end to any dinner, be it Vintage (rich, redolent and deeply complex), chilled Dry White (full-flavoured but fresh), Crusted (matured, then bottled without any fining or filtration, to retain that delectable fruit concentration), or Tawny (served chilled, it’s rich, sweet and silken). So far from being the old club buffer’s tipple, it’s a wine with a version for every occasion.

PRUNEAUX D’AGEN

Ente plums, a rare local variety found only in the South of France (and grown by a small co-operative of farmers), are stuffed with a sweet, succulent prune purée. They’re soft, juicy and, alongside a good cup of coffee, the perfect way to round off a long and languorous dinner.

SHERRY

Forget the days, long past, where a glass of sherry meant a tot of your Granny’s oversweet stuff, poured from an old dusty bottle. Because at long last we’re starting to appreciate the endless glories of this wonderful Spanish fortified wine. A chilled glass of dry, delicate Fino, the perfect aperitif, which also stands up to the most robust of flavours, taking on garlic and chilli with equal aplomb. Oloroso VORS (very old and robust sherry) has been aged and is rich and nutty, while Manzanilla is less rich, with a saline whiff of the sea. For those looking for a bit more oomph, then Pedro Ximénez VOS (very old sherry) is the perfect end to dinner, deeply flavoured and intensely fruity, to be drunk with blue cheese, or with chocolate puddings, and equally wonderful poured over ice cream.

SLOE GIN

A stalwart of British winter, this deep purple libation manages to mix the sweet with the tart. A nip or two is an essential winter warmer, but it also makes a wonderful cocktail ingredient, used in Sloe Negronis and sloe toddies, too. Fortnum’s sell their version, but I always make my own. You’ll find the berries in late autumn: simply take a few handfuls (around 500g), freeze them overnight, then mix them with gin (good-quality please) and caster sugar (about 2 tablespoons) in a sterilised bottle. Leave for a couple of months in a dark place, and this regal concoction will be ready in time for Christmas.

SMOKED SALMON

The proper stuff, elegantly smoked (rather than choked with a bitter bonfire of fake oak flavouring), resolutely ungreasy, and elegantly, expertly sliced. Quality is everything: try to find a variety that uses fish farmed to the highest standards, as they do at Fortnum’s. The very best needs little more than a drizzle of lemon and a dusting of freshly ground black pepper, plus a great pile of thickly buttered brown bread. Or do as my mother does on Christmas night and make a huge pot of runny scrambled eggs, to sit atop a few slices of serious smoked salmon. Simple, and simply sensational.

STEM GINGER

Ginger was once one of the most important spices imported by Fortnum’s, and by the mid-nineteenth-century, they offered ‘preserved West Indian Ginger, clear and young, in original jars and bottles in various sizes,’ as well as East India Preserved Ginger, in small china jars. And a pickle called Chou Chou.

During the Great War, preserved ginger from Fortnum’s was a staple of parcels sent out to the Western front, and officers could share cubed glacé ginger, pickled Chinese stem ginger, Chyloong stem ginger, Piewoong Stem Ginger, Manloong Stem Ginger as well as that West India Ginger ‘beautifully clear and free from string,’ in heavy syrup. And Chow Chow (the spelling of this pickle had changed by 1914).

Ginger is one of those wonder spices, said to help everything from upset tummies to morning sickness. Which is why it’s so useful to have a jar of the stuff, preserved in syrup. You can add it to puddings, scatter it over ice cream, even eat it straight from the bottle. A store-cupboard essential.

STOLLEN CAKE

A classic German Christmas bread, you want to buy the big version, which should last you through the festive morass. It’s traditionally packed full of citrus peel, raisins and almonds, then sprinkled with a flurry of icing sugar. I rather like it toasted, and slathered with salty butter.

TURKISH DELIGHT

One glimpse of these lovely, heaven-scented lumps of pink, green and yellow delight, dusted liberally in icing sugar, and you see exactly why Edmund, in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, was so enamoured of the White Witch. The Dark Side has never seemed more delectable. Fortnum’s Turkish delight has been handmade by the same Istanbul family for over twenty years, meaning it’s a true taste of that great and glorious city. And there’s something about those smart wooden boxes that make this simple sweet seem all the more exotic.

VACHERIN

One of the great seasonal cow’s milk cheeses, Vacherin is made in both France and Switzerland, mainly in villages of the Jura region. Packaged in a spruce box, it should be left at room temperature until it becomes almost liquid. It has a rich, deep flavour and is also wonderful hot, simply heated in the oven with a few slivers of garlic, a couple of sprigs of thyme, and a splash of white wine. Serve with bread, potatoes and cornichons for the easiest fondue you’ll ever find.

WAXED CHEDDARS AND POTTED STILTONS

This is the sort of Christmas present that makes me very happy indeed. Proper Cheddar (as different from that crass mass-produced rubbish as truffle oil is from fresh white truffle), encased in a wax shell. The potted Stiltons look as good as they taste, filled with cheese made by the last family-owned producer in the country (and made with milk that by law must only come from Derbyshire, Nottingham or Leicestershire), this is a cheese that is rich, luscious and packed with blue-veined depth.

WHITE TRUFFLE

For me, the Alba truffle is the greatest of them all, and certainly the most expensive. And it’s not so much about the taste (the black truffle has more actual flavour), but rather that heady, sexy, slightly filthy scent that caresses the nostrils, and gets the taste buds priapic with anticipatory lust. Grate it over scrambled eggs, risotto, fresh pasta, or even, as they do in 45 Jermyn St., scatter it over a toasted cheese sandwich. Truffles will keep for about four days in a cool place, or longer, if you wrap them in kitchen paper and store them in a sealed glass jar in the fridge. Or, better still, store them with eggs, or risotto rice, where that divine scent will be absorbed. A walnut-sized truffle will cover about four portions of pasta. Fewer for the truly ardent truffle addicts. Like me.

WINES

Where do I start? The soft, silky beauty of a classic Margaux, or the light, strawberry-scented charms of a proper Provençal rosé. The complex, spiced depths of a serious Burgundy, compared to the rich, honeyed elegance of its white counterpart. There are Rieslings with the most luscious of finishes, flinty Chablis, vibrant Spanish Albariños, thrilling, berry-packed Australian reds, and fresh, slightly fizzy Vinhos Verdes. There’s a wine for every taste, a blend for every palate, some of them made for drinking alone, others that come alive when matched with food. Call the concierge or wine department for your own selection. You’ll all have your favourites, but sometimes, be bold, and try something new. Christmas Day is the one time of the year where it’s perfectly acceptable to have a glass of wine (or Champagne) for breakfast. Eat, drink and be merry. There’s always January for regrets.

YULE LOG

There’s a recipe for the rather lovely Black Forest Log in the book. But whether you make your own, or simply buy one in, this divine log is as much symbolic as it is delectable. Back before the Victorians changed Christmas from wild bacchanalia to respectable family feast, a huge log, the largest that could fit in the fireplace, was lit on the first day of Christmas and expected to last twelve days. That tradition is long gone, but the edible Yule log remains.