12 festive food trends to try this Christmas

12 festive food trends to try this Christmas

Bougie butter, bows and the return of vol-au-vents – discover a dozen food trends you’ll be racing to try (and rave about) this festive season...

1. Winter rosé 

1. Winter rosé 

French pinks and Italian rosato complement smoked salmon perfectly, use Lustau Vermut Rosé for a pink negroni, or try our fruity new Mulled Rosé. Rosé isn’t just for summer.

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2. Food trees 

The food tree is a fast, joyful way to feed a crowd. Pile crisps, doughnuts, slices of Melba toast or Champagne coupes into tapering towers in the name of Christmas.

Shop crisps

3. Surf and turf

Even roast superfans need a break from the gravy boat sometimes. Enter the Aussie-inspired festive platter: a juicy steak alongside prawns, lobster and/or scallops. Legendary.

Shop No.1 Whole Cooked British Wild Lobster

4. Pies 

The small-plate era is fading and posh pies are everywhere. In Leeds, Finer Pleasures hosts pie-led supper clubs. Meanwhile, the celeriac and mushroom pies at The Halfway at Kineton in the Cotswolds have critics (and us) swooning.

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5. Gildas 

5. Gildas 

Traditionally made up of a green olive, anchovy and pickled pepper on a stick, give this Spanish bar snack a twist this season: add cornichons, cheese or salami.

See our Gildas three ways recipe

6. Bow-nanza

A fashion and interiors favourite, the bow is a playful, creative and wallet-friendly way to deck your halls, trees and plates. Fans on TikTok are tying ribbons around candlesticks, looping hot candied lemon peel and even curling cucumber.

Shop cucumber

7. Fancy butter

Butter is big right now. Think radish ‘terrines’ – buttery slabs flecked with jewel-bright slices of the pink veg. Alternatively, spoon softened butter into different-shaped silicone ice trays and pop out edible gems to dress your table (or toast).

Shop No.1 Waitrose French Butter with Sea Salt Crystals

8. Jazzy ice

8. Jazzy ice 

Serving cocktails over one big ice cube makes for less-watery drinks, as they melt slower. Freeze your own with olives for dirty martinis or chillies to spice up your margs.

Shop The Ice Co° The Super Cube

9. Vol-au-vents

Retromania is here, and the vol-au-vent is back to amuse our bouches – not just for the nostalgia, but also for the joy of bitesized brilliance. Bring yours into the 21st century with confit duck leg and sweet onion or spicy crab and lime à la Anna Frazer (see chefannafrazer on Instagram).

Shop vol-au-vents

10. Mini martinis

The martini’s only flaw? One too many and it’s game over. The fix: shrink it! From Manchester’s Blinker Bar, with its lemon-oil mini martinis, to east London’s Tayēr + Elementary, whose ‘one-sip martini’ is served with a giant blue-cheese-stuffed olive, the whole country’s into it.   

See our martini recipes

11. Italian everything

The iconic ‘tiramisu drawer’ at Onda Pasta Bar in Manchester has sent dessert-lovers into a daze, while limoncello’s having a moment, too, which stars in our new Limoncello Fizz Panettone. The festive dessert line-up is going Italiano...

Shop Waitrose Christmas Limoncello Fizz Panettone

12. The Wellington

12. The Wellington 

The beef Welly is ready for a glow-up. Traditionally made with mushroom pâté-smothered beef fillet that’s then wrapped in pastry, why not swap in squash for a vegan centrepiece, or salmon covered in salsa verde.

See feta, chesnut and squash Wellington recipe