What to cook this Christmas ...for loved ones living with cancer

It’s a cruel side effect, the way chemo can wreck your tastebuds. But there ARE ways to bring them back to life...

FOR as long as I can remember, my family Christmases have centred around food. But last year, the festive break was a little different.

Just days before the big day, my mother, Kate, then 57, had a cancerous tumour removed from her bowel. Instead of enjoying mounds of turkey and trimmings followed by her beloved Christmas pudding, she barely had an appetite at all.

And when she began chemotherapy, her tastebuds dulled and she couldn’t even face her favourite curries. So I was intrigued to hear of a project that aims to tackle the problem of what to serve people undergoing cancer treatment over the festive period.

Life Kitchen offers cookery classes to patients and carers, with recipes specifically designed to awaken post-chemo tastebuds.

Its founder, food stylist Ryan Riley, nursed his mother Krista through lung cancer before she died in 2011.

‘My mother loved festive food, so seeing her unable to enjoy the treats she’d always relished was heartbreaking,’ says Riley, 26.

We’ve teamed up with Life Kitchen to bring you these festive recipes, which are designed for those living with cancer.

Nothing kills festive joy like cancer. So here’s a sprinkling of Christmas cheer that may have you reaching for seconds.