Christmas is coming soon and I am continuing my series of articles on this theme. Today, I am going to make you drool (well, I hope so…) with my selection of gourmet products to enjoy during the holiday season. Because personally, I find that one of the great pleasures of this festive period is definitely Christmas gastronomy. It is the perfect opportunity to delight our taste buds and our eyes with refined dishes that are often more expensive than what we usually eat. But hey, these are exceptional moments and you have to know how to enjoy them, and this year is certainly no exception, quite the contrary!
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Table of Contents
Would you like a bit of Caviar?
A few years ago, I wouldn’t really have been able to tell you if I liked caviar or not. It is such an expensive delicacy that it’s quite unlikely to be able to taste enough of it to form an opinion on its flavor. Well, now after a few tastings, I’ve made up my mind: I have expensive taste and I really like caviar, especially Beluga, the most expensive (because it’s rare) of them all.
When it comes to caviar, you should know that the size and color of the eggs vary depending on the breed of sturgeon they are extracted from, but also according to the preparation method and the selection of the eggs. These changes affect the taste and texture of the caviar. The price is obviously set according to the scarcity of the production. Like all seafood, it is a delicacy that smells of iodine and salt, so that can give you a little hint about your personal taste regarding it. Personally, I find it a very fine and tasty delicacy, but I completely understand that some people don’t like it at all; when it comes to our palate, we are all different.
My tasting tip: the “royal” style consumption, on the back of the hand so that the aromas of the caviar are not interfered with by the taste of a metal spoon, for example.
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Making your own foie gras
Last year, Maison Ernest Soulard, specialized in duck meat and foie gras for over 80 years, challenged us by sending us a raw duck liver. With the favorite photographer, it was the opportunity to try for the first time preparing a foie gras terrine from raw duck liver.
The little extra that really helped us was working with a frozen deveined raw duck foie gras. Even though we had spent time watching a video on the internet to learn how to devein a foie gras, I must admit that the fact that the main veins were already removed made the work much easier for us… This liver of about 500g was perfect for making a terrine and I must say we were quite proud of ours!
The good deal: you can definitely make your terrine in advance and after cooking, it keeps in the refrigerator for 15 days without any problem.
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The REŸS & Nhome Christmas ice cream gift set
In 2023, the founder of Glacier REŸS, Jean-Pierre Braun, and chef Matan Zaken from the gourmet restaurant Nhome, carried out an unprecedented culinary collaboration to make the taste buds of gastronomy enthusiasts sparkle for the holiday season. The duo created an exclusive Christmas Gift Set and offers exceptional “Food and Ice Cream Pairing” recipes to surprise guests during the holidays.
On the menu, we discover 4 unique ice creams:
- Caviar – Ribot Milk – Horseradish Ice Cream: a marriage between Sturia Aquitaine caviar, ribot milk, and horseradish.
- Roscoff Onion – Sherry – Agastache Herb Sorbet: a combination of Roscoff onion from Maison Quéméner, Sherry vinegar, and Agastache herb.
- Mezcal – Black Lemon Sorbet: Mezcal and the freshness of black lemon.
- Truffle – Cocoa Sorbet: where truffle and cocoa mingle.
Limited Edition Reÿs & Nhome Christmas Gift Set
Price: available in 4 tubs of 220 ml for €125 or 4 tubs of 390 ml for €195
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Ô Fermier festive products
Ô Fermier is a short-circuit farm product store. Throughout the month of December, it offers delicious products directly from its partner farmers, specially dedicated to the holiday season. The Parisian store works in partnership with over 100 farmers and offers, on a surface of 300m2, more than 1300 farmhouse flavors divided into 8 food categories. It is also obviously possible to order online for home delivery!
On the menu for this “Le Petit Canard” gift set from La Ferme du Luguen: whole foie gras terrine 90g, fig jam 140g, duck rillettes with duck foie gras 120g, duck rillettes 120g, and duck rillettes with green pepper 120g (price €35).
39 rue Mstislav Rostropovitch 75017 Paris
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Maison Delpeyrat festive products
Born in 1890, Maison Delpeyrat has been committed for nearly 130 years, putting all its know-how into offering high-quality products from the gastronomy of the South-West.
