Step into Christmas

You’d think that after this many Christmases, I’d get tired of doing Christmas every year, but each time it’s impossible not to get butterflies as we build to launch. The great privilege of my role as Head of Buying & Supply Chain is getting to talk to our fantastic farmers, makers, butchers and bakers and see what they’re getting so excited about. This year we’re seeing more and more interest in ‘retro’ celebrations, which is right up our street.

Everything about Field & Flower is old school, whether it’s cyclical farming systems, native beef breeds, traditional slow food production or James Mansfield’s taste in football teams (Wimbledon who?!). So much of the exciting new movements in food and farming are actually just about winding back the clock, and trying to plot a route back to building the relationships with food systems that our forebears took for granted.

I’m also really excited to be able to bring you Christmas products throughout the whole Christmas period, available for delivery from 27th November. We’re making the most of John’s earlier turkey kill to supply fresh turkeys for Thanksgiving for the first time (give Customer Services a ring if you want a whole turkey at the end of November and we’ll put one aside for you). After this, we've got turkey joints, available right through December, both sous vide and raw, as well as all the bits you’d want to furnish an early Christmas feast. My favourite little extras are our 3 Kings Chipolatas (chestnut, orange and cranberry – we couldn’t get gold, frankincense and myrrh).

The initial idea with this early range was to make sure you can have a Field & Flower Christmas spread for those early celebrations and party entertaining with friends or extended family before the big day. But I would actually say it’s just as good an idea to get a Christmas order delivered at the start of December, bang it in the freezer and put your feet up until Christmas.

The heart of our Christmas range lies with our farmers – the true unsung heroes of Christmas who take risks right through the year in order to feed millions of households that big roast at the right time, on the right day, year in and year out. John rings me about buying turkey poults in February every year and we need to come up with our best guess of numbers of birds we’ll sell ten months from then.

I’m on the phone to Chris about duck numbers while enjoying the August sun and chatting mini hams with Shaun as the kids go back to school in September. I’ve been working for half a year to line up our Belted Galloway beef from Yorkshire and will personally follow them from farm, through the abattoir, through the butchery and into boxes in December. A lot of planning goes into Christmas but when it comes together it’s a beautiful thing.

We strive for perfection, and I’m really pleased with some of the changes we’ve made this year. The stuffing for the Christmas porchetta is stunning - fruity and spicy, with a nice bit of apple to infuse with the pork. We’re tying our porchettas differently for a more traditional long shape when roasting and a slightly quicker cook – they’ve also got an even distribution of stuffing through the joint to make perfect slices every time. I’m really happy to see the second year of our Black Garlic & Thyme Crown of Beef – this is a product that only existed in my mind for two years before we made it a reality last year, and it’s come out better than I could have imagined. A magic metamorphosis is undergone in the days after tying the joint, where the fudgy, savoury black garlic infuses with the whole joint, and after the roast, the aroma of that with the thyme is transcendental. You also end up with black garlic and thyme infused beef dripping to cook your potatoes in – try to pick that up off the shelf!

In filling out the range, we find passionate artisans right across the country. After a visit and conversation with Andrew, the owner of The Fresh Flour Co. in Devon, I’m ready to run through a wall in the name of overhauling ‘big flour’ and making local grain systems work. We're proud to now stock a selection of his special sourdough crackers, made with ancient grains and Kadode Kampot pepper, that are spectacular with cheese. As the result of an excitable conversation with Alison, our pie maker, we’re also selling one of the only traditional Beef Suet Christmas Puddings on the market using a revived Victorian recipe. This is alongside a set of pork pies that came to me in a Damascene moment of clarity - Stilton, Apple and Sage, Bacon Brie and Cranberry, Cheese and Pickle - are you not entertained?

Why don’t they tell you there are jobs like this when you’re at school?

I say it every year and this year’s just the same – it is an absolute privilege to be in the position we are in, carrying the trust of all of our customers to go out and make their Christmas happen. It’s not something we take for granted and we work very hard to get it over the line. But it's always incredible to witness the impact that the period has on our farmers and producers, knowing that every box sent out is providing a Christmas dinner for people that care about who their money goes to, and that we're all doing our bit to support our hardworking farming communities.

Step into Christmas and check out our glorious range right here. I hope you love it as much as I do. I’d recommend getting your order in early to take advantage of the whole selection (especially our limited number of heritage Belted Galloway beef centrepieces) while it’s widely available.