Ho, ho, Hamburg: bringing the flavours of a true German Christmas market home

From glühwein to lebkuchen, bratwurst to stollen, recreating the delicacies I sampled in the city’s festive markets is wholly achievable. Plus, a new digital cookbook for a good cause Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, FeastWithout wanting to sound tediously Scrooge-like, the German-style markets that have become seasonal fixtures in many British cities over the last few decades never make me feel particularly festive. What’s remotely Christmassy – or German – about Dubai-chocolate churros and Korean fried chicken, I grumble as I drag the dog (who enjoys all such things) around their perimeters.Hamburg’s markets, however, which I was myself dragged around last weekend, are a very different story. For a start, the city has many of them, mainly fairly small – and some, such as the “erotic Christmas market” in St Pauli, with a particular theme

Christmas dinner in a restaurant or kitchen carnage at home?

Christmas dinner? At home or in a restaurant? It’s at this juncture of the year, with Christmas dinner hurtling towards us, that you may well find yourself muttering: “Well, we could always go out!” Who could blame any home cook for wanting to shove this great burden on to someone else’s back, especially since every culinary TV show, magazine article and advertising break since mid-November has hammered home what a colossal faff Christmas dinner actually is. No, it’s not just a slightly posh Sunday roast with a few more guests.Christmas dinner in the UK these days is more like a cross between dinner at Balmoral and 4 July at Mar-a-Lago. The table has to be heaving with holly-embossed crockery, the carrots must be bejewelled in star anise and Himalayan pink pepper, the turkey has to be brined in aromatic salt water and your roasties shaken in polenta and smothered in duck fat. If you’re the designated martyr organising proceedings, field-marshalling everything and cooking this tinsel-strewn palaver, it is common to try instead to divert it all to the local pub, where they’re doing “turkey and all the trimmings” for £79 a head (and including a cracker and a pre-dinner “glass of something sparkly”)

Christmas mixers: Thomasina Miers’ recipes for fire cider and spiced cocktail syrup

Despite being known for shaking a cocktail on Instagram now and again, very little will induce me to last-minute cocktailery if I am entertaining a serious number of guests. However, a good drinks recipe that you can prep in advance is a lovely thing to dazzle your friends with and to gift over Christmas. With or without alcohol, this pair look good and taste delicious, and should help everyone ease into the December festivities.This makes a delicious base to which you can add soda, juice, tonic or any other mixer for a thirst-quenching and delicious alternative to an alcoholic drink in the evening. Prep 15 minInfuse 1 week+ Makes 500ml bottleFor the fire cider2 jalapeños, finely sliced seeds and all1 large thumb of ginger, peeled and finely sliced2 branches fresh rosemary1 cinnamon stick3 heaped tbsp honey2 garlic cloves, peeled1 thumb turmeric, peeled and finely sliced (optional)350ml apple cider vinegarFor the cranberry fizz (serves 1)30ml fire cider 75ml cranberry juice1 wedge of orange Sparkling water, to topMix all the ingredients for the fire cider in a sterilised 500ml jar, then put in the fridge for at least week, and preferably three to extract the most goodness from the ingredients

Jamie Oliver to relaunch Italian restaurant chain in UK six years after collapse

Jamie Oliver is to revive his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain in the UK, more than six years after the celebrity chef’s brand collapsed.Jamie’s Italian is poised to be relaunched in the spring, starting with a restaurant in London’s Leicester Square.Oliver’s return to the UK restaurant scene is being backed by Brava Hospitality Group – the private equity-backed group that runs the Prezzo chain – which intends to relaunch the brand across the UK.“As a chef, having the chance to return to the high street is incredibly important to me,” he said. “I will drive the menus, make sure the sourcing is right, the staff training, and ensure the look and feel of the restaurant is brought to life in the right way

Chocolate tart and zabaglione: Angela Hartnett’s easy make-ahead Christmas desserts – recipes

When you’re the cook of the house, you spend quite enough time in the kitchen on Christmas Day as it is. And, after those time-consuming nibbles, the smoked salmon starter and the turkey-with-all-the-trimmings main event, the last thing you want is a pudding that demands even more hands-on time at the culinary coalface. For me, the main requirement of any Christmas dessert is that it can be made well in advance, not least because, by the time the pudding stage comes around, I’ll be completely knackered and more than ready to put up my feet and finally relax (or, more likely, fall asleep on the sofa).Prep 15 minRest 3 hr+Cook 40 minServes 6-8For the sweet pastry500g plain flour, plus extra for dusting 150g caster sugar 250g cold butter, diced2-3 eggs, lightly beatenFor the filling640g 70%-cocoa dark chocolate, broken into small pieces800ml double cream 64g glucose syrup 64g cold butter, cubed 100g roasted hazelnuts, lightly choppedPut the flour and sugar in a large bowl, stir to combine, then add the diced butter and work it in with your fingertips until the mix takes on the consistency of rough breadcrumbs. Add two of the beaten eggs, then mix until the dough comes together into a ball; if need be, add the third beaten egg, but take great care not to overwork the dough

The 12 condiments of Christmas

Salt, sweet, bitter, acid, umami. While we don’t think to use too much “sweet” before dessert, it can counterbalance and enhance other flavours. Maple syrup is my sweetener of choice during the holidays because it just tastes cozy. Add it to roasted root vegetables or a poultry glaze, and it’s especially tasty in drinks, from hot apple cider to eggnog and even mulled wine.I’ve never met anyone who didn’t like butter, or ooh and ah at a homemade one