To taste:
- The traditional foie gras in a jar, which is cooked without preservatives, salted with sea salt from the Île de Ré, labeled IGP Sud-Ouest, and awarded a beautiful silver medal at the Concours Général Agricole 2019 (€26.50), or the block of South-West duck foie gras with Espelette pepper, featuring fleur de sel and Madagascar pepper specially made to accompany the foie gras.
- The Bayonne ham IGP, cured for 12 months, without preservatives or additives, from French farms (€4.29 for 4 slices).
- The smoked salmon petals (the 2019 novelty) in 3 different recipes (plain, sesame poppy seed, and dill lemon), from certified and controlled farms using no GMOs, no growth hormones, and no animal meal; finally, a QR code on the packaging allows you to know where the salmon was caught (€9.99).
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La Maison Barthouil
I had already told you about the very good products from Maison Barthouil in 2017 and also last year. This human-sized company comes from the South-West (from Les Landes to be more precise) and everything is manufactured there.
The house was created in 1929, in Peyrehorade, by Gaston, the grandfather, then managed by Jacques the father, and today it is the daughters, Pauline and Guillemette, who are in charge, driven by the same passion and the same philosophy: to use artisanal methods to achieve excellence.
To taste:
- Maison Barthouil smokes all its salmon—wild, farmed, or organic—according to a method learned in Denmark in the 50s: over Alder wood, hung and cold-smoked. It is still the only one to date to smoke Adour salmon.
- The house’s taramas (plain or crab), which are absolutely delicious!
The brand also has a very beautiful boutique in Paris, Rue Charlot in the 3rd arrondissement.
41 rue Charlot 75003 Paris
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Dalloyau festive creations
This year, Maison Dalloyau offers some astonishing novelties in its range of festive creations, such as an avocado Yule log (the “Hors Piste”) imagined by the house’s pastry chef Jérémy Del Val, or even a Cognac macaron in collaboration with Maison Martell.
Logs and cakes: the Hors Piste (from €9.50 per individual portion); the Mont-Marron; the Piste Noire; the Citrus Freshness; the Praline Dalloyau; the chocolate-banana cake shaped like a crown and coated with chocolate (€28).
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Comtesse du Barry Foie gras
Comtesse Du Barry, a brand specialized in South-West products, obviously offers a beautiful selection of foie gras again this year. I tested the gift set this year with a block of goose foie gras (100g) and its chutney (27g) presented in a beautiful box with fairy-tale colors (price €22.90).
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Festive Poké at Pokawa
For this end of 2023, Pokawa is pulling out all the stops by creating a festive, colorful, and gourmet poké: Tropical St Jacques. On the menu: a tropical scallop poké with a vinegared rice base accompanied by a mixture of crunchy cucumber, sweet mango, edamame, scallop tartare, pomegranate seeds, and Espelette pepper.
Tropical St Jacques Poké by Pokawa
Poké price: €11.90
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Culinaries for the holidays!
Culinaries is an online store that brings together a selection of the best grocery products with producers who have remarkable expertise and offer organic and natural products.
Inside the gift set: Clove pods by Max Daumin (€7.70); organic Nyons olive tapenade from Ferme Brès (€4.20); 1 Millésime Chocolate bar (€7.50); 1 bottle of Greek white wine Sous le Végétal Livia (€24); organic shortbread “Les P’tits Vénètes” with salted butter caramel (€3.95)
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Papillotes (chocolate foil-wrapped candies)
I don’t know if it’s a tradition particularly rooted in the Lyon region, but I cannot imagine Christmas without papillotes, just because it’s unthinkable in my family! And then once again, certainly because of my Lyonnaise origins, for me papillotes are Révillon, since the chocolatier also comes from the capital of the Gauls.
My little treat: eating the papillotes arranged at the foot of the tree, on Christmas morning, while opening my gifts with my parents.
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Maison Sève, another Lyonnaise institution, also offers its papillotes, wrapped with rebuses telling the stories of illustrious Lyonnais.
Price: 250 g tube, €25.30
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Some chocolate sweets and other delicacies
What would Christmas be without some sweet treats made with chocolate or something else… I dare not imagine… Here is a selection, obviously not exhaustive, of sweets and delicacies for the holidays!
