The biggest treat you could give a vegetarian at this time of year would be white truffles and home-made pasta with goat’s and parmesan cheese.I can’t stand Christmas pudding. What would you suggest as an alternative? Tim Ryder, CoventryChocolate and chestnut cake. There can’t be many people who dislike both Christmas pudding and chocolate.Melt 250g dark chocolate and 250g unsalted butter together in a pan over a very gentle heat. What would you serve me? Would I be welcome? Beatrice Barber, by e-mailPeople often assume that I’m rabidly anti-vegetarian, which is not true at all. And then, for dinner, we have goose.I’m veggie and cannot face another nut roast on Christmas Day. I’ve got a lot more time for vegetarians than I have for unthinking carnivores.
Then you fill a quarter of a glass with the rhubarb syrup and top it up with champagne. We have a lightish lunch of winter salad, smoked fish and pat? I might smoke an eel I’ve caught a few in Bridport harbour recently. You cook the rhubarb in fresh orange juice and sugar until it’s tender. Just fry it gently in butter and mash it into the ice cream.What do you consume on an average Christmas day? In chronological order, please! Jessica Gregory, SouthamptonIt’s never quite the same, but this year I have some ducks who are laying particularly well so I think I’ll start with boiled duck eggs and toast soldiers for breakfast Then, we usually have a drink and some nibbles before lunch I quite like having a champagne and rhubarb cocktail. But it sounds like your feast is missing something: fried Christmas pudding with a blob of vanilla ice cream on top. We’ll have one of our own geese, a ham from one of our own pigs, perhaps a lamb and, on Boxing Day, we’re having a four-rib of our beef on the bone.My favourite meal is Boxing Day lunch: cold turkey/chicken, cold chipolatas, cold stuffing, cold bread sauce with bubble-and-squeak, crinkle-cut chips and Branston pickle.
Am I an irredeemable pleb? David McMillan, by e-mailI know what you mean. I enjoy all the cold cuts as much as I do eating the animal the first time around. Let it rest for 20 minutes before carving.Do you think it’s possible to cook well for people you don’t really like? Adrian Webber, East GrinsteadIt’s always a struggle. One is naturally moved to cook well for people one likes, and even more for the people one loves.
Food has always played an important role in my romantic life Cooking is a very effective form of seduction. My wife loves good food, and even though we’ve been together a long time, I still feel anxious to please her with what I’ve cooked. And, in a slightly soppy way, I’m looking for a bit of praise every mealtime.Forget technical advice. Can I just come to yours for Christmas? Niki Kirke, by e-mailIt depends on who you are, but the answer is probably no It’s going to be busy at my house over Christmas. I’ve got my in-laws coming for the whole of Christmas, and my parents and sister coming on Boxing Day Not that I mind – I enjoy cooking for all of them.
