Something for the Holidays, Part One: Eating
Recipes, inspiration and festive cheer from 73 global contributors
WITH THANKS TO // FEATURING:
Jeremy Lee, Helen Rosner, Mark Diacono, Hetty Lui McKinnon, Felicity Cloake, Rosie Birkett, Katie Parla, Danielle Alvarez, Laura Brown, Calum Franklin, Jonathan Nunn, Kerry Diamond, Dan Lepard, Jo Barrett, Analiese Gregory, Ben Shewry, Matt Stone, Emiko Davies, Monty Koludrovic, Mitch Orr, Andy Hearnden, Max Veenhuyzen, Ben Liebmann, Rosheen Kaul, Jeffrey Phillips, Jessica Rigg, Julia Busuttil Nishimura, Joel Valvasori, Bre Graham, Darren Robertson, Bobby Holland Hanton, Ben Young, Ellie Studd, Sam Studd, Natalia Ribbe, Amy Hamilton, Victor Liong, Michael Harry, Wil Reidie, Ben Ing, Kirsty Marchant, Ross O’Meara, Michelle Crawford, Brendan Pratt, Alexandra Carlton, Petrina Tinslay, Elizabeth Hewson, Ange Yang, Jane Morrow, Ben Greeno, Paul West, Lachie Sheridan, John Susman, Caroline Taylor, Jimmy Campbell, Wayne Cooper, Ricky Mandozzi, Paul Bentley, Jed Gerard, Tony Howell, Sue Lewis, Chris Lucas, Ben Day, Gerard Mitchell, Kim Brennan, Kim Foster, Paul Iskov, Scott Brannigan, Thom Davidson, Josh McMahon, Anna Critchley, Jo Youl, Jane Collins.
Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash
There are good ideas, there are great ideas, and then there’s creating a Christmas monster - a little bit like the Venus fly trap in this year’s John Lewis ad, a seed of an idea that grows, and grows, and grows. Canvassing far and wide, I thought to pose a simple question. What will people be eating, drinking, reading, listening to, and watching this holiday season? My hope is that this special edition offers a little last minute inspiration where needed, some insight that could be a seed itself, or just the slight voyeuristic pleasure of knowing what people consume.
I went loose with the brief, knowing that time wasn’t on my side, and told myself that I should be grateful for whatever I receive. And grateful I am. One-liners typed on the go, mini essays, and huge riffs on the theme is what winged its way back to me. I was a little humbled. I hope you can see why. The contrubitor list is vast, made up of writers, editors, publishers, farmers, chefs, illustrators, chocolatiers, photographers, directors and even a Hollywood stunt double. And that’s just this first edition - there’s two more to come on drinking and culture.
I would like to think that readers will dive into this edition and read top to bottom - which takes about 40 minutes - and then dip in and out over the coming days and weeks, but I also realise that we don’t all consume our media like that. So, this newsletter can be read as a number of small pieces, spread out over hours or days. It’s your choice. I’d say the best way to read it is via your desktop or on the Substack app - the size of it means it’s possibly truncated on email. And I have no doubt that this being a relatively quick turnaround from idea to execution I’ll have the compulsion to edit further once published.
Amongst this epic undertaking there’s much gold (maybe even some frankincense and myrrh). On the practical side there’s chef Ben Greeno telling us how to brine the Christmas turkey, Bre Graham and her restorative sage and egg breakfast sandwich, Mark Diacono offering up his spiced sprouts, and a recipe for steak and chimichurri from a far-flung island that many of you may never have heard of and fewer will have been to. There’s porchetta, garlic roast potatoes, and one of the most ubiqitous but delicious desserts of the moment, Basque cheesecake.
On a personal level there’s Dan Lepard on his Christmas Day, David Matthews on what you could call the spirit of giving, a look at the antipodean Christmas, and an unfortunate reinforcement of cultural stereotypes: the Scottish really will fry anything. There’s a hell of a lot of seafood from the southern hemisphere, and a few fun detours.
Of the many highlights of this first edition were, I suppose, fanboy moments. What is the point of doing this, I ask myself, if you don’t get ridiculously excited by the contributors you’ve corralled, harangued, and some would say mildly harassed.
An email from Jeremy Lee, a bona fide Soho legend, was read again and again, it’s beautiful words just getting more so with each read; and similarly, a brief glimpse into the holiday kitchen of The New Yorker’s, Helen Rosner was a did that really happen moment. I’m not blinded by the lustre of the storied masthead, more the fact that Helen’s writing is a much-anticipated part of my week. And then there’s Ben Liebmann, former COO of Noma and something of a media polymath, going marvellously off-piste with a very special recipe.
Where to begin in this global celebration of the holidays? And I say holidays throughout this newsletter, as well as Christmas, not for some modern correctness but as an understanding that for many, Christmas is someone else’s holiday. We start with Jeremy Lee, chef-proprietor at Quo Vadis in Soho, and the author of COOKING. As I said up top Jeremy is something of a legend; someone who has a grasp on the culinary and the literary.
“Christmas was and still is abundance and ridiculous excitement channelled into excess, mostly resulting in baskets and bowls brimming with leafy lemons, clementines, oranges, pomegranates and pears. Huge great armloads of branches and eucalyptus of as many sorts as possible and much rosemary for remembrance of folk no longer at table. And, on the table, tradition unblemished for I see no reason to try and better a great roast with pots, pans, bowls, and jugs brimming with trimmings. Rather partial to a fish pie on Christmas Eve, Mum always having made a corker and one I aspire to often.”
– Jeremy Lee
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Between Meals to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.