It can be hard to know what kind of gift will tickle a foodie’s fancy at Christmas time – will a luxury hamper do the trick? Or should you opt for something scarily clad in stainless steel for the kitchen instead? Don’t worry – we’ve gathered a selection of the most stylish, thoughtful gifts that the foodie in your life will love this Christmas.
We’ve considered all types of food-loving person in this gift guide – from the gadget experts and recipe-book hoarders to those who simply prefer to consume the goods rather than cook it themselves. The gift ideas we’ve pulled together are beautiful, useful and, above all, covetable for any foodie worth their salt.
Please note, all items included in the list below include prices and stockists for those based in the UK – but should hopefully provide inspiration for food lovers around the world this Christmas.
For more gift ideas for the drink lover in your life, see the full Club Oenologique Christmas gift guide.
Top Christmas gifts for foodies
Fiasconaro x Dolce & Gabbana Mandorle Di Sicilia Panettone
This limited-edition Christmas treat is the perfect present for design-loving foodies. Choose between the classic red tin or a new blue design – but really, what matters is inside: a classic panettone, enriched with raisins, flavoured with Vecchio Samperi Marsala wine and studded with Sicilian almonds. In a departure from the norm, there’s no candied citrus in the recipe. The luxury sourdough cake is then wrapped in ribbon before being boxed up in this aesthetically pleasing container, suitable for any kitchen worktop or on-display larder.
£47.50, souschef.co.uk
Cast Iron Round Casserole Dish, Le Creuset
You can’t go wrong with a classic piece of kitchen kit, and it’s hard to beat a Le Creuset casserole dish. A culinary mainstay in any good cook’s kitchen, this quality dish goes from hob to oven to table, looking stylish along the way. The heat resistant knob means no burnt fingers through oven gloves, and the light enamel interior makes cleaning up easy. Cast iron construction ensures that food will stay warmer at the table for longer, as well as creating the best environment for even cooking and browning.
£195-£455, lecreuset.co.uk
Honey & Co notebooks
A cook’s notebook is essential in any kitchen, and these beautifully designed ones from London restaurant Honey & Co make a great gift for a recipe scribbler. The notebooks offer 128 pages of dot grid, FSC-certified paper and come in three modern food-themed designs – pomegranate, orange and lemon. They’re UK-made and thread-sewn for durability, as well as looking lovely on a desk or kitchen worktop.
£40 for three, honeyandco.co.uk
Cuisinart Ice-Cream Maker
For the keen cook who has everything, a shiny bit of dish-specific kitchen kit is the answer. This neat ice-cream maker churns up to 2L of sorbet, ice cream and frozen yoghurt in as little as 25 minutes. Extra ingredients like chopped nuts, chocolate or fresh fruit can be added during the churning process through the handy funnel, and the transparent lid means you can keep a keen eye on proceedings.
£99, johnlewis.com
The Cheese Geek subscription
Subscribers to this elite cheese club will receive a monthly mix, ranging from all-time greats like Stilton and Cheddar to lesser-known varieties, all numbered with corresponding educational notes and rating cards. The selection is always seasonal and only includes cheeses at the best stage of their maturation, with the option to make boxes bespoke with add-ons like crackers and chutneys. ‘The Elvis’ box comes with four to five fine cheeses, thank you very much.
£189 for 6 months, thecheesegeek.com
Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America
No under-the-tree collection is complete without a good book to sink into once the merriment of the big day is over. Released in this vibrant paperback design in October of this year, Mayukh Sen‘s new book traces the women behind America’s appetite for foods from around the globe. Stretching from the 1930s to present day, Sen weaves together food history with migrant stories, to examine how cuisines like Mexican, Italian and Jamaican became so popular in the states and to shine a light on those who championed them.
£11.99, whsmith.co.uk
Oysters on a Plate Art Print by Alice Straker
The oyster serves as a symbol for out-right indulgence and has dominated on the menus of trendy small-plate restaurants in recent years, so if anything deserves a place on a food lover’s wall this Christmas, it’s an ode to the mollusc. This cheerful design from Alice Straker (sister of chef and restauranteur Thomas Straker) is available both in print and original form, and with a wealth of other kitchen-appropriate designs for choose from, you could even create the beginnings of a gallery wall.
£25, alicestraker.com
The Oldstead Ultimate Festive Feast Box
A hamper always goes down well at Christmas, but this one packs even more of a punch since it’s filled with goodies sourced from chef Tommy Banks’ York-based restaurants and the local suppliers he works with. It’s stuffed to the brim with handmade Christmas fare, including Tommy’s clever root vegetable mince pies, pickled cornichons from The Black Swan’s restaurant garden, Haxby Bakehouse sourdough and even the Bank’s Brothers own-label canned wine.
£185, madeinoldstead.co.uk
Frantoio Muraglia olive oil
Good olive oil is essential in the kitchen; an attractive bottle of the stuff even more so. This intensely fruit-driven oil is made from Coratina cold-pressed olives native to the Apulia region of Italy, a variety said to be packed with antioxidants as well as carrying an intense flavour. Each of the terracotta rainbow bottles is handmade and thus unique in design, as well as serving the primary purpose of protecting that precious oil from flavour-deteriorating light.
£34.50, souschef.co.uk
Microplane
Any cook will tell you that good equipment can make or break an easy time in the kitchen. If a keen home chef in your life is looking for a piece of kit that’ll make grating and zesting a variety of ingredients a pleasure, a Microplane is the answer. A chef’s favourite, this stainless steel grater/zester is versatile, easy to clean, and looks very professional.
£23.95, johnlewis.com
Bordallo Pinheiro Cabbage Oval Platter
Retro recipes and a ’70s-style aesthetic has both seen a boom in the last year, with arctic rolls and fondue taking centre stage at dinner parties once more. If the idea of sticking cubes of cheese into a tin foil hedgehog doesn’t sound like something the sophisticated food lover in your life would enjoy, why not gift them kitsch kitchenware instead? This platter is dishwasher and microwave safe, too, so no need to save it ‘for best’.
£58, fortnumandmason.com
Global cook’s knife
Take the cooking to the next level this Christmas. This classic chef’s knife from revered brand Global is one of their bestsellers, performing a variety of kitchen tasks thanks to its acute 15-degree cutting edge. Designed by Global’s long-time visionary Komin Yamada and made in Japan, it’s one of the smallest chef knives in the range, making it versatile enough to handle fine chopping as well as larger tasks like dicing meat or slicing squashes.
£140, globalknives.co.uk
Dr Sting’s Hot Honey
A creative stocking filler can be hard to find, but small-batch hot honey producer Dr Sting’s has come up trumps with its signature recipe for sweet, spicy goodness. Drizzle over pizza, squeeze into salad dressings or brush onto chargrilled meat as a glaze – it’s versatile, hot enough to satisfy any chilli-heads, and will look great on your condiment shelf.
£6.99, drstings.com
