Festive guide
Designers and tastemakers on throwing a festive do in style
FEATURE ELLEN FINCH
SERVING UP A STYLISH FEAST
Cookery author Skye McAlpine reveals ways to create a feeling of abundance through food
I want my home to feel abundant and plentifulatChristmas. It’s nice for it to feel extravagant in some way, because that’s what the festive season is about – being together, but also spoiling each other, and a really lovely way to do that is through food.
Roasts are easy to do for large numbers, but often the side dishes are the most labour intensive parts. I have this really easy way of doing roast potatoes where you don’t have to peel them or parboil them – just drench them in more
olive oil than seems sensible and put them in a medium oven for a long time. Then I might do a red chicory salad, because the leaves feel festive, and scatter over some pomegranate seeds. It’s low-effort and my go-to meal through the season.
I have an incredibly sweet tooth, so I like lots of pudding options – that, to me, says celebration. My go-to is panettone – I love to serve it with brandy butter. In my book A Table for Friends, one of my favourite recipes takes the panettone, slices it crossways, then layers it with whipped cream, covers it in soft meringue and burns it with a blowtorch. It’s such a showstopper and so indulgent, but it doesn’t actually involve much effort.
Itypicallydon’tdoastarterorcanapés, but I always put out nibbles – bowls of crisps, Spanish salted almonds, and olives; a big chunk of cheese with a small dish of truffle scented honey; salami with a knife.
I have a phobia of plated food at home. I like to serve it ‘family style’, largely because I’m greedy and I like to help myself, but also because it looks more generous and inviting. The food acts as a table decoration, so if you have a nice serving dish to present it on, you don’t have to worry about decorating the table so much – it already looks really abundant.
I decorate with fruit in the winter because there’s not much by way of seasonal flowers and it feels less wasteful: guests can help themselves and you can put the rest into a crumble. Piles of pears, apples, pomegranates and grapes look Caravaggio-esque: last year, I got quite into decorating them with squares of gold leaf. And then sweets, I think, look really nice: dates stuffed with walnuts, candied peel, little piles of chocolate gold coins.
Iam a bit lazy, so I’ll usually offer red wine, white wine and Prosecco, especially if I’m hosting by myself. Otherwise, I’ll make negronis or martinis in bulk and keep them in the freezer until just before the party. I’ll turn them out into jugs with ice; we do beautiful Murano gla
