Chief executive says it is focusing on innovation, with quirky treats in its Christmas campaign

A tree-shaped charcuterie sharing board and a row of houses made from chocolate mousse are the centrepieces of a multimillion-pound corporate tussle between supermarkets this Christmas, with executives at Sainsbury’s hoping the quirky festive food can help it outmuscle rivals.

The Charcuter Tree and Home for Christmas mousse are among 300 own-brand products the UK’s second largest grocer has introduced this winter, with Sainsbury’s vowing to jazz up the traditional “beige” Christmas spread in an effort to lure shoppers from competitors.

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There’s nothing like a luxurious roast chicken and tender little tarts to get you into the festive spirit

A frosty morning just before Christmas, a chicken is roasting in the oven and dewdrops of condensation sparkle on the kitchen windows. The chicken has been basted with a paste of goose fat, juniper and thyme, around it a ring of sweet potatoes, their soft flesh melting, their outer edges crisping in the heat.

Just the smell of goose fat, or indeed that of the duck, will always bring a festive note. Spread it over the breasts and legs of a chicken and you will end up with a supremely juicy bird. This is one of those meals that feels and smells like The Feast itself, but is simpler, and can be brought out throughout the season for the many other “lesser” Christmas meals.

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My son has set his heart on some new toys for Christmas, but will the big man be listening?

‘Dear Santa’ it begins, since my son is still not quite so English that we haven’t managed to keep the preposterous concept of ‘Father Christmas’ away from his blameless mouth. ‘I hope You ARE WELL’ it continues, sounding a charming note of concern that shows him to be a man of impeccable manners.

Every family that wishes to communicate with St Nicholas has their own tradition for so doing. I knew kids who sent their Christmas letters up the chimney in a puff of smoke. Thence, through a chain of communication too complex for us here to describe, it would find its way to the North Pole and be re-atomised, cinder by cinder, by Santa’s elves.

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Nothing beats dipping your hand into a tin of festive chocs at this time of year

Who doesn’t love dipping their hand into a tin of chocolate at this time of year? Quality Street is the favourite, but while I love the childhood idea of them, they are just not my cup of tea any more. If they are yours please enjoy them.

More grownup versions exist with more grownup prices. I have a soft spot for Italian Venchi ’s offerings. This is in part because some of the chocolates therein remind me of the ubiquitous bowls of sweets and chocs every grownup relative had on their dining-room table. My mother always had one, too, but hers was under the TV, and now my eldest, at university, emulates this on her kitchen table. Venchi’s ‘ hampers ’ (actually round, colourful boxes) start at £25. You can also do your own mix (look for My Venchi Mix ), 100g plus a box starts at about £12 and you can get a really good blend of exactly what you want.

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At this time of year, food is so much more than just what we eat

The Tesco Christmas delivery slots are filling up fast, our sausagey fingers grabbing at space, dragging potatoes into our baskets, and biscuits, and various selections of butter. Our relationship with food alters slightly at this time of year, doesn’t it? It sways and fattens.

Christmas ads show families literally applauding as a glittering feast appears on their table – this is food as performance, food as trophy, food as glue. A synthetic memory, nostalgia for turkeys past, for dinners when everyone laughed and drank and nobody mentioned the bad thing. Shop-bought sandwiches this month come heavy with mayonnaise and meat, and sprinkled with crispy onions – the idea is that, like Willy Wonka’s Three Course Dinner chewing gum, which gave the illusion you were eating tomato soup, roast beef and blueberry pie, one bite of a Pret Christmas sandwich should not just offer a whole meal, but also transport you far far from the staff room of the shoe shop or sticky office desk to that hallowed cosy kitchen surrounded by people who love you. Each bite is its own little dinner – the first pulls out a chair, the second asks how your day was, the third rubs your shoulders, the fourth (you pick some matter perhaps now from between your teeth and take a swig of cooling tea) has remembered the book you mentioned earlier in the year and shyly bought it for you, signed.

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Now that LadBaby has passed on the charity baton, let’s return to the days when real talents held sway. Like, erm, Mr Blobby and Benny Hill

Before we fully enter the festive season, succumbing to the sweet rustling embrace of mistletoe and Quality Street, please could we consider the good health, or otherwise, of the UK Christmas No 1 single ?

While 2023’s victor will be announced within days, LadBaby (Mark Hoyle) has counted himself out. Usually in collaboration with his wife, Roxanne, he’s dominated the Christmas charts for five years. He’s raised huge amounts of money for the food bank charity the Trussell Trust with spoofs of classic rock songs (including I Love Sausage Rolls), along the way beating the Beatles record for the most Christmas No 1s.

