Christmas-Themed Food and Drink Books

I love a Christmas-themed cookbook, no matter how idealised or rarified the writer’s Christmas appears. At this time of year, I fully embrace whimsy, sentimentality, and romantic images of snowy Hallmark Christmases, despite the ad-hoc nature of my festive plans and the fact that my dysfunctional childhood means I am always anxious that Something Might Go Badly Wrong. Some of my choices are newly published, while others are old favourites, and all possess distinctive writerly voices. Think of their authors as a Christmas chorus of cooks sent from the publishing heavens to help you celebrate however you see fit. By the way, if you know of any great seasonal cookbooks from the Southern Hemisphere or by authors writing in different languages, do leave a comment. I know how narrow and UK/USA-focused this guide is, and I would like to change that.

The Kew Gardens Christmas Book by Jenny Linford (Kew Publishing, £20)

Imagine a scene in a Christmas film. Someone is sitting by a flickering fire; candles light the tree, and the air is scented with pine. Next to them is a tub of Quality Street chocolates in the original shiny wrappers (going full nostalgia here!), and there’s an open book on their lap. Jenny Linford’s latest book looks like it belongs in the most nostalgic of films and the kind of book you buy to read every Christmas and then hand down to your children. It is a beautiful celebration of the stories, folklore, food and wildlife (including plants) that are central to this time of year and lush with illustrations sourced from some of the greatest collections. They are quietly beautiful: an 1865 print of an unadorned Abies Nordmanniana, Elizabeth Nourse’s Flock of Geese oil on wood from The Smithsonian, Winslow Homer’s wood engraving of chestnutters from The Met in New York City, and a Borwick’s Baking Powder advert from the 1920s showing Santa holding a plum pudding filled me with emotion. A colour plate of sorrel (Hibiscus Sabdariffa) from Michel Étienne Descourtilz’s Lore [Pittoresque et] Médicale des Antilles ou traité des plantes usuelles des colonies Franaises, Anglaises, Espagnoles et Portugaises is a reminder that not all Christmasses involve snow. The recipes are gorgeous too: Stilton and Poppy Seed Coins, a Chestnut Soup, Cherry Walnut Christmas Mincemeat, and a Sorrel Rum Jelly are just a few that caught my eye.

Delia's Happy Christmas by Delia Smith (Ebury Publishing £25)

When Delia suggested we use cranberries in her recipe for Queen of Puddings, the UK pretty much ran out of the berries; such was the rush. "We often joke in our house about how, when the Christmas book was first published, the shops sold out of cranberries, and for ages, the press annoyingly referred to me as the Cranberry Queen," writes Delia in her online preamble for this recipe. Nigella will relate. A recipe for Arbroath Smokie Creams is admittedly - and wonderfully- retro, as are her Festive Sugar Plums, but her 18th Century Chestnut Stuffing, developed from a Hannah Glasse recipe, is timeless. A Luxuriant Vegetable Pie sounds incredibly contemporary, as does Sauteed, Caramelised Fennel, Chocolate and Sour Cherry Crumble, a Mulled Wine for Drivers, Turkey Soup and Turkey Dripping on Toast and a Pappardelle Pie. Like Nigella, Delia names her sources and, in her headnotes, discloses the little tips and hints that make Christmas catering less of a chore. I always feel like she is on my side.

Advent: Festive German Bakes to Celebrate the Coming of Christmas by Anja Dunk (Quadrille Publishing Ltd; £25)

I am rather keen on the idea of a cookbook that celebrates Advent and the coming of Christmas as opposed to just the day itself, which – for some people –can be more stressful than enjoyable. It’s an important psychological distinction, and Dunk’s book is a gentle relaxation into the days before The Day. It doesn’t feel cluttered with ideas, and it’s so atmospheric I half-expected the book’s forest-green and gold embossed cover to be scented with balsam. (Yes, I sniffed it!) Advent is an insight into Dunk’s own Christmas memories, growing up in Wales with her German mother, yet it doesn’t make me feel inadequate about my patchy efforts to conjure up some festive cheer. Illustrated with homely, warm photos and 24 utterly lovely woodcuts by Dunk, each section offers ideas for decoration and gorgeous food. Day one offers a recipe for saltzteig (salt dough) to fashion into table wreaths whilst, further along, we are tempted by recipes for Muesli Breakfast Rolls, Coffee Fondant Biscuits, Marzipan and Almond-Stuffed Dates, Linzer Cookies for the traditional butter teller plates and all manner of tree decorations, stollens and fruited bread.