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Aux Deux Canelés
This Parisian shop specialized in canelés, as its name suggests, which I discovered a few years ago, offers a lovely holiday collection for Christmas 2020 with several products.
Aux Deux Canelés Christmas collection: the Christmas tree of Audes, focusing on sweet canelés with canelés on chocolate shortcrust pastry alternating 3 flavors (Mont-Blanc; chocolate-hazelnut filled; the classics coated in dark chocolate / price €70 for 10 or 12 people with 24 filled canelés + 9 mini-canelés), and the savory canelé gift set with 24 mini-canelés with foie gras, salmon gravlax, turkey and black truffle, goat cheese and sun-dried tomato (price €33).
72 rue de la Verrerie 75004 Paris
available in store until December 31st
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De Neuville festive collections
This season again, the chocolatier De Neuville puts its French know-how to work for quality to offer a gourmet festive collection with an enchanting flair. Among its collection of molded chocolates, I received the Santa Claus in milk chocolate accompanied by blond fries and caramelized milk chocolate (€10.70).
The little extra: all the gift sets, ballotins, and booklets are recyclable and come from France or nearby Europe, in order to minimize the carbon footprint.
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Delicacies from Chocolaterie Monbana
This year, Monbana is once again offering a beautiful chocolate collection for Christmas with many products (including the Advent Calendar that I already mentioned in the article on this subject).
Including this duo gift set of the house’s classics, with inside: The Classics Praliné Crêpe Dentelle in milk chocolate and The Classics Praliné Caramel with Guérande salt in dark chocolate (212g gift set for €9.95).
Otherwise, I literally fell for the limited edition crousti-snack, which are coffee-flavored cereal crisps coated in milk chocolate and white chocolate, shaped like a snowball! It is truly super good and particularly addictive.
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“Noël Merveilleux” collection by Réauté Chocolat
I am a fan of this French brand (which has existed since 1954), especially for these little chocolate subjects, they are so cute! This year, I completely melted for the little Christmas teddy bear peeking out from its hiding place to watch for Santa’s arrival (€13.95). How can one resist it!?
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The Delacre Christmas collection
Delacre offers two Christmas collections again this year with exclusive gift sets that I love to collect every year (I keep them afterward to use as storage boxes):
- The Festive collection, which comes in two green and gold designs with winter patterns, featuring a selection of 16 varieties of Tea Time biscuits (limited edition for the holidays at €12.99).
- The “Etoile” collection, with a box containing a selection of 7 varieties of biscuits with revisited recipes (limited edition for the holidays at €12.49), but also a small format with 4 varieties of Constellation Star biscuits (€3.99).
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La Maison du Chocolat
This year chef Nicolas Cloiseau adds a twist to a festive collection with an English influence called “Noël à Cracker”. For my part, I fell for the “Noël à Cracker” collection gift set with its colorful illustration.
Inside, we find the iconic house chocolates, and among them, two new nuggets: a 70% dark chocolate ganache, pure Ecuador origin, with woody, vegetal, and honeyed notes, and a milk praline with Christmas spices (cinnamon, ginger, clove, nutmeg) and crêpe dentelle.
La Maison du Chocolat
“Noël à Craker” gift set, approximately 24 assorted pieces, 170 g: €30
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Lanvin chocolate snails
This gourmet tradition that dates back to my childhood is in a way my own Proust’s madeleine. When I was little, every Christmas, my grandmother gave me a box of Lanvin milk chocolate snails, and this tradition still continues today!
I always ate them very slowly (no more than one per day) so that it would last me as long as possible. This company, which has existed for over 80 years now, remains for me the inimitable Christmas praline chocolate.
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Christmas Yule Logs
Here is my selection of Christmas Yule logs to finish this holiday meal happily. The quest for the Christmas log is a bit like hesitating between Ladurée and Pierre Hermé macarons; it’s a matter of taste…
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The frozen logs from L’Atelier des Glaces Van Den Casteele
This year for New Year’s Eve, we tested a frozen log from L’Atelier des Glaces Van Den Casteele for the first time. This artisan ice cream maker has been making its own recipes for frozen desserts in Flanders since 1975. All the ice creams are handcrafted in the North of France in St Sylvestre Cappel with local products and rigorously selected ingredients.
