Fav holiday food

My new favourite holiday food are soft shell crab. I discovered them last year in Phuket at a restaurant on the beach. It was a plate of crispy, garlicky, crab unctuousness. With small crabs or small pieces almost unidentifiable of which I was most unsure but as my local Thai guide highly recommended them that was one of the dishes. For which I am so glad.

Just a few weeks ago I was with my sister at a Yo-Sushi and there I had soft shell crab in a tiny wrap. It was a few mouthfuls of delicious moreishness and I was in heaven. Sometimes one tries something on holiday and then it is never the same back home, but on this occasion I was not disappointed.

Seafood is one of my most favourite foods. Lobster is a luxury and prawns are amazing, especially the proper big ones. I suppose it is the texture that appeals so much as well as that fresh clean taste. Regular crab is so yummy.

On the other hand, I do not do mussels, whelks and the like and am not overly keen on scallops. I guess that is the whole species of shell fish. I once tried smoked oysters and they were quite good but it might as well have been smoked bacon!

At Christmas I like experimenting and do not have a favourite food, apart from all the vegetables. I love lightly steamed Brussels sprouts and I think the key to help those less fond of them is to crisp up some finely chopped bacon and to sprinkle that on them. One year for Christmas dinner we had Surf and Turf; another year we had Indian takeaway bought the day before and reheated; on several years we have had turkey in brine which has been a magnificent success; on one or two years we had a turkey which I injected with my own baste (yum yum); last year we had a three bird roast in which I carried out the successful deboning of a chicken, a duck and a turkey and then resewed them up with stuffing. That was both beautiful and delicious. Cooking began so far in advance and it was worth it.

This year we are going very different and way out with Christmas Dinner - I am not going to cook. We are going to a friend. Oh my goodness and how amazing. Even though I love the hustle and bustle of planning and preparing a big Christmas dinner for everyone I am so looking forward to not doing any of it this year.