At Christmas We Feast: Festive Food Throughout the Ages by Dr Annie Gray (Profile Books; £12.99)

‘While it’s true that much of the surface paraphernalia of the modern Christmas can be ascribed to one or two decades (mainly the 1840s), there are deeper themes which cross the centuries,’ writes Dr Annie Gray in her introduction to At Christmas, We Feast, an archly written and fascinating ‘exploration of the history of the dishes and ingredients that we associate with Christmas’. Gray is an accomplished British historian, author and TV and radio presenter, appearing in series like the BBC’s Victorian Bakers and as a panellist on Radio Four’s The Kitchen Cabinet. She explores the mutable nature of our festival foods via chapters chronologically arranged from the 4th century onwards. There are chapters on how gingerbread started as a rich person’s food and the British fondness for pigs at Christmas, the history of the trifle, ‘epic’ Christmas pies, a plea for the return of Twelfth Cake, and Christmas, ‘post-war and beyond’. There are reworkings of older recipes, too. I love the sound of Eliza Acton’s Tipsy Cake, Hannah Woolley’s Brawn, Wine Chocolate made with ruby port, and a strange Christmas Omelette containing mincemeat from Alfred Suzanne’s ‘sarcastic’ cookery book about the odd things the British and Americans did to their food. An excellent bibliography at the end (as you’d expect from Dr Gray) will please those who want to explore the subject further.

The Christmas Movie Cookbook: Recipes from Your Favorite Holiday Films Hardcover by Julia Rutland (S&S/Simon Element £14.99)

Published this September, this is a must for anyone who notices the food in films before almost anything else (and I speak as someone obsessed with the can of Hickory Honey Ham featured in Christmas With The Kranks. Yes! There's a recipe!) There are recipes for the Breakfast Strata from The Family Stone, Old Fashioned Meatloaf from A Christmas Story, Really Rich Hot Chocolate from Polar Express, Charlie Brown's Christmas-inspired peanut butter cookies, Whiskey-Pomegranate Sour from Bad Santa, Corned beef and Cabbage from Meet Me in Saint Louis, some rather menacing-looking Gingerbread Men from the movie Krampus, Marinara Sauce from Elf, Die Hard-inspired Linzer Star Cookies, and Cinnamon-Orange Breakfast Rolls inspired by Arthur Christmas. Some connections are tenuous, but that doesn't matter because little movie fact boxes explain the author's thinking.

The Little Library Christmas by Kate Young (Head of Zeus, £15)

I love a Christmas cookbook, but when we are unsure how Christmas will pan out, images of feasting, partying, and busy markets can be a bit upsetting. This is where the always empathetic Kate Young comes to the rescue with a gentle book in a jaunty red cover which focuses very much on the smaller pleasures of Christmas, all seen through the prism of literature and an understanding that this time of year can be difficult and might not measure up to our fantasies.

These are achievable recipes: Not-Sausage rolls (inspired by DH Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers), Mitfordesque Champagne Cocktails (more affordable if you are not many at the table this year), Lussekatter (Swedish saffron buns), Pear, Chocolate and Sherry cake, Joycean Tea-Roasted Figs for the cheeseboard, and little PepparAkakor, the spiced cookies baked by Pippi Longstocking in their hundreds are just some of the delights that await you, accompanied by gorgeous images of Quality Street, fir trees heavy with snow and squidgy blanket-laden sofas—one for your Christmas stocking.

The Pigs in Blankets Cookbook: 50 Bacon & Sausage Showstoppers (not just for Christmas) by The Jolly Hog (Ebury Press, £12.99)

A small, square book from the brothers behind Bristol’s The Jolly Hog, this is an excellent example of the kind of Christmas-themed book I like best. It’s a mixture of the completely bonkers (a Pigs in Blanket Trifle with layers of mashed potato, cranberry sauce, brioche, candied bacon and pigs in blankets) and the ingenious (a Georgian-style Kachapuri filled with a sauce made from chorizo and red peppers, topped with pigs in blankets, pomegranate seeds, yoghurt and mint). It’s far more resourceful than it initially seems. The Creamy Mustard Dippy Eggs ( PIBs are dipped into the egg) make a fantastic, doable Christmas breakfast. It’s not ‘just’ for Christmas, too; recipes are divided into seasons, but it would make a fantastic seasonal gift.

