How to find the best festive gifts for foodies in 2020
/Ad: This is a sponsored post, however opinions are 100% my own.
What better way to create some festive cheer in 2020 than to gift some delicious treats!
I think we all deserve a little indulgence this Christmas!
If you’re struggling for gift ideas, food or kitchen tools are always a great option. Much more so this year where we’ve been rediscovering our home lives and taking things a bit slower.
I’ve gathered together a selection of beautiful and luxurious items which everyone would be delighted to receive.
There is something for every person on your list so take a look and make a note for when you start shopping!
Pasta Tools Gift Set
If you know someone who loves Italian food and would like to try their hand at pasta making, this is the place to start.
This gift set is perfect for pasta lovers and foodies alike. Complete with three Cooking & Carafes recipe cards and three pasta tools, all made in Italy, the lucky recipient will be rolling pasta like a nonna in no time!
The Pasta Tool Gift Set includes:
1 x Garganelli Board - made from Beechwood and Made in Italy
1 x Pasta Cutter
1 x 70mm x 70mm Ravioli Stamp
3 x Cooking & Carafes Recipe Cards
The gift set is £20 and available to buy on Cooking and Carafes website.
Coffee Lovers Gift Set
I can’t survive the day without my morning coffee and I would love to be gifted something like this. You are really sending someone a moment of calm in their day, a moment to reflect and pause. We all need this right now and quality coffee is just the thing to savour.
So if you have a coffee lover in your life this gift set from Cooking & Carafes is perfect for them. It includes a beautiful hand-carved coffee scoop, and a bag of Italian Style Ground Coffee, Buonissimo by Due Fratelli.
Both made in the UK this unique gift set is the perfect combination for coffee lovers. The scoops are made by Will in Glastonbury, who hand carves each scoop from sustainable, British wood, and the coffee is roasted in Suffolk by two brothers Graham & Jason.
This gift set is £24 and available to buy on Cooking and Carafes website.
Cured charcuterie treats
Should you be buying for an antipasti lover then these products are the ideal present.
Premium Cecina de Leon (Cured Beef) El Abuelo is unique and the only Spanish product to be awarded the prestigious Great Taste Award 3 stars and Golden Fork Award 2019.
Using the best “know-how” and made only with natural ingredients the cured beef delivers a gastronomical masterpiece, described by experts as “Tender, sweet, velvety… simply phenomenal".
The Ojos Foods company offers a unique premium and exclusive Cecina de Leon IGP, El Abuelo Maragato Limited Edition, (Cured Beef) by selecting the best cuts from the hindquarter of cows weighing more than 800 Kg. These exceptional pieces of Cecina de Leon (Cured Beef) are created by very carefully curing the meat for more than 18 months, using the best methods and in compliance with norms required by the IGP Regulator Consensus for Cecina de Leon. They only add NATURAL ingredients (beef, Salt and Natural Smoke) to this delicious and juicy beef to obtain an exclusive and unique product.
To purchase this product CLICK HERE.
Spicy Premium Chorizo de Leon - Geras
Chorizo has become incredibly popular in the UK. We are big fans and love eating it with seafood.
This chorizo is quite exceptional though. The WINNER of the Great Taste Award 2020 and 3*Golden Fork 2020 contender.
This product is an authentic, artisan Chorizo de Leon with an instant smoky appealing aroma a deep, rich paprika colour and marbled meat.
Described by Great Taste Award judges as: “delightful, inviting, spicy, warming, rewarding… It's hard to imagine that a chorizo could taste better than this... is in itself a pleasure to eat”. Anyone else drooling?!
Chorizo lovers can be reassured this item is made with 97% meat and only with the best natural ingredients (pork meat, garlic, de la Vera Paprika, oregano, sea salt and natural oak smoke). Due to the well-balanced fat content, it is ideal for either cooking or tapas.
If you needed even further recommendation this is enjoyed by the Spanish King Juan Carlos!
To purchase this delicious gift CLICK HERE.
Truffles for the true foodie
Located in the quiet of the Cotswold countryside, Truffle Hunter is a UK business producing the finest Truffle Oils, Honey and many other truffle infused delights.
They use the best truffles sourced from the finest truffle regions across Europe, as well as going hunting for delicious English Truffles in Somerset & Wiltshire in the UK.
Their unique & award-winning products are then shipped directly from the UK to customers all around the world.
One of their real delicacies is the fresh Black Autumn Truffles. These Truffles have a rich aroma and strong flavour, musty and earthy, with a suggestion of hazelnuts, vanilla and chocolate. How incredible do they sound? Now I know what to buy my husband for Christmas!
Essential Truffle Collection Gift Set
If you’d like to gift a selection of truffle products this is a perfect size.
