Christmas is coming soon and, as you may have noticed, I’m continuing my series of articles on this theme. Today, I’m going to make your mouth water (well, I hope so…) with my selection of gourmet products to enjoy during the year-end holiday season. Because personally, I find that one of the great pleasures of this festive period is definitely Christmas gastronomy.
It’s 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!
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Table of Contents
Would you care for a bit of Caviar?
Three years ago, I wouldn’t have really been able to tell you if I liked caviar or not. It’s such an expensive delicacy that it’s quite unlikely to be able to taste enough of it to form an opinion. Well, now after a few tastings, I’ve made up my mind: I have expensive tastes 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 according to the sturgeon breed they are extracted from, but also according to the preparation method and the selection of the eggs. These changes make the taste and texture of the caviar vary. The price is obviously set according to the rarity of the production.
Like all seafood, it’s a food that smells of iodine and salt, so that might give you a little hint about your taste in this matter. Personally, I find it a very fine and tasty delicacy, but I completely understand that some people don’t like it at all; as far as our palates are concerned, we are all different.
My tasting tip: the royale style, on the back of the hand so that the aromas of the caviar are not interfered with by the taste of a spoon, for example.
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Foie gras with Canards Soulard
A specialist in duck meat and foie gras for over 80 years, the Maison Ernest Soulard offers very high-quality products for the holidays. With the favorite photographer, it was an opportunity to try, for the first time, to prepare a foie gras terrine from raw duck foie gras.
The little extra that really helped us was working from a frozen deveined raw duck foie gras, the must-have from the Ernest Soulard range (€45). Even though we had spent time watching a video on the internet to learn how to devein a foie gras, I admit that the fact that the main veins were already removed made the work much easier for us… This liver of about 500g is perfect for making a terrine and I must say we were quite proud of ours!
The tip: you can absolutely make your terrine in advance, and after cooking, it keeps perfectly for 15 days in the refrigerator.
Well, obviously if you don’t feel like going to the trouble, the brand also offers products with whole semi-cooked duck foie gras like the Ficelle Prestige (€27 / 250g).
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Ultra-fresh boxes from Pêché Maison
Pêché Maison is a Vendée-based start-up that delivers fish caught off the coast of Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie within 24 hours throughout France, cut into fillets and vacuum-packed in their workshop.
For the year-end holidays, Pêché Maison offers gourmet boxes, to give as a gift or to treat yourself, to bring a breeze from the sea to our holiday tables. The products are really excellent quality and at the peak of freshness, of course!
In this box:
- salmon artisanally smoked with beech wood in the Pêché Maison workshop in Vendée.
- scallops, caught off the French coast.
- 2 soles, caught off the French coast, landed in Vendée ports and collected at the fish market the very morning of the shipment.
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Festive products from Maison Delpeyrat
Born in 1890, Maison Delpeyrat has been committed for nearly 130 years, putting all its know-how into offering fine gastronomic products from the South-West.
To taste:
- The traditional foie gras in a jar, which is cooked without preservatives, salted with salt from the Île de Ré, labeled IGP Sud-Ouest, and awarded a beautiful silver medal at the 2019 General Agricultural Contest (€26.50).
- The IGP Bayonne ham aged for 12 months, without preservatives or additives, from French-raised pigs (€4.29 for 4 slices).
- Smoked salmon petals (the 2019 novelty) with 3 different recipes (plain, sesame-poppy seed, and dill-lemon), from certified and controlled farms using no GMOs, no growth hormones, no animal feed, and finally, a QR code on the packaging allows you to know where the salmon was caught (€9.99).
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Maison Barthouil
I had already told you about the very good products from Maison Barthouil in 2017. This human-sized company comes from the South-West (Landes to be more precise), and everything is made there.
The house was created in 1929, in Peyrehorade, by Gaston, the grandfather, then run 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: with alder wood, hanging and cold. It is still the only one to this day 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.
Barthouil Boutique 41 rue Charlot 75003 Paris
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Les Papillotes
I don’t know if it’s a tradition particularly rooted in the Lyon region, but I can’t imagine a Christmas without papillotes (foil-wrapped chocolates), just because it’s unthinkable in my family!
And then, once again, because of my Lyon origins certainly, for me, papillotes mean Révillon, since the chocolatier also comes from the capital of the Gauls.
For your information, these 2019 new products from Révillon (Double Praliné; Extra Blond; Mini Noir Chic; Skimie and Skimo children’s papillotes) are up for grabs right now on my Instagram account.
My little pleasure: eating the papillotes placed at the foot of the tree, on Christmas morning, while opening my gifts with my parents.
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Maison Sève, another Lyon institution, also offers its papillotes, wrapped with rebuses telling the history of illustrious citizens of Lyon.
