DITCH TRADITION

It may be a controversial start, but both Nadia Lim and Allyson Gofton urge Kiwis to ditch the traditional roast meat and vege Christmas main. Like fake snow and woolly stockings, it’s an awkward fit with a summer’s day.

“I think the whole turkey thing has come from overseas,” Lim says. “I don’t think it’s really Kiwi and I don’t know if the whole roast dinner thing is necessarily that Kiwi.” Gofton is much more equivocal. “Ditch the British traditions,” she says. “Turkey’s for winter. Also turkey is a big bird and bless our grandmothers who had time to prepare and cook, but we need to realise that if we don’t have that skill, if having to stuff the bloody thing and prepare it is going to send you into a level of stress, then don’t do it.”

Instead, Gofton will be serving a slow-roast fillet of beef, which she will “smother” in mustard and cook for two hours at 100°C.

Lim’s main course will be built around a whole side of salmon, brushed with a balsamic or pomegranate glaze, and cooked in the oven for 15 minutes.

Neither of those is an especially cheap option, but both cooks are emphatic that there should be only one animal-based protein on the table – and not too much of anything else, either.

“I can’t stand a buffet,” says Lim. “The worst thing at Christmas time is when there’s a mumble-jumble.”

But if beef fillet or whole salmon is out of your budget, there are more cost-effective delicious options.

Ham is a Kiwi classic, but as Gofton points out, that doesn’t mean you need a whole one sitting in the middle of the table.

“Unless you’re happy to eat ham for two weeks non-stop, buy a couple of slices from the deli and put it on the table on platters,” she says – though if you are heading off to the beach or have a houseful of people, a whole ham can be good value.

More than 60% of the ham available in New Zealand is imported, so if you want to support local farmers (and local welfare practices, not necessarily in place overseas), check the label or chat to your butcher.