07/12/2017

Festive shopping guide

By: Katie Tume

 

December is here and with it all our festive favourites, both new and old! As always we started looking for the best of ethical, organic, veggie and gluten-free (and everything in between!) products many months ago to make sure we could get our hands on enough to satisfy demands! So whether its for your table, or gifts for your loved ones, we have something for everyone!

 

First up we have organic traditional fare from Organico, traditional Stollen, Mince Pies and Panettone, made to classic recipes. But if you ask us, we feel pretty strongly that the mince pies our bakery make throughout November and December, fresh everyday, are the best ever!

Also from our bakery we have our other seasonal specialities, Christmas Pudding and Stollen

New this year we also have TWO vegan and organic Panettones from Go Vegan! One is Traditional with Spelt, and one is Chocolate Chip!

 

But let’s talk staples: Roasts! Definitely many options available to you here, from a locally made-and-frozen nut roast from Season’s of Lewes, or vegan fave Tofurky seitan/tofu roast. One of our best selling roasts are these from Artisan Grains. Couldn’t be simpler, just add water, stir and bake, and they even come with thir own roasting tray, so saves on washing up too. If you can’t decide which to choose, these also work perfectly as stuffing on the side, so you can have your roast and eat it too!

Or make your own!

If a classic stuffing is more your thing, as always we have good ol’ sage & onion and chestnut stuffing mixes:

Somehing else we’ve become a destination for over the past few years are the amazing range of traditional Italian seasonal delicacies from Seggiano. Regular shoppers will recognise this brand from their bestselling pestos, pastas and antipasti, but at this time of year, the heavy hitters make an appearance. As always we have these competely delicious ‘dolcetti’ – Calabrian clementines covered in dark chocolate, and large Dottato figs, either soaked in rum, or stuffed with cherries and dipped in chocolate. They are absolutely delicious and definitely evoke traditional Christmas combinations of dried fruit, alcohol and chocolate!

 

They look even better this year after a redesign, and would be a perfect gift for the Gourmande in your life. Also on the sweet side, we have the Panforte from Siena, a traditional accompaniment to coffee is a slice of this chocolatey cake of candied fruit, almonds, spices and honey.

 

Even more new things for the sweet toothed this year. I for one am so excited to have veggie Turkish Delight! A real nostalgic taste of childhood in classic rose flavour. Also new is chocolate brand Essy & Bella with some really fun chocolate bars perfect for gifting (if you can bear to part with them). The Gin Fizz chocolate has flavours of lemon and popping candy! And the Three Kings bar has real gold leaf for a very festive bite. It’s not Christmas without crackers so we also have this vegan fizzy sweet-filled jumbo cracker from Jealous Sweets