What’s Christmas all about? Family, friends, presents, parties, and, perhaps most of all, food and drink. It’s hard to imagine a gathering around Christmas that doesn’t involve one or the other (and probably both), so it’s only natural that they also make excellent presents, too.
Gifting food and drink lets you push the boat out a little, and get something that might be a little out of the ordinary. You can use it to challenge someone’s taste buds, by introducing them to a taste from a faraway land, or a new innovation. Or you can use it to gift something that might be a little higher quality than the everyday stuff they might be used to – artisan beers, craft biscuits, that sort of thing. And food and drink gifts are also great as things to keep as a reminder – they often come with a fancy tin or basket or perhaps include a mug or tankard that they’ll use for years and years.
Sweet treats are a festive basic. Chocolate, cakes and cookies all come into their own at this time of year. There will always be shortbread, fruit cake, toffee, caramel and marzipan-based treats waiting to be savoured in households around the world at this time of year.
A long-standing tradition of Christmas is gingerbread. It’s a tradition that dates back to nineteenth-century Germany when the winter hardships might have been softened by the making and giving of gingerbread houses, decorated with icing and other sweet things. The German lebkuchen has been another tradition from mainland Europe that’s now growing stronger in the UK. That soft ginger cake, often coated in chocolate and flavoured with spices, is an absolute joy to eat.
Drink is about as entrenched in the Christmas spirit as anything else. From the wine with Christmas dinner to the flaming brandy on the pudding … and not forgetting the beer while watching the movie or the Boxing Day football and the sparkling white on the night out. It’s all tied up with the festivities, and therefore makes a perfect gift that you can almost guarantee will be enjoyed.
Christmas is a time of giving and a time of eating and drinking fine food and drink. So what better combination of the two than to make lovely gifts out of these enjoyable treats? They’re not like the things from the supermarket – think festive packaging, supreme quality and unusual tastes – and you’re sure to have an appreciative recipient.
