Christmas Menu Trends 2023: Three innovation thought-starters for 2024/25 product development

While the ongoing cost-of-living crisis is sure to rage on through the winter period, pushing consumers to think twice before shelling out for second rounds; Christmas parties are sure to go ahead all over the country, with festive snacks, bites, nibbles and sharing platters launching with aplomb to cater for myriad merrymakers.

And while the likes of caviar and oysters may not be on the party food shopping list for the vast majority of cash-conscious consumers, not just this year but also potentially Christmas 2024; food brands are continuing to bank on touches of recognisable luxury to seal the deal without breaking banks, with the likes of smoked salmon, parfait/pâté, and baked Camembert sharers again common across restaurants and retail.

Format and flavour inspiration for Christmas party food development can be found on a number of pioneering restaurants' snack sections which, as discussed in our recent UK snacking deep-dive, are now becoming hotbeds for culinary innovation.

Festive snacking iterations do not disappoint, with classic Christmas decadence and comfort slipping effortlessly into the mix as lines blur between canapé and bar snack.

Take Medjool dates wrapped in smoked bacon, baked with smoked garlic honey, found at The White Horse in Cheshire; liver parfait and fruit jelly mini-maritozzi at OMBRA in Hackney; tiger prawns with 'nduja butter and chimichurri at Firebird in Soho; and spiced steak tartare shells at The Black Friar in Manchester.

From terrifically-tart cranberry sauce to smooth turkey gravy, Christmas just wouldn't be Christmas without the vast array of jellies, chutneys and succulent sauces synonymous with the festive season.

The thing is about Christmas-centric condiments is that they're fairly timeless. And some only really come around for consumers once a year, such as the aforementioned fresh turkey gravy (which, for many, can't really be beaten).

For chefs and developers, simple spins to upgrade the classics is usually a good way to go, with London live-fire restaurant Acme Fire Cult's cranberry agrodolce - a vinegar-meets-fruit, sour-sweet affair - a great example of considered Christmas innovation, elevating the classic cranberry sauce to more than just the obvious.

And while perhaps not as 'traditional' as your turkeys, hams, wellingtons and nut roasts, fish is always part of the Christmas equation, not least for both pescatarians and flexitarians, with salmon in particular flying the flag.

You could say there's more wiggle room for sauce innovation with seafood around Christmas, seeing as there isn't a defining festive option, with Kentish gastropub The Dog at Wingham's smoked mussels sauce for its festive baked lemon sole dish catching our eye.

Then there's making traditional Christmas trimmings more 'saucy', such as Borough Market spot Roast's Brussels sprouts ragout, which will be found on the restaurant's hero roast turkey dinner, with a smoked bone marrow sauce incidently found atop its festive sauce section.

'Tis the season for culinary extravagance, with innovators not dropping the ball this year on pure, comforting, Christmas decadence.

Sandwiches live long in the memory these days, with The Black Pig's (Borough Market) showstopping Christmas iteration now stealing the limelight on socials.

We're talking confit leek mayo, braised spiced red cabbage, slow-roast pork shoulder, smoked turkey, cranberry & orange sauce, and a pecan, sage & onion crumble.

Yes, it's all in one sandwich. A toasted ciabatta, to be precise. And the best part about it? Christmas gravy French dip.

Decadence is also one for the dining room, with chefs this year delivering powerful statement dishes to take festivities up a few notches. Take 10 Greek Street and its highland wing rib with confit potatoes, portabello mushrooms, Stilton, shallots, kale and whiskey.

And then, of course, there's dessert. How about a sticky date Christmas pudding with miso caramel sauce and clotted cream ice cream courtesy of Freemasons at Wiswell in Clitheroe?

Or perhaps an espresso martini chocolate yule log with pear sorbet, sweet and sour blackcurrants, and chestnut Chantilly cream at The Waggon Inn in Oldham.