Whereas most cookbooks assume you use their recipes in isolation, Prince teaches you how to cook something delicious and nourishing day in, day out; after work, with kids to feed, and without the luxury of endless time and an unlimited budget.
You may well know Prince’s writing from her weekly column in the Daily Telegraph, or her pieces in the Telegraph magazine, or you may have heard her talking about food on Radio 4. If so, you’ll be a fan. All her books are great, but Kitchenella is a masterpiece. It’s best read cover to cover because she imparts wisdom all the way through—everything from the best way to chop leeks to how to restore contentment when someone is unhappy or in pain. It’s a joy to read because Prince writes as well as she cooks, and the book has a proper narrative thread: it’s not only about how to cook but the way women live.
All this is great of course. But we want more. What happens when things aren’t simple, and you’re expected to pull out a few more stops? What happens at Christmas when you’re expected to provide endless rolling feasts, both elaborate (turkey, not dry, and all trimmings), and simple (smoked salmon and brown bread)? What happens then? What happens is you shop wisely and well. We asked Prince, who knows all the secrets, to give up her Christmas shopping secrets.
Rose Prince’s Essential Christmas Address Book.
Festive Beasts
Best for bronze turkeys
Franklins of Thorncote, Trumpetons Farm, Thorncote Green, Sandy, Beds. Tel: 01767 627644 Mail order available
My favourite poulterer, John Franklin, rears turkeys, geese, ducks and hens as well as produces eggs. The birds free range in grassy fields, there is a tiny abattoir on site so no stressful journeys; afterwards birds are hung, non-eviscerated to mature and develop flavour before being dry plucked. There is a butchery shop on site selling game, local pork and other good things. Exceptionally good value.
Copas Turkeys, Kings Coppice Farm, Grubwood Lane, Cookham, Maidenhead. Tel: 01628 499980 mail order available
The Copas family have been rearing bronze turkeys with excellent flavour since 1992, allowing them to wander among cherry orchards and meadows, grazing and foraging for wild plants, and eating sunflower seed and maize from cover crops. Birds come beautifully presented in a box complete with cooking instructions.
Best for pork
HG Walter, 51 Palliser Road, Barons Court, London W14. Tel: 020 7385 6466 mail order available
I am enormously impressed with the all the meat I have from this London butcher whose smart catalogue perfectly described the pedigree of the meat he sells. Maybe a long loin of free range pork for Christmas, with a gallon of apple sauce?
Best for mutton and game
Blackface, Weatherall Foods Limited, Crochmore House, Irongray, Dumfries. Tel: 01387 730 326 mail order available
I love Weatherall’s unique company that sells quite simply the finest mutton available. The five year old ewes’ endure 4 years ‘on the hill’ then are brought down to finish on grass ensuring tender meat with a powerful herby flavour. They are specialists in game, beef and pork, too.
Best for beef
Well Hung Meat, Tordean Farm, Dean Prior, Buckfastleigh, Devon. Tel: 0845 230 3131 mail order available
An organic butchery whose welfare standards are exemplary yet who also pay great attention to maturing their beef to perfection. You can almost taste the salty air and lush pasture of Devon in this amazing meat. Pork, lamb and poultry also available.
Festive Greens
Riverford Organic, Wash Barn, Buckfastleigh Devon. Tel: 0845 600 2311 mail order available
Last year Riverford won my award for best mince pies. I have tasted this year’s and can report they are still up there, the best of the best. But they are first and foremost a great vegetable box scheme, and can deliver a box with a strong local element to most of the country. Hams, pies and other good things should also be investigated.
Natoora 020 7627 1600 home delivery available
Extraordinary fresh vegetables, brought to Battersea each week from the Milan and Paris Rangis markets; fresh wintry leaves, various radicchio and chicory types; herbs; wild fungi, unusual Italian citrus including bergamot and citron. Also on site is Vittorio Maschio’s wonderful pasta workshop – see the website for details but it is undeniably the best fresh pasta you can buy. Handmade tortellini by special request.
Festive Luxury
Best for sustainable caviar
Mottra Caviar, 1 Lyric Square, London W6. Tel: 0203 008 4671 mail order available
Caviar that is taken from sturgeon without killing the fish. Sounds unbelievable but I visited this farm in Latvia last year, during a memorable blizzard, and have seen the eggs massaged from the fish. The tastes is pure and buttery, the eggs clean and firm textured (the latter is something that traditionalists may need to acquire a taste for.)
Best for wild smoked salmon
Severn & Wye Smokery, Chaxhill, Westbury-On-Severn, Gloucestershire. Tel: (01452) 760190 mail order available
I believe this is Britain’s greenest smokery (tell me if I am wrong). Richard Cook uses oak chips taken from fallen trees or, if these are not available, from used beer barrels. The flavour of the cold smoked fish is utterly superb. The wild salmon is caught by licenced fishermen in the Severn during a short summer season.
Best for charcuterie
Trealy Farm, Mitchel Troy. Monmouth, Wales. Tel: 01600 740705 mail order available
Graham Waddington, James Swift or John Standerwick have perfected the art of charcuterie, curing meat from slow grown traditional pig breeds reared by local farmers. Everything from the air dried ham, to the salamis and cured pork loin is impressive, every item is yeasty and tender – the Italians had better watch out.