Spirited by Signe Johansen (Bluebird, £14.99)

This is another book I’d be delighted to receive as a Christmas gift, although it might be more sensible to buy it beforehand because with the party season (and its inevitable recuperation) coming up, Spirited will come in handy. This is not a drinks book that sparks feelings of inadequacy about how little one knows about booze, mixers and non-alcoholic drinks, and you don’t even need to be a drinker to enjoy it. There’s no undercurrent of ‘machismo snootiness’ (to quote Signe), and this book doesn’t make gendered assumptions about what drinks men and women like, nor does it assume prior knowledge. There’s nothing clubby about her tone. Above all, though, this is an accessible and fun book that will broaden your horizons. For example, I hadn’t considered classifying drinks according to savouriness, and there’s an entire chapter on them. (Masala Chaas made from iced buttermilk, coriander, chilli, and cumin sound fabulous.) Sorrel Spritz, Sherry Cobbler, a Liquorice Latte, and a Campari & Clementine Flamingo caught my eye, too.

The Christmas Chronicles by Nigel Slater (4th Estate; £26)

Nigel Slater said, “‘If your idea of Christmas is all candy canes and fluffy kittens, then this is not the book for you. We should never forget that winter is as deadly as she is beautiful.’ The Christmas Chronicles is part of a greater Northern European tradition, where folklore and fairytales are woven into sere landscapes, and the feasting is hearty and staying. Its grey cover, patterned with silver birch trees embossed in gold, perfectly captures the tension between frigid outdoor conditions, the warmth of woollen clothing during a brisk walk, and our return to hearth and home. It isn’t sentimental, though. Slater’s embrace of winter is well-earthed and clear-eyed, loving and reflective, written in a loose diarised form so you can dip in and out. Musings on fire, the scent of winter, coming in from the cold, choosing the tree, the joy of Christmas markets in Germany and the unwrapping of ornaments, the stillness of a Japanese Onsen in winter, and the necessary pleasure of list-making are studded with recipes. Sometimes, these are little more than suggestions; at other times, they are detailed. And what recipes! A Passion Fruit cake made from leftover panettone; a Hot-Smoked Fish and Leek Pie to eat after the evergreens have been brought in to adorn the house; Dried Fig and Marsala Tart to help with list-writing; a sweet dish of Rice with Cream, Almonds and Scarlet Fruits; and a Lemon, Orange and Basil Ice inspired by a visit to wintry ice cream stands in Japan. There’s a fry-up for a rainy day in the form of a plate of Apples, Potato and Bacon; Cranberry Focaccia to celebrate the eve of a new year, and a recipe for Roast Pumpkin with Dukkah and Pomegranate accompanied by a perfect little essay on Advent Calendars.

Visions of Sugar Plums by Mimi Sheraton (Random House; prices vary)

Written in 1968 by Mimi Sheraton, who served as the restaurant critic at the New York Times between 1975 and 1983, you must hunt down secondhand copies of this little gem. Sheraton focuses on traditional Christmas food worldwide and isn’t interested in ‘reinterpreting’ these recipes. This book serves as documentation. ‘No Christmas memory would seem to be complete without recollections of the holiday foods, most especially the sweets: the yeasty coffee bread golden with saffron and mace; the aged and ripened fruit cakes spiked with whiskey or brandy and jewelled with bits of candied fruits; crisp butter cookies peppery with ginger or aromatic with anise; darkly rich mince pies, plum cakes and puddings; the flaming wine punches and soul-warming wassails; the sensuously sweet taffies and marzipan candies; and the pervasive comfortable scents of vanilla, peppermint, nutmeg, cinnamon and cloves,’ is a paragraph that sends me into raptures. Recipes for Cherry Whiskey Cake, Prune and Walnut Dumplings, Lebanese Crullers glazed with Honey Syrup, Chestnut Fingers and Rye Cookies from Finland, German Anise Drops, Danish Advent Pretzels, Pennsylvania Dutch Belsnickles, Estonian Honey Cake and Portuguese Sugarplums, and ‘Island-Spiced’ Eggnog from the Caribbean will fill a nostalgic heart with quiet joy.

The Official Downton Abbey Christmas Cookbook by Regula Ysewijn (Titan Books UK; £24.99)

I have a confession: Having never watched a single minute of Downton Abbey, I wondered whether I could review a cookbook based on the hugely popular TV series. But when I saw that not only was the brilliant Regula Ysewijn its author but the book’s foreword had been written by food historian Dr Annie Gray too, I knew this would be a meticulously researched cookbook, filled with delicious and well-tested recipes. Ysewijn’s other cookbooks, based on her fascination with the history of traditional British baking, are some of my favourites. So, readers get a beautifully written account of seasonal festivities and traditions in the UK illustrated with stills from the show. Recipes are contextualised, and Ysewijn is particularly good on the Edwardian cooks and cookbook authors who made this food. There are sections on subjects such as ‘How To Host a Downton Christmas’ and little recipe notes that provide background information. I particularly liked the savoury meat pie and pudding section; a recipe for a magnificent Yorkshire Christmas Pie was once served to Queen Victoria at Windsor. This pie was an edible status symbol filled with chicken, partridge, pheasants, quails, two saddles of hare, and flavoured with Madeira and spices. This book doesn’t just cover what the rich ate, though; Ysewijn tells us about Hackin Puddin’ made with beef, oats, spices and suet and traditionally served ‘early in the morning on Christmas Day in several counties in northern England’ to male workers of the household, too.