The essential truffle collection includes:
Two 100ml bottles of Black & White Truffle Oil
A jar of Flaked Black Truffle Sea Salt
A jar of White Truffle Honey.
Purchase this beautiful gift set HERE.
Amarone della Valpolicella, 2015
I couldn’t write a foodie gift list without including some fantastic wines. Of course, I’ve gone with two Italian varieties!
Amarone is a really special wine to give someone. It has a luxury quality to it and is often used for special occasions.
This wine is made from grapes harvested in various vineyards located on hills in the Valpolicella zone (Mezzane and Tregnago hills).
If you love to have all the details, this wine has a strong ruby red colour. The bouquet has notes of vanilla and sweet fruits such as currants, blueberries, cherries depending on the varieties of grapes.
The flavour is velvety with a raisiny character and typical stylish bitterness to give it good balance.
To add this wine to your collection or purchase a gift CLICK HERE.
Castel Chiuro, 1964
I had to include this wine as I drive past the vineyard on my way to the Italian mountains of Bormio a few times each year. The vineyards are managed by hand and stretch across winding, steep hillsides making tracks like little spiders over the landscape.
Established in 1897, Nino Negri is the premier estate producing wine in the Valtellina DOCG in Italy’s Lombardy region. The estate speciality is Sfursat (“strained” or “forced”); a wine made from grapes harvested by trained pickers and dried for 100 days in the cool, dry, alpine air.
The star and primary varietal here is Chiavennasca, the local name for Nebbiolo. The variety has been cultivated in the area for over 1,000 years and all Valtellina DOCG wines must contain at least 90% Chiavennasca. the winery is located in the city of Chiuro in the 15th Century Quadrio Castle. The “castle” sits above an array of underground cellars which house thousands of barrels.
To buy this wonderful wine for someone special, CLICK HERE.
Formaggio!
As the perfect accompaniment to a glass of delicious wine, I had to include some cheese!
Yorkshire Pecorino is a fantastic small business introducing Italian regional cheese varieties to the UK.
The Olianas Ultimate Box is the perfect gift for any cheese lover. It includes a full selection of the brand’s range, all hand made by owners Sonia and Mario.
This is a great way to experience a variety of their award-winning artisan cheeses. Each one is lovingly made in Leeds, West Yorkshire.
The box also includes a selection of crackers and chutneys. A wonderful present for your loved ones.
Yorkshire Ricotta
I love fresh ricotta cheese and it’s not yet widely available in the UK.
This young, mild tasting soft cheese is made from fresh sheep’s milk whey. Ideal for adding some texture to many savoury or sweet dishes. The Olianas Yorkshire Ricotta is an absolutely wonderful and a very versatile, it is just as at home in a Cannoli as it is a Cannelloni!
To purchase one for your foodie see the Yorkshire Pecorino website.
Chocolate Panettone
My Milanese husband tells me he was never allowed chocolate Panettone as a child. It was seen as such a big indulgence and not needed when you have the classic variety. Now of course he likes to have this and remind our children how lucky they are!
This is a Lazzaroni Chiostro Di Saronno Chocolate Panettone, a great Italian brand who also make the famous Amaretti di Saronno biscuits.
The Panettone Chiostro di Saronno is produced according to the traditional recipe and criteria, strictly fresh and genuine, free of preservatives and colours. It has dark chocolate pieces and chocolate cream inside.
To buy one for your Christmas meal or as a gift CLICK HERE.
Limoncello Pandoro
Although I will drive my Italian family crazy by saying this, I don’t really like Panettone. I much prefer the other Italian Christmas cake, Pandoro.
It’s lighter and fluffy. I usually have the plain sponge version which has just a dusting of icing sugar. You can also serve it with Mascarpone, whipped with caster sugar. This is spread on to your slice and you normally enjoy with a glass of spumante/ sparkling wine.
However, if you would like something a little bit different to offer, this Pandoro by Borsari is wonderful as it contains Limoncello cream inside!
I thought I would share this as it’s very hard to find in the UK unless you go to a specialist deli and even then you might have to ask for it.
I don’t think these will be available for long as they only come to the UK in small quantities.
To order your Italian Christmas cake CLICK HERE.
Gifts for Men
If you’re still struggling to find the perfect gift for a man in your life, the Manley Man Company® offer a range of delicious gift baskets and bouquets with a difference!
The idea came to Founder Greg Murray after a simple conversation with his wife Jacquie, for whom he had recently bought a bouquet of flowers: Why isn’t there a gift for men that’s equivalent to flowers? From this sprang a wonderful product range with men in mind, all created by a small veteran-owned business.
If you like to find out more click and Buy here.
Have you found some inspiring gifts for your loved ones this Christmas?
Tell us below which catches your eye?
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links, this means should you make a purchase I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.