There are now 11 Van Den Casteele stores in Hauts-de-France, 1 store in Bourgoin-Jaillieu (in Isère, near Lyon), and finally one store in the Paris region (where we went) in Plaisir in the Yvelines department.
Our choice: the Nut log (a novelty) with vanilla ice cream, hazelnut spread ice cream, covered with hazelnut pieces and a hazelnut spread drizzle (price: €22.50 for 6 people), and verdict: it was a unanimous hit at our New Year’s Eve celebration!!!
L’Atelier des Glaces Van Den Casteele
Le Carré des Ebisoires 78370 Plaisir
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The log from the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace Hotel
This Christmas Yule log is the follow-up to the 2019 edition titled “Once upon a time”, created by chef Eddie Benghanem. This year, we are once again following the chef into a dreamlike and magical world. The creation is a feast for the eyes and takes us into a magical forest from which we imagine seeing elves and mysterious vegetal beings emerge, which reminded me of the world of Lord of the Rings…
The log is made of a light toasted vanilla mousse with lemon cream, hazelnut praline and fleur de sel, and a crispy hazelnut chestnut biscuit.
Log by Eddie Benghanem for the Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace
Price: €74 for 6 people
Order 24 hours in advance by calling 01.30.84.55.55 and pick up at the Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace (1 boulevard de la Reine – 78 000 Versailles) from December 1st, 2020, to January 1st, 2021
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The log from Le Grand Véfour by Guy Martin
For the year-end holidays, Chef Guy Martin created a Chocolate Black Truffle Christmas log that remains light and delicate thanks to a magnificent balance in textures.
The ingredients: milk buckwheat seed “à l’impératrice”, chocolate pain de Gênes, crunchy buckwheat praline, flowing chocolate with black truffle, ganache mounted with 64% couverture chocolate and truffle, light dark chocolate mousse.
Price: €89 (log for 6 people)
The log is to be reserved by calling 01 42 96 56 27 or emailing resa.gvefour@orange.fr
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Hugo & Victor logs
I discovered this great brand this year and I must say that I am a fan of its products made mainly with natural ingredients (even for the food coloring). During a small press presentation last September, I was able to discover and taste the 2020 logs by Hugo & Victor and their holiday cakes.
The 2020 logs: the Elegance log in collaboration with Champagne Barons de Rothschild (€39 for 4 people); the Combawa log (€59 for 6 people); the Praline-Clementine log (€39 for 4 people); the Envelope log (€50 for 6 people); the Lemon-Verbena frozen log (€35 for 4 people).
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Christmas drinks
Christmas is also the season of limited editions of Christmas beers, for example, and it is also the time of year when Champagne flows freely in general… Below, I therefore offer a selection of drinks for the holiday season with Champagne but also wine!
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Christmas teas and herbal teas
I am a tea lover, you have known that for a long time, and I like to give quality tea to the people I love. The Christmas period is conducive to discovering the limited Christmas editions offered by major houses and tea brands.
Le Palais des Thés
This brand of teas and herbal teas that I particularly like always offers collections for the holiday season. On the menu for the 2023 collection: Thé Magnifique, a green tea with fruity and gourmet notes of pear, vanilla, and almond (€17.50 for the 110g metal tin); the Christmas infuser mug (€26); the holiday tea gift set with a selection of 54 tea bags (€39.90).
Palais des Thés
64 rue Vieille-du-Temple 75003 Paris
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Christmas Collection by Compagnie Coloniale
The oldest French tea brand, Compagnie Coloniale, was founded in Paris in 1848. For almost two centuries, it has selected its teas of origin, its aromas, and created exclusive blends. For the holidays, the tea house offers several Christmas gift sets with a selection of Christmas teas and herbal teas. In the Christmas gift set with 3 small 30g tins, we find the Christmas cherry and almond black tea, the Neige green and white tea, and the Etoile d’Orient, a blend of green teas with flavors of orange and spices, with a note of chocolate.
Compagnie Coloniale
Christmas gift set 3×30 g with Christmas tea, Neige, and Orient: €24
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Champagne and sparkling wines
Regarding Champagne, you know that it is a subject that is close to my heart and that I have developed on several occasions on the blog. I have also visited this region several times to discover its products!