Christmas with Dickens: Seasonal recipes inspired by the life and work of Charles Dickens by Pen Vogler (Cico Books, £9.99)

Underpinned by the sold research skills of its author and engagingly written, this is the kind of book I like to find under my Christmas tree. In her introduction, Vogler tells us how the success of Dicken's A Christmas Carol among the middle classes (because the Cratchits were a working-class family they could relate to) led to the 'anchoring of a menu of seasonal food - turkey and pudding- to a single day.' But it's not just about A Christmas Carol; we are given recipes for the pickled pork eaten by rural folk in Great Expectations, pickled salmon from Martin Chuzzlewit, Mr Dick's Gingerbread from David Copperfield, Betsey Prigs Twopenny Salad, and instructions for making the wassails and punches we read about in Pickwick Papers. Dickens was 'no fan' of the Temperance Movement, Vogler writes. There's a great bibliography at the end of the book, too.

The Pastry Queen Christmas by Rebecca Rather with Alison Oresman (Ten Speed Press, prices vary)

Rebecca Rather lives in Fredericksburg, Texas, a town with German roots. When she moved there back in 2000 and witnessed the annual Nightime Christmas parade, she burst into tears: ‘The parade symbolised everything I valued about living in a small town,’ she writes in this her second of three books about cooking and entertaining, Texas-style. So, this is it if you want a book that captures a small-town Christmas. Multiple cultural influences are drawn from the USA and Mexico, so it doesn’t feel as parochial (i.e. white) as a Hallmark Christmas. Recipes for skillets filled with Mexican Ranch Chilaquiles and Rosa’s Tamales with Tomatillo Sauce reflect the state’s Texan-Mexican cuisine. At the same time, Apple Dumplings and Pear and Apricot Jam Bars reflect the town’s German heritage. Neighbouring Louisiana inspires a Day-After-Christmas Cajun Turkey Gumbo, while a recipe for Cowboy Coffee Straight (packed with double cream and Bushmills whisky) comes straight from a ranch campfire. You will need a set of cup measures to cook from this book.

Nigella Christmas: Food, Family, Friends, Festivities (Chatto & Windus; £26)

‘Christmas in my home is about bringing light and fire and warmth into the chill darkness. I love the reminder of the cycle of the seasons, the belief in the beneficence of Mother Nature and the sense that the hearth and the home keep the light alive and provide sustenance and hope,’ Lawson writes in her introduction to her Christmas book, published back in 2008. She describes a time when she appeared on a radio show with the high priestess of a Wiccan coven. The latter celebrated the festival similarly: ‘She felt that the lighting of the oven and creating the feast was the human way of understanding, celebrating and enshrining Mother Nature. How could I object to that?’ Lawson writes before adding, ‘Christmas is not just a time when the Domestic Goddess comes into her own but a moment to conjure up the Christmas Druid as well,’ which always makes me laugh.

Think of Lawson as a Christmas midwife, steering us through a time of anticipation, joy and hard work. What follows is a blend of practical advice and kind reassurance; the festively cheery in the form of seasonal kitchenalia (or should that be ‘kitschenalia’) and pages of beautiful food. I’m a big fan of her Boozy British Trifle, which takes no prisoners, a Chestnut Soup with Bacon Crumbles, and an Allspice Gravy. There’s an entire vegetarian set lunch (although lots of Lawson’s recipes are free from meat), ideas for leftovers (Turkey Hash, Turkey Pilaf with Pomegranate and Dill), a Potato, Porcini and Parmesan Gratin, Pumpkin Pancakes with Sticky Maple Pecans, and all the edible tree decorations, Christmas cakes, muffins, and pies you could wish for. And if you have overindulged, there’s even 'a brace of recipes to help you through the festivities’, as prescribed by Dr Lawson.

