By Kat Odell
Holiday gifting for food lovers is a harder proposition than it seems. The clichéd "it's the thought that counts" doesn't always apply to someone who is picky about their chocolate, their sparkling wine, their food-scented candles.
At the same time, in this season of high indulgence, nothing screams holidays more than terrific food and drink items, and related gadgets and accessories.
Whether you're trying to impress a serious culinary enthusiast, or spoil someone (yourself), the items below check multiple boxes.
They range from a custom-engraved tomahawk steak to a new cookbook replete with photos, highlighting a world's best restaurant; there's also a bottle of elegant sake from an expert Champagne maker and a grill for smoking meat from famed pitmaster Aaron Franklin.
In short, something for everyone you want to celebrate with – after they've opened their gift.
FOOD
Gucci Panettone
The iconic fashion house collaborated with Californian pastry chef and panettone expert Roy Shvartzapel for the ultimate take on Italian Christmas bread.
This one is studded with Amarena cherries, chocolate-hazelnut gianduja and crowned with whole, toasted hazelnuts packed in a holiday-hued Gucci-designed metal tin. $160 (about R2 700)
MATER Chocolate
Chefs Virgilio Martínez and Pía León, of globally acclaimed Central restaurant in Peru, have started producing these silky smooth chocolate bars (MATER is the restaurant's research and development arm). They're made from 51% to 100% Peruvian cacao, harvested near the Peruvian city of Cusco this past spring. $50 (about R870)
Daphnis and Chloe, The Yellow Set
Celebrating classic Mediterranean flavours, the Athens outfit sources highly fragrant organic herbs from tiny farms throughout the Greek islands, like sage from Crete and bay leaves from the Ionian Coast. Cute branding in small glass jars makes these botanicals extra giftable. $94 (about R1 600)
DRINK
ONYX Bigface Coffee Set
The Gesha coffee bean varietal is the most expensive and elusive in the world, and the beans are not only from one of the most legendary coffee farms, Colombia's La Palma El Tucán, this is the same coffee that has won multiple World Coffee Championships. Expect a silky brew with notes of chocolate and raspberry; only 250 bags have been produced and go on sale on December 9. $200 for 10 oz. (about R3 500 for 280g)
IWA 5 Sake
This global cuisine-friendly junmai daiginjo