Jack Stein Q&A / What I’m Eating this Christmas

Roast goose, fresh Cornish seafood and a big pile of cheese are festive essentials for for chef and food writer Jack Stein

Talk us through your perfect Christmas feast?

Fish is my top choice for Christmas Eve. My perfect starter would be oysters from Porthilly in Cornwall and Scottish langoustines, served with mustard mayonnaise. For main, a whole roasted turbot with hollandaise sauce, followed by cheese and pickles later in the evening. On Christmas Day we go to my family’s pub, The Cornish Arms, in the morning for a pint with the locals, then back home for presents, a late lunch and lounging on the sofa. We have a full roast dinner of goose with braised red cabbage courgettes and stuffing. I tray bake the stuffing rather than stuff the bird – it’s better that way. On Boxing Day we have ham and baked potatoes, followed by a long walk with my fiancé, son and dog.

What will you be doing for Christmas dinner this year?

Hopefully eating it! I have a daughter due on the 20th December so I may be at the maternity ward rather than at the Christmas dinner table! Usually we have goose, but this year I’ve been thinking about a fore rib of beef, from aged grass–fed Dexter cattle. I buy beef from Phillip Warren in Launceston – the best butcher in Cornwall.

Any tips for home cooks looking to try something different this year?

Try goose – it yields less but you get the best fat for making roast potatoes. Always use a meat probe and cook the goose to 68 degrees. For gravy, sweat the shallots and thyme, then add the red wine and reduce until it’s almost all evaporated. Then, add the stock and reduce by half until its thick. Finish with soy, Marmite, ketchup and the vinegar – sounds strange I know, but you have to try it!

What’s been your most memorable Christmas eating experience?

The first year I helped my dad, Rick, cook was very memorable. I was a little sous chef!

What do you reckon is the most undervalued ingredient in the Christmas repertoire?

Turnips! I love them mashed with carrot with heaps of salted butter.

What’s the festive dish you always look forward to?

Cheese. A big pile of wonderful cheese!

What will you be drinking this year?

Proper Job IPA is the perfect beer match for a classic Sunday roast. Its citrus, pineapple and grapefruit notes enhance all of the flavoursome trimmings that a proper roast dinner has to offer. My brother Charlie – who is a wine buyer – is always in charge of the wine on Christmas Day. This year it will be Restless River Cabernet Sauvignon – a beautiful South African red.