Food & Drink – Christmas Special

Culinary legend Michel Roux Jr and award winning drinks expert Kate Goodman are joined by Mary Berry, the doyenne of British baking, and Michelin-starred chef Glynn Purnell, to create the perfect Yuletide feast.

‘Dishes include the ultimate roast goose with festive stuffing, easy speedy canapés, a spectacular sausage roll and a sensational quick chocolate torte – all accompanied by a foolproof guide to the best Christmas drinks. With hints and tips for a stress-free day from the country’s favourite foodies, as well as visit to London’s Ritz Hotel to see how the fanciest Christmas lunch is prepared, this is the Food & Drink guide to the perfect Christmas’

Writer and performer Arabella Weir visits the Ritz hotel, where Christmas is taken to another level – ‘Put on the Ritz’

The Ritz hotel has symbolised extravagant style and luxury for over 100 years and at Christmas its no different , formal and traditional no expense is spared when hosting their guests, and boy didn’t they go to town with their seasonal decorations.

Lets see how Arabella got on..

Manager Simon Girling knows just how to make the mood around the dinner table sparkle.

‘For me there are 2 or 3 key areas to creating that real magical experience in the hotel. The decorations are absolutely key and you only have to look around for the slender. Then you have of course something that every important to me, service’. – Simon Girling.

Christmas Day lunch at the Ritz is a 6 course gastronomic feast cooked Loveling by a team, headed by executive chef, John Williams.

The menu is a extravagant as the decor there are dishes such as:

• Turbot with merles and baby leeks.
• Bergamot sorbet.
• Turkey with chestnut stuffing.
• Flaming Christmas pudding.

‘The taste is most important, because it stimulates the palette and that with get your gastric juices going straight away, so for me that is very important.

My motto is, cooking is a lot of simple tasks done well. If you keep that in mind it suddenly becomes that little bit easier’. – John Williams.

For John’s lobster starter: He carefully places ingredients to create contrast. ‘Colours are key‘ like putting bright red beetroot against fresh green cucumber. He also places ingredients with different ‘height, shape and textures‘ next to each other to make it interesting to the eye and eat. Most importantly the ‘plate isn’t over grounded‘ and white spaces between the different elements shows through.

‘you might not have the budget of the Ritz or the fancy decorations but with the imagination and attention to detail there is nothing to stop you from getting your Christmas with just as much class’. – Arabella Weir

 

Food & Drink

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