Festive Fish
Best for lobster and crab
Matthew Stevens & Son, Back Road East St Ives, Cornwall. Tel: 01736 799392 mail order available
I love two fishy things at Christmas, a big fish soup with rouille before the day itself, as a nod to the ancient fasting dishes of France, and a large bowl of potted crab with lobster to dig into at will. This supplier will send all you need, sourcing the freshest seafood from Cornish day boat.
Best for frozen fish
The Fish Society, Unit 1, Coopers Place, Wormley, Surrey. Tel: 0800 279 3474 mail order available
This is the best frozen fish you will ever eat. The choice of species is almost infinite and the fish is frozen within such a short time of being caught, it is biologically only hours old once defrosted. It is a great place for langoustines, sea bass and also less familiar species like fresh anchovies. Be careful to choose non-endangered species, see fishonline.
Festive puddings
Figgy’s Puddings, 20 East Ave, Exeter. Tel: 01392 459488 mail order available
Jo and Richie Evans make sumptuous traditional Christmas puddings in real ceramic bowls, packing them with more than generous quantities of fruit and adding a nice touch by tying a cloth over the top. All you need to do is steam them for 2-3 hours before you eat. Other styles of pudding are also available.
Festive Sweets
Best for chocolate
Chococo – the Purbeck Chocolate Company, “Cocoa Central,” Commercial Road, Swanage, Dorset. Tel: 01929 421777 mail order available
I adore the creativity of this confectioner as much as I do the silky, perfectly tempered chocolate. Filled chocolates, pastilles and bars – all decadently festive.
Best for Italian cakes and coffee
Algerian Coffee Stores, 52 Old Compton Street, London W1. Tel: 020 7437 2480 mail order available
Paul and Marisa Crocetta’s heavenly shop not only sells the best coffees in the world but also sourced some unusual and exceptional sweet things. I love the Panificato, a fruity nutty sweet cake from Isola Giglio off the Tuscan coast, a place where we have spent happy holidays. They also sell the remarkable, many flavoured Zotter chocolate.
Best for candied fruit
Rainha Santa, Unit 31 Mahatma Gandhi Industrial Estate, Milkwood Road, London, SE24. Tel: 020 7733 1222 mail order available
Tim Clements company is dear to my heart, thanks to his annual import of Portuguese Elvas plums. These part dried, part candied greengages were Agatha Christie’s favourite sweetmeat. He also brings in some exceptional Portuguese charcuterie, cheeses and amazing jams.
Festive Savouries
Best for blue cheese
Stichelton Cheese, Collingthwaite Farm, Cuckney, Mansfield, Notts. Tel: 01623 844883 mail order available
It is not just because cheese maker Joe Schneider is a wonderful character, or that his fellow dairy craftsman and cheese monger Randolph Hodgson is a hero of mine that this young cheese is a regular on my Christmas list. It is the taste of this raw milk Stilton-style that wins it. Each year it gets better and better.
Best for all cheeses and biscuits
The Fine Cheese Co., 29 & 31 Walcot St, Bath. Tel: 01225 448748 mail order available
A company that specialises in sending a wide variety of perfectly matured artisan cheeses via mail order, from English territiorials to the best of the continentals. They also make the best biscuits to eat with cheese, including a great new cracker studded with dried fig that is just right with a soft ewes milk cheese like Wigmore.
Festive cheating
Best for ‘Christmas covered’
London
Melrose & Morgan, Primrose Hill and Hampstead. Tel: 020 7722 0011 order and collect
The North London grocers will prepare a perfect, handmade ‘Christmas in a box’ including oven ready turkey or goose, stuffing, all trimmings, lovely, imaginative vegetable dishes, pudding and cheese – for about £30 per head.
Nationwide
Lawson’s Deli Tel: 01728 454052 mail order available
Claire Bruce Clayton and Richard Lawson’s famous Suffolk kitchen can supply all of Christmas, including birds, pies, hams, puddings (not necessarily Christmas type), pickles, cheeses, mincemeat – the lot.
Daylesford Organic Farm Shop, Daylesford, Near Kingham, Gloucestershire. Tel: 0800 083 1233 mail order available
Organic Christmas in a Box serving approximately 6: fresh turkey with stuffing, chipolatas etc; fresh vegetables, superb cheeses made on the farm. Puddings available, cakes too – separately.
Best for ethically sourced
Abel &Cole, 16 Waterside Way, Plough Lane, Wimbledon, London SW17; Tel: 08452 62 63 64 mail order available
A great catalogue of organic and ethically sourced natural foods, offering everything from a humble vegetable box to the whole festive hog: poultry, cocktail sausages, stilton and chestnut pies, mince pies, party food, wine and champagne. A&C commendably offer a cheaper range of naturally reared meats alongside organic.
Festive Bare Necessities
Best for when it is all over
Somerset Cider Brandy, Pass Vale Farm, Burrow Hill, Kingsbury Episcopi, Martock, Somerset; Tel: 01460 240 782 mail order available
When it all gets too much, a bottle of this scrumptious, pain-killing brandy, distilled by Julian Temperley using apples in his own orchard, is a must. “Shipwreck†is a ten year old brandy, matured in oak barrels washed up at Branscombe after a wreck. Otherwise there is eau de vie, Pomona, aperitivs and various other brandies.
