ASK THE EXPERTS

OUR PANEL ANSWERS YOUR CULINARY QUESTIONS, INCLUDING WHERE TO FIND FEIJOA AND WHICH CHRISTMAS MEAL KITS ARE WORTH A TRY

Where can I take a cooking class in Tuscany?

Emiko Davies: There are some great classes to help you learn how to harness the secrets behind Tuscany’s wonderful food culture. Raffaella

Cova (lunchwithraffaella.com) is a private cook who offers classes in her historic home in Montalcino for an experience that feels like a day among friends: eating, cooking and drinking together. She’ll create a custom menu based on your level and preferences — it might be fresh ravioli filled with ricotta and local veg, or hand-rolled pici (thick spaghetti), followed by a seasonal dessert.

In a charming garden in the centre of Florence, the young and talented chef Francesco Lomanno and his sommelier brother Filippo, also known as F alla Seconda (‘f squared’, effeallaseconda.com), traded in their restaurant to devote themselves to hands-on, themed cooking classes in their beautifully restored family home. Simple enough for beginners, Francesco’s menus contain original dishes, updated classics and excellent Italian ingredients. You’ll collect an arsenal of chef’s techniques along the way — perfect for those who want to learn how to make restaurantworthy meals.

Where can I find feijoa in the UK and how do I use it?

Elle Hunt: Feijoa is a kind of guava that grows on small trees belonging to the myrtle family. It’s native to southern Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and parts of Argentina, but flourishes in mild, dry climates such as Colombia, Azerbaijan, New Zealand and parts of the US and Australia.

The fruit has smooth, green skin, a fragrant, almost floral smell and a polarising taste — it’s sometimes described as soapy and almost medicinal. It’s usually eaten like a kiwi, with the grainy, pear-like flesh scooped out with a teaspoon.

Feijoa can also be used as a filling in baking, in jams and chutneys, and to flavour ice cream, smoothies, confectionery and even alcohol. Imported feijoa can occasionally be spotted in supermarkets or boutique grocers, but it tends to be expensive.

If you can’t find the fruit, you may have to settle for the flavour. Heather’s Feijoas makes feijoa powder and freeze-dried ‘feijoa intensified’ wedges, which are available via its website (heathersfeijoas.com) and via online boutique Feijoa Studio (feijoastudio. com). Products can also be found in shops serving expat New Zealanders, like sanza.co.uk.

Can you recommend some Christmas meal kits?

Delle Chan: DIY meal kits are great for simplifying meal prep and recreating restaurant-quality dishes at home. For a decadent Christmas spread, try Home by Simon Rogan’s 5-Course Meal (from £95 per person, homebysimonrogan.co.uk), featuring truffled celeriac soup, pine-cured smoked salmon, a slab of Goosnargh turkey, Christmas pudding with brandy crème anglaise and mince pie chocolates. Everything comes cooked; all you need to do is heat it up and serve. You can also jazz up the meal with extras such as caviar, a cheese selection or a wine flight curated by L’enclume’s sommelier.

Bigger groups should try Abel & Cole’s The Turkey Christmas

Feast Box, Organic (£175, serves six to eight, abelandcole.co.uk), which comes with a step-by-step recipe booklet. The highlight is a Kellybronze roast turkey with all the trimmings: rosemary spuds, lemon-and-thyme brussels sprouts and Yorkshire pudding. A magnum of Giol prosecco is included, too.

After something less traditional? Swap turkey for lamb with Ibérica’s Spanish-themed Feast at Home menu (£65 per person, ibericarestaurants. com), which arrives prepped and portioned. The hearty spread includes slow-cooked lamb leg with roast potatoes and sweet red peppers, bellota ham, torrezno (a fried bacon snack), manzanilla olives and Cantabrian sea anchovies, all rounded off with cheesecake.

For non-meat-eaters, Hame by Adam Handling has put together a Christmas Day Package (£250, serves two to four, adamhandling.co.uk) containing a veggie wellington, cheese doughnuts, mulled wine and a brandy-and-vanilla pudding.

F alla Seconda