The pressure to pull together the perfect feast on Christmas Day grows year after year.
Glazing your gammon with maple; loading homemade stuffing with walnuts, apricots, cranberries, onions, mushrooms, and celery; using beef drippings, fat, pepper, parsley, thyme, salt, and flour to whip up some gravy; preparing your own roasted vegetables from scratch.
The list goes on.
These are steps in the already stressful cooking process that a number of celebrity chefs encourage us to do to ensure the day’s festivities are complete and made more joyful.
Bev Lee, of Bev’s Bistro in Aberdeen, begs to differ.
Celebrity influence
The website of Jamie Oliver features The Jamie Oliver Christmas Hub which, according to the site, “is here to help make sure that you’ve got Christmas 2022 covered.”
There are countless recipes that elevate traditional Christmas dinner mains, sides and trimmings, and desserts.
A recipe for apricot and sage stuffing sprung out to me, boasting as many as 11 ingredients for a roughly 1kg dish that each guest may enjoy a mere spoonful of.
One of these ingredients includes whole nutmeg, which would set you back £1.85 in Asda. On average, a dessert wine (another ingredient) from Tesco costs around £6.50.
Time goes into purchasing and preparing the ingredients, and, of course, cooking the dish before being served.
Oatmeal stuffing from Aberdeen’s JK Fine Foods is £2.99 for 500g, according to the business’ website.
As quoted by Jamie alongside his recipe, “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with using a packet stuffing, but I promise you won’t regret making your own.”
Undeniably visually appealing, the rise of increasingly complicated festive recipes may prove damaging – and even more so in the current climate.
Hey @jamieoliver! Leave our stuffing alone! #getstuffed #JamiesChristmas #Gogglebox pic.twitter.com/vDr3wP7dcJ
— C4 Gogglebox (@C4Gogglebox) January 3, 2020
“Some influencers on social media do this too by portraying their perfect life, their homes, and dressing the table for dinner, etc. to the outside world,” says Bev.
“It’s Insta versus reality, isn’t it?
“I’m hopeful there will be more sensitivity this year given the cost-of-living crisis we are all facing. It would be nice if the media would endorse ‘Your Christmas Your Way’ rather than trying to endorse perfection in every aspect.
“The glossy magazines and social media are still focusing on the ‘best Christmas ever’ rather than ‘a happy Christmas with your loved ones’.
“It’s your Christmas, don’t let social media make you think you haven’t got it all.”
Christmas at Bev’s
Speaking on common misconceptions around the festive period, one of the most iconic features of a Christmas dinner was mentioned by Bev – the turkey.
She said: “One would be that you have to have turkey and carve it at the table.
“For me, you should have whatever you fancy – be that salmon, chicken, beef, or a vegetarian alternative.
“The point is that you have what you enjoy and can afford and that hopefully, you will be sharing your Christmas dinner with people you love.”
She typically spends Christmas with close friends and they all enjoy a pooled lunch, which involves each of them preparing something for the meal.
This avoids one person from being burdened with the cost or time to prepare the dinner.
Bev is on dessert duty this year and explained it’s likely she will make several options – pink gin and damson Christmas pudding and brownie melting pots among them.
The recipe for a faff-free Christmas
The Aberdeen bistro owner went on to say: “I’m all for a faff-free Christmas dinner every year.
“We are all so time pressured now, who has the time or inclination to spend hours in the kitchen faffing over a dinner that takes 30 minutes to eat?
“For me, it’s about spending time with family and friends, over anything. You don’t need matching PJs or a colour-coordinated tree to be happy.”
To ensure minimal stress on Christmas Day 2022, Bev recommends avoiding trying to cook something you haven’t attempted in the past.
“That will only add to unnecessary pressure,” she added.
“Secondly, break it down into bite-sized chunks, especially if you’re going down the traditional route. It really is just like a Sunday dinner.
“Prepare whatever you can in advance. If you’re having a starter – have a hearty soup and make it a few weeks before and freeze it, so all you have to do is defrost it the day before.
“Prepare your vegetables the day before and put them in cold water to keep them fresh. Don’t start fretting.”
She also mentioned sharing responsibility, buying a turkey crown, and looking out for offers whilst shopping.
Conversation