Baking For The Holidays: 50+ Treats For a Festive Season by Sarah Kieffer (Abrams & Chronicle Books; £18.99)

Sarah Kieffer is the Minnesota-based writer of the Vanilla Bean Blog and a book, 100 Cookies. This makes her eminently qualified to write about the wintry and seasonal. (If you want a taste of Minnesota during the winter, watch Grumpy Old Men, starring Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau or A Charlie Brown Christmas, which has snowy scenes based on the neighbourhood of St Paul, the childhood home of its creator, Charles Schulz.) Kieffer’s book focuses on Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year with recipes for desserts, edible gifts, morning bread and pastries, and all the accoutrements you need to make them taste even better. You’ll be shown how to make so many delicious things: Panettone Scones, Cranberry Jam, a Pear-Almond Danish Braid, modern fruit cakes filled with kirsch, chocolate and sour cherries, a streusel topping for cakes and puddings (Kieffer advises making it in bulk and freezing to be used at will), Blood Orange Turnovers, and Nutella Star Bread all sound delicious. Measurements are in volume and metric, instructions are clear, and there’s a helpful bibliography and music playlist.

The Joy of Cooking Christmas Cookies by Irma S. Rombauer, Ethan Becker, Marion Rombauer Becker (Prentice Hall & IBD prices vary)

If the sound of Chocolate-Glazed Toffee Bars, Brandied Fruitcake Drops, Mother Kroll's Lebkuchen, Pecan Lace, Pinenut Macaroon Monsters, Gram Mencke's Fudge Drops, Pastelitas de Boda, Peppernuts, Spekulatius, and Cranberry Cherry Pinwheels doesn't make you keen for this book, well I can’t help you anymore.

The Joy of Cooking as a brand needs no explaining, and this book written by Irma S. Rombauer, Marion Rombauer Becker, and Ethan Becker (her grandson) is a practical, accessible recipe book which prioritises technique (including cooking at high altitude) and encapsulates the diasporic nature of American Christmas baking. Please be aware that many of these recipes will not be new to you if you have already bought most or all of The Joy of Cooking All About series. Think of this book as a Christmas anthology.

Let's Get Blitzen: 60+ Holiday Cocktails to Make Your Spirits Bright by Sother Teague (Media Lab Books, prices vary)

Sother Teague's cocktail credentials are solid, but to be honest, I chose this book because I adore its kitschy, camp, vintage design and daft puns, including the title. One of the cocktails is called A Cotton-Headed Ninny Muggins. The section on Christmas Classics is subtitled, 'Believe it or not, this section includes more than eggnog' (but it does include instructions on how to make Aged Eggnog, which spooks me a little). Some recipes are linked to films, and many are populated by characters we're all familiar with (i.e. the uncles who tell the same story 34 times). I particularly enjoyed the list of Unpopular lessons From Popular Christmas Movies: 'All it takes to bring a disparate family together over Christmas is a little cancer', he says of The Family Stone.

Beyond The North Wind: Russia in recipes and lore by Darra Goldstein (Ten Speed Press, £28)

It's cliched of me to frame Russia as the land of Christmassy snow, but I turn it to this book as Advent approaches, focusing on the cold weather food and Goldstein’s gorgeous, lyrical writing. She tells of being 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, enfolded in Russia’s ‘legendary winter. . . the cold and snow that defeated Napoleon. . . but really, it’s not so bad – in fact, it’s enthralling’, which is as good a metaphor for Russian food as I’ve ever encountered. The ‘lore’ part of Beyond The North Wind is enchanting and not clichéd and folksy. Russia is presented as a dynamically evolving country, especially in its own food culture.

There is a wonderful essay about stoves where we learn that Russians held their stoves so dear to their heart they referred to them as ‘our own mother’. Darra also tells us that Russian folk tales use the stove to evoke a character’s laziness – an intriguing contradiction. I particularly loved the section on ‘honey-eaters’, the bears that prowled the great forests and were so feared that naming them directly was thought to call forth the evil eye. When I was a teenager, my father worked in the Soviet Union during the 1980 Moscow Olympics, bringing back enamelled badges of the Games’ mascot, Misha, a Bear. Darra writes of how the Russians appropriated the bear as a cultural symbol, divesting it of some of its power to terrorise.

I found it hard to single out a few recipes, but these particularly stood out for their seasonal deliciousness: venison meatballs with roasted celery root and mushrooms; little ‘unbuttoned’ fish pies whose name (which comes from the verb, ‘rasstegnut’ which means ‘to come undone’) is a play on their appearance; flavoured salts made with torn up rye bread or ground roasted spruce leaves; mashed potatoes with parsley root and sour cream; a magical-sounding cake made with flour ground from bird cherries (available online); and two gorgeous buckwheat recipes, buckwheat and honey ice cream, and baked apples with caramel sauce and puffed buckwheat. Recipes use American cup measures.