The holidays have a way of pulling cooks back to themselves. No matter how many services they’ve run or awards they’ve collected, this is the time of year when even the most accomplished chefs reach for dishes that feel personal.
For some, that means baking something sweet and deliberately unfussy; for others, it’s slow, deeply savoury cooking that rewards patience and memory. These are not restaurant showpieces or trend-driven plates, but the dishes chefs return to when they’re feeding family and want to express sentimentality in their cooking.
