Last Christmas, a chef I regularly work with admitted he hates homemade gifts. Needless to say, I was aghast; who doesn’t love a homemade edible gift?! Perhaps he has been scarred by endless jars of hedgerow jams and allotment veg chutney over the years (although I’m not sure I could ever get sick of homemade chutney, especially if it is one of Chetna Makan’s recipes). This chef is a dear friend, so I have done what any good friend would do and, ever since, have given him a homemade gift each time I’ve given him a present. It got me thinking about edible gifts, what constitutes a good one and why I love them so much.
I’ll start with a disclaimer: I adore Christmas. I’m talking light-up earrings, carols around the village Christmas tree and Felicity Cloake’s mulled wine on repeat – I love it all. However, I do get overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that appears at this time of year. Do we need more stuff? Family and friends will ask me: “What do you want? What do you need?” There is, in fact, very little that I need, and what I actually want is the recipe for your infamous chocolate cake or your granny’s recipe for her slow-cooked ragu. (Clearly I’m not the only one, given the success of online sensation Pasta Grannies.) Or perhaps a bottle of that premixed margarita you made last time I visited your house. To be honest, you could bottle up any of these pitcher-style cocktails and I’d be thrilled. I love it all.