Price: 250g tube, €25.30
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Some chocolate sweets and other treats
What would Christmas be without some sweet treats made with chocolate or otherwise… I dare not imagine…
Crackers from Maison Le Roux
For this end of year, Maison Le Roux offers red and gold crackers to place at the foot of the tree, filled with the brand’s must-have salted butter caramels.
Caramel flavors: chocolate, coffee, hazelnut, orange ginger, yuzu matcha, blackcurrant, buckwheat, raspberry, tatin…
Maison Le Roux Cracker Price: €16 for 150g
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Festive collections from Paul
Paul bakeries obviously offer special breads for the holidays, but also Yule logs and a box of 12 mini Christmas macarons in a limited edition (€10.40). I especially fell for the reindeer and the brioche Christmas tree (between €2 and €2.20 each).
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Amorino treats
For the holiday season, the famous ice cream maker Amorino offers some gourmet specialties straight from Italy, including a chocolate Christmas panettone (€24.90), available until January 31, 2020.
Another specialty is small bags filled with Christmas chocolates typical of different Italian regions, the Gianduitto that melts in the mouth, the Tartufi, the Cubetto, and finally the Cremino, a small two-tone cube (jar starting from €12.50), available until March 31, 2020.
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Treats from the Monbana Chocolaterie
This year Monbana is once again offering a beautiful chocolate collection for Christmas with many products (including the Advent Calendar I already told you about in the article on this subject), such as the new item this year, the delicious “Petit Croc'” in milk or dark chocolate (€4.20 per 120g).
Another version of this novelty is the Petits Croc’s gift box, which combines the two cases shown above (€9.40).
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The red Christmas tree by Léonidas
Inside this beautiful Léonidas box, we find lovely chocolate trees, which come in 4 types: almond cream, coffee macaron praline, tangerine ganache, and Cranberry ganache.
Square Léonidas box price: from €14
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Réauté Chocolat
I am a fan of this French brand (which has existed since 1954), especially for its little chocolate subjects, so cute! This year, I totally melted for the little Christmas penguin with its milk chocolate hat sprinkled with sugar stars (€8.50).
As for the small bags of chocolate, there are apple-caramel tiles on round milk chocolate discs.
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Selection of Fairtrade-labeled products at Max Havelaar
Max Havelaar France offers a selection of gourmet and ethical products to treat those around you while allowing small producers on the other side of the world to improve their living conditions and those of their community. These products ensure better remuneration for producers, better working conditions, and a development premium to finance collective projects, all while respecting the planet.
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Delacre Christmas collection
Delacre indeed offers two Christmas collections this year:
- The Balades Féériques collection which comes in two green and gold decors, with winter patterns and a selection of 16 Tea Time biscuits (limited edition for the holidays).
- The “Etoile” collection, with a box containing a selection of 6 biscuits with revisited recipes (limited edition for the holidays), but also an assortment of 8 biscuits in the shape of a tree, Santa Claus to hang on your tree (€3.99), and finally a small format with Constellation Stars (€3.99).
Collector’s box prices: €12.99 (for the Balades Féériques collection) and €11.99 (for the Etoile collection)
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La Maison du Chocolat
This year La Maison du Chocolat has imagined a superb magical collection for the holidays with a very poetic theme, I thought, around the polar circle.
Émotion collection box Polar Circle with 20 chocolates: €28
Snow star log, €95 for 6/8 people
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Chocolate snails from the Lanvin house
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 would give 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 as long as possible. This house, which has existed for over 80 years now, remains for me the inimitable Christmas praline chocolate.
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Christmas Logs
Here is my selection of Christmas logs to happily end this festive meal. 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 log from the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace Hotel
This Christmas log is a trompe l’oeil of a tree log, created by chef Eddie Benghanem. The creation is a feast for the eyes and it takes us into a magical forest from where we imagine Santa Claus and his reindeer, colorful mushrooms, or even imaginary animals coming out…
Price of the log by Eddie Benghanem for the Waldorf Astoria Versailles – Trianon Palace: €69 for 6 people
By order 24h in advance at 01.30.84.55.55 and pickup at the Waldorf Astoria Versailles Trianon Palace (1 boulevard de la Reine – 78 000 Versailles) from December 1st, 2019 to January 1st, 2020
By order 24h in advance at 01.30.84.55.55 and pickup at the Hilton Paris Opéra (108 rue Saint-Lazare – 75008 Paris) on December 24th from 3pm to 6pm, December 25th from 10am to 12pm, and December 31st from 3pm to 6pm
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The Grand Véfour log by Guy Martin
For the year-end holidays, Chef Guy Martin has developed a lemon Christmas log, light and with a nice dose of zip thanks to its tangy side.
