Santa’s List

 Read more from Gerald

Donna, my wife, has just come home after eight weeks in "Calendar Girls" at the Fortune Theatre in Dunedin and is now trying to make up for some of the time she would have spent on preparations for Christmas. Matters like Parker's holiday at the cattery, the car's WOF, the cancelling of post and paper, sorting out suitable holiday wardrobe, the hairdressers, all fight for a place on her answer to mayhem… the list.

Some items on the list have sub-lists of their own and as in the past I have been invited to be a sub-committee on presents (food related); this as opposed to presents (cosmetics) and presents (clothing), although presents (difficult) usually falls into my bailiwick too.

I have to admit that when deciding on presents (food related) I start from a quite selfish point of view. Firstly, I will give none of those twee and generally useless food utensils and gadgets that clutter up kitchen and home-ware stores at this time of year; none of the plethora of barbecue tools that man has been happily cooking without since he first used fire but which at Christmas are sold as indispensable and especially no food containers or dispensers that talk or sing when opened.

I will suggest though we look at giving some of the Spanish terracotta coloured, earthenware cooking dishes called cazuelas which can be used on gas hobs or in any oven and seem to be easily available in New Zealand. I know a few friends who don't own a decent sized mortar and pestle; the Thai ones are not that expensive and are ideal for grinding spices, making pesto and a hundred other uses.

Another little gift that I give at least once a year are aprons and oven gloves, not, I hasten to add, the jokey pinafores or the colourful and thin mittens that fit one person in fifty and offer no protection whatever. I always buy the ample and tough butcher's style apron and as for oven gloves I will spend a bit more a get a truly heat resistant pair that are long enough to cover all of my wrist and that are large enough to put on and take off quickly and without any fuss.

The second category of presents (food related) is books, usually cookbooks, although I am always happy to give a subscription to what I have found to be the best food magazine, New Zealand Cuisine. This has proved in the past a present solution as people are delighted to be given a subscription renewal in subsequent years.

Among the recent cookbook releases are three that I have no compunction about recommending and they are all by New Zealanders which makes them ideal for overseas gifts. I get a little tired of the sort of cookbook, usually written by a celebrity chef/restaurateur, with pretentions and recipes that require me to pay the earth for obscure ingredients that after days of preparation result in one or two chichi mouthfuls. I was delighted therefore to receive a copy of "Ruth Pretty Cooks at Home" (Penguin Group (NZ) RRP $65.00 Hardback), a book full of stylish yet deliciously do-able recipes which would be as suitable for a dinner party as on the family dinner table.

 
The second of my three books is not dissimilar; it is written by a cook of renown but again does not require formal culinary training or limitless funds to produce the excellent dishes it contains. Peter Gordon's "Everyday" (Harper Collins RRP $50 Softback) is a book I would be happy to cook from every day and would probably end up as the most used volume on any lucky recipient's cookbook shelf.

"Whittaker's A Passion for Chocolate" (Random House (NZ) RRP $36.99 Hardback) is my third book and is the most beautiful and elegant cookbook I have seen in many years. Ideal for anyone one who loves chocolate, this book presents a wealth of recipes using the different chocolates in the Whittaker's range and also gives a potted history of this hugely popular New Zealand company.

Finally there are presents (food related) that are actually food. I like the idea of a basket or hamper (size to suit) of different and perhaps exotic foodstuffs. I don't mean the store bought hampers with tins of fruit, after dinner mints, packet stuffing, Danish butter biscuits and dry Christmas cakes but a basket that shows thought and care.

It might be a little late to start making batches of jams, pickles, chutneys and the like but there are some very good locally made ones to be bought; keep an eye open at farmers' markets. Whole cheeses like boxed French Camembert, or Whitestone cheese in a cheese-keeping tin or simply foil wrapped cheeses like Kapiti Cheese's Ramara are a treat together with either homemade or superior crackers or oatcakes.

 
Something that might be a little unusual but certainly welcomed by the right person, is a whole salami, not a squidgy, plastic-wrapped supermarket one but a good one from a reputable delicatessen. Packets or jars of saffron threads also make a good present and I frequently give jars of spices that I have ground and blended, suitable for different uses, barbecues, curries, Mexican or Middle Eastern dishes etc.

Then there are the other made gifts like panforte, biscotti, fudge, truffles, etc. The most important thing about any good hamper of whatever size is that it should show that the giver has given it some thought and taken a bit of trouble over it and not just tipped in the contents of a supermarket basket.

Whether these thoughts help you to solve your Christmas present problems or just give you something to put on your own wish-list to Santa, Donna and I wish you the very Merriest of Christmases and a New Year of Peace, Joy and Happiness.