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As a cash-strapped festive season looms, brands are reining in their spending on traditional broadcast campaigns

The star power of festive favourite Michael Bublé and singer Christina Aguilera will not be enough to arrest a £150m slump in Christmas TV advertising spending, as the cost of living crisis and the pull of alternative media tempers the traditional big-budget marketing showdown in the biggest shopping quarter of the year.

UK companies are set to spend a record £9.5bn on marketing in the run-up to Christmas, known as the “golden quarter”, which many retailers rely on to drive annual profits and sales. That figure is up more than £400m overall on last year.

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The big meal requires a wine with a big punch – these heavy-hitters will add all you need to your festive feast

Waitrose Blueprint White Burgundy, Mâconnais, France 2022 (£10.99, Waitrose ) Even if you are the sort of endlessly curious food-lover whose day-to-day eating habits are a non-stop whirl of new cuisines and ingredients, Christmas dinner is the one meal that, give or take a few insignificant tweaks and additions, barely changes from one year to the next. For many people, that goes for the wine on the table as well as the food: classics (by which people generally mean a select handful of big French and other Old World names) are the order of the day. White burgundy certainly counts in that company, with Waitrose’s own-label chardonnay from the south of the region being stylish good value, and Louis Jadot Domaine Ferret Pouilly-Fuissé 2020 (£34.99, Whole Foods; thesurreywinecellar.co.uk ) a rounded, tingling, complex treat. For reds, Bordeaux’s claret is the trad choice, whether the ripe and ready Château Le Peyrat Côtes de Castillon 2018 (£9.96, justerinis.com ) or the wonderfully refined, fine-grained Château Beauregard Ducasse, Graves 2019 (£15.65, or £13.95 as part of a case, hhanc.co.uk ).

Asda Extra Special North Canterbury Pinot Noir, New Zealand 2020 (£10.25, Asda ) Other big European guns for the traditional Christmas table could include a spicy-herby, robust châteauneuf-du-pape (Tesco Finest Châteauneuf-du-Pape NV, £21, is one of the best-value examples of this never-cheap appellation); a mellow oaky rioja (such as The Society’s Crianza 2019, £8.50, thewinesociety.com ); a tough-yet-tender barolo (such as the fragrant GD Vajra Albe Barolo 2018, £37.40, fromvineyardsdirect.com ); or a racy, filigree off-dry white Mosel riesling (such as the delightful Merkelbach Ürziger Würzgarten Riesling Kabinett 2021 (£24, stannarywine.com ). For some non-European riffs on similar themes that are every bit as good as their inspiration, but with their own local stamp, there are countless high-quality chardonnays being made in a burgundian way across the globe, including the creamy yet incisive Creation Chardonnay 2022 (£15.99, or £12.99 as part of a mix six, majestic.co.uk ). The same is true for Burgundy’s red grape pinot noir, and Asda’s succulent take on the grape from North Canterbury in New Zealand is a perfect turkey-and-trimmings partner.

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Bring seasonal cheer to your table with these fragrant delights

When I initially thought about festive scent, eau de toilettes/parfums crossed my mind. But does anyone actually want to smell “festive”? How does that translate? A mulled wine cologne? Ugh. Also, what’s the point of a fragrance you only wear once a year? So, instead, I’ve focussed on the scents we want to be surrounded by, as opposed to those we want to exude. Hence festive candles. What I like about these is they look lovely – your table setting will be a conversation starter – but smell exquisite, too, though not in a way that is so overpowering you begin to taste it in the gravy. This is because these candles were, mostly, created by perfumers – or in industry parlance, noses – who understand the alchemy of fragrance. They are at the top of the game when it comes to putting notes together and knowing how they will work in real settings. So their luxe scents are beautifully complementary as opposed to clashing. Which, in a room of gastronomic wafts vying for attention, is exactly what you need.

1. Maison Francis Kurkdjian Jasmin d’hiver £98, selfridges.com
2. Santa Maria Novella Melograno £75, smnovella.com
3. Miller Harris Scherzo £75, millerharris.com
4. Trudon Altaïr £103, trudon.co.uk
5. Carrière Frères Pin de Sibérie & Bois Fumé £60, carrierefreres.com
6. Christian Dior Ambre Nuit £86, dior.com
7. Diptyque Délice £67, diptyqueparis.com
8. L’Objet Côte Maquis £95, libertylondon.com
9. Goutal Paris Limited Edition Christmas £83, harveynichols.com
10. Ormonde Jayne Etoile £80, ormondejayne.com

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