Ingredients: Black lemon from Iran, tonic, juniper berry, and lemon vanilla biscuit
Price: €90 (log for 6 people)
The log is to be reserved at 01 42 96 56 27 or at resa.gvefour@orange.fr
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The Cassiopée log by La Meringaie
I really like this brand specialized in meringue, and this year the 2019 creation is named Cassiopée and it’s a real joy of lightness with vanilla whipped cream and green Sichuan berry, roasted pineapple, candied kumquat, and passion fruit.
Price for La Meringaie log for 6/8 people: €49 only by order
For info, I will very soon give away a size of this magnificent log on my instagram account @mellebonplan!
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The Tourpagel logs
The brand, specialized in frozen food products delivered to your home, offers as every year a varied selection of Christmas logs.
Price of the organic pear apricot pastry log: €16.95 (for 6 people)
Price of the Clafoutis-style pastry log: €14.95
Price of the Exotic Delight iced log with mango, passion fruit, coconut, and meringue: €13.95
Price of the coffee and chocolate iced log: €10.90
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Christmas drinks
Christmas is also the period of limited editions of Christmas beers, for example, and it is also the time of year when Champagne generally flows freely…
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Champagne and sparkling wines
Regarding Champagne, you know it’s a subject close to my heart and that I have developed several times on the blog.
- On one hand, we obviously have the big names in Champagne like Laurent Perrier (with whom I had already collaborated to give you a chance to win a night at the Okko hotel if you remember) with its Cuvée Brut below (€37.80 per bottle).
You have the big Champagne houses with very well-known names on one hand, but there are also more confidential houses that work differently to offer different and unprecedented taste experiences that we find under the name of Champagne de Vignerons. It has been several years since I have been telling you about this collective of winegrowers and Champagne cooperatives because I find the work they do admirable and I care about supporting this kind of approach.
Example: Champagne Benoit Beaufort, Brut Tradition non-vintage (price €16.20), Montagne de Reims; Champagne E. Lacour, blended rosé from the Montagne de Reims (price €19).
Like last year, I am 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 harvest year, 2015, and only from the 1st press (€33).
Another possibility, you can opt for sparkling wines which will bring you the bubble side, but at much more reasonable prices if you do not have the necessary finances for Champagne. For example, it can be a very good tip to think about Crémants: the Crémant d’Alsace (with the very pretty bottle ‘Cousu Main’ 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
Since last year, I discovered the Christmas Muscats that I like to introduce to you on the blog. These are natural sweet wines produced from Muscat de Rivesaltes, traditionally marketed the third Thursday of November.
This wine is generally served during the holidays, with foie gras, cheese, or to accompany the Christmas log, but it is also enjoyed very well until February, with crêpes for Candlemas, carnival fritters, or the Galette des Rois
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Holiday products by La Cour d’Orgères
This brand is that of two sisters, settled in Quiberon, one of whom is a Master Artisan Jam Maker who creates sweet and savory recipes based on jam.
For the holidays I have made you a selection of 3 original products for your year-end meals: “Faites un voeu”, the novelty in the Ephémères range with pears, chestnuts, and vanilla (€7.90 per jar); l’Écume des Mers, a jam with marine flavors that perfectly accompanies seafood (€7.90 per jar); the Pinacotonka
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Foies gras from Maison Jean Larnaudie
Recognized for its expertise in the preparation of foie gras, Maison Jean Larnaudie has been located in the heights of Figeac en Quercy since 1951, in the heart of the South-West of France.
Jean Larnaudie develops a range of foies gras with an IGP certification, from ducks raised by local producers and crafted with respect for the product and tradition.
2019 novelty: a duck foie gras with Clément Rum, an exclusive recipe finely seasoned with 3-year-old aged agricultural Rum and enhanced with a delicate hint of vanilla.
Price: €14.99 to €29.99 depending on the format
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CHRISTMAS GASTRONOMY CONTEST:
To celebrate this festive period well and to keep you waiting until Christmas, Maison Jean Larnaudie is teaming up with the blog to give one of my readers a foie gras with Clément Rum, the 2019 novelty from the house.
The prize: a foie gras with Clément Rum in a can, accompanied by a harp, a shallot-raspberry confit, and a 35cl bottle of Clément rum (value €60).
To participate, simply leave a comment below this article telling me which dishes you prefer to enjoy during these festive periods.
A random draw among the answers to this question will determine the winner of the foie gras! Good luck to everyone, and all that remains is for me to wish you a very happy holiday season!
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 for every share of the article (don’t forget to leave your usernames in your comment if you want to benefit from extra chance(s))
– 1 entry per IP address
– contest start date Monday, December 16, 2019 – deadline for participation Monday, December 23, 2019, and result the next day on the blog in an edit of this article.
Edit of December 24, 2019:
Following the random draw, I announce that the winner of the Maison Jean Larnaudie foie gras is Olivier van Straelen.
Congratulations, I will contact you by email shortly. Thank you all for your participation and very merry Christmas!
Photo credits: Nicolas Diolez