On one hand, we obviously have the big names of Champagne like Laurent Perrier (with whom I had already collaborated to help you win a night at the Okko hotel if you remember) with its Brut Cuvée below (€37.80 per bottle individually).
You have the big Champagne houses with very well-known names, but there are also more confidential houses that work differently to offer different and unique taste experiences that we find under the designation Champagne de Vignerons. I have been telling you about this collective of growers and Champagne cooperatives for several years because I find that the work they do is admirable, and I am committed to supporting this kind of approach.
Example: Champagne Benoit Beaufort, Brut Tradition non-vintage (price €16.20), Montagne de Reims; Champagne E. Lacour, rosé blend from the Montagne de Reims (price €19); Champagne Marie Tassin Brut 100% Pinot Blanc; Champagne J. Pierron Leglise, blanc de blancs brut cuvée (€15.80).
Like last year, I am once again presenting a bottle from the Champagne Grémillet house because I really like this family brand which is located in the Côte des Bars (which I have already talked about specifically on the blog). This year, I am presenting their new Grand Cru cuvée, a 100% chardonnay from a single vintage, the 2015 year, and only from the first pressing (€33).
I also offer two Champagne houses that collaborated with me for my Advent calendar by offering prizes to be won by my community on my social networks: the Champagne Delamotte house and the Joseph Perrier house which is located in Châlons-en-Champagne.
Another possibility, you can opt for sparkling wines which will bring you the bubbles, but at much more reasonable prices if you don’t have the finances for Champagne. For example, it can be a very good idea to think about Crémants: the Crémant d’Alsace (with the very pretty “Cousu Main” bottle by William Arlotti for the Caves de Turckeim at €12); the Crémant de Bordeaux; the Crémant de Bourgogne (very beautiful cuvées at Veuve Ambal for example, see below); the Crémant du Jura; the Crémant du Limoux; the Crémant de Loire…
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Sweet wines (liquoreux)
Since last year, I discovered the Christmas Muscats that I like to present to you on the blog. These are natural sweet wines produced from Muscat de Rivesaltes, traditionally marketed on the third Thursday of November.
We generally serve this wine during the holidays, with foie gras, cheese, or to accompany the Christmas Yule log, but it is also enjoyed very well until February, with Candlemas pancakes, carnival fritters, or the Epiphany Cake (Galette des Rois).
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For the holidays, St-Germain liqueur (iconic elderflower liqueur) is partnering with designer Alexis Mabille to offer a unique limited-edition art-deco gift set. By combining plays of colors and materials, the designer expresses his floral inspirations and redraws this wild and ephemeral flower.
St-Germain & Alex Mabille Gift Set
Price: €65
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CHRISTMAS GASTRONOMY CONTEST:
To celebrate this holiday season properly and to make you wait until Christmas, I propose that you win a bottle of a very sweet white wine for the holidays, in collaboration with French Beaches.
The prize: a bottle of Colline d’Amour, Côte de Gascone IGP (semi-dry white wine), with 45% Gros Manseng, 20% Petit Manseng, 20% Ugni Blanc, 15% Colombard (value €19.90).
To participate, just leave a comment below this article telling me which dishes you prefer to enjoy during these holiday periods.
A random draw among the answers to this question will designate the winner of the bottle! Good luck to all and now all I have to do is wish you a very happy holiday season!
Edit of December 24, 2020:
Following the random draw, I announce that the winner of the bottle is Maëlle L. Congratulations, I will contact you by email soon. Thank you all for participating and Merry Christmas!
Rules:
– Contest limited to Metropolitan France
– + 1 chance if you are a fan of the blog’s facebook page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s twitter page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s Instagram page; + 1 chance if you follow the blog’s You Tube channel + 1 chance for each share of the article (don’t forget to leave your usernames in your comment if you want to benefit from extra chance(s))
– 1 participation per IP address
– contest start date Thursday, December 17, 2020 – participation deadline Wednesday, December 23, 2020 and result the next day on the blog in an edit of this article.
ALCOHOL ABUSE IS DANGEROUS FOR HEALTH. DRINK RESPONSIBLY.
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez
