Make room for vegans at your celebratory table XANTHE CLAY

The traditional turkey centrepiece is not everyone’s cup of tea, so be prepared this year

It’s that heart-sink moment for the Christmas cook. “I’ve been a vegan since last month,” the guest trills over the Christmas music, “but I don’t want to be any trouble. I’ll just eat whatever.” Meanwhile, the bacon has been tossed in with the brussels sprouts, the carrots are slathered in butter and the potatoes sizzling in goose fat.

It’s also a scenario that could be even more common this year. Sales of vegan food are soaring, and Tesco predicts one in five hosts will have to prepare a vegan or vegetarian option for one of their guests, with one in 12 of us eating vegan.

So, while it might sound OTT, the safest bet is to check if there’s anything your guests aren’t eating.

Since a family meal is about sharing, it makes sense to keep as much of it as possibly acceptable to everyone, even if the main focus remains meaty. So, for the side dishes, roast the potatoes in olive oil, as the chef Ashley Palmer Watts does, and try cooking the sprouts with Marmite butter and crunchy crumbs – my recipe was in the Christmas countdown earlier this month and can be found on the Telegraph website ( go to telegraph. co.uk/authors/xanthe-clay).

If you still need a centrepiece for that vegan plate, one option is to head for the supermarket. Though the staple vegan offerings are of the bean burger variety, most of the retailers have seen the upswing in demand and rushed to bring out rather fancier options (not all of them successful; see my taste test below). Only Lidl and Aldi are off-trend, with vegetarian options but nothing without cheese and eggs.

On the subject of cheese, Asda and Holland & Barratt are stocking a vegan “cheese platter” of vaguely cheese-like stuff made with coconut fat and starch. Popping it on the table at the end of the meal will show your vegan guests you were thinking of them, although it’s not going to fool regular cheese eaters – especially not the “Cranberry After Dinner” flavour. The cheddaranalogue “mature” version grills to a gloopy, stretchy texture that is a close approximation of a Kraft cheese slice, and packs all the cheesy nostalgia of an Andy Williams Christmas album.

Sunday 23 December 2018