What’s on your Christmas food list?

Everybody has a Christmas list. As a child it would be the latest and greatest toy, I’m sure you remember the excitement as you opened up your presents in anticipation of your dreams coming true.

But what about food?

The cliché goes that it’s the seasonal foods we don’t like that get all the attention, I talking of course about that one foodstuff that divides the world…Brussels sprouts! There are several other “Christmas only” foods that also get people quivering at the thought of them appearing on a plate in front of them including the curious pickled walnut. Food is of course a big part of Christmas as it is the time of year for feasting, There are things to eat which are peculiar this festive holiday and (for some reason) you have to wait all year to eat them. There are some really interesting flavours that appear, but which are the ones that if they were missing then Christmas just wouldn’t be Christmas. Is it the meat? From golden roast turkey and goose to glazed hams glistening under the glare of fairy lights. I personally can’t get enough of those sausages wrapped in bacon, but there is so much more to love in this giant extended roast dinner. Maybe it’s vegetables like red cabbage (something that strangely only seems to make an appearance around Christmas), roast chestnut stuffing or those divisive Brussels sprouts. Then we have the sweet stuff, Christmas pudding, Christmas cake, mince pies, chocolates the list goes on and on. There is plenty of food and drink which makes Christmas day stand out from any other normal day of the year. Sherry is something nobody drinks except for Christmas day. How about a snowball, Advocaat and lemonade a drink which I have never anyone seen order in a bar but in peoples homes it’s offered around like a treat which has so rare and divine “you simply must have one, it is Christmas after all!” Port and stilton is a wonderful thing so why oh why is it only popular at Christmas? Strange that this cheese is used more as an ingredient during the rest of the year but only at Christmas are we allowed to savour its sharp, rich and utterly cheesy delights? But these are some of the things that make our festive day and we love it so much it’s the only time of year you will see adults don a paper crown with gusto and let pictures of themselves looking ever so slightly stupid be posted all over the internet. I wonder if the Queen does this in her real crown? So what is the best thing food wise about Christmas for you? What would ruin it for you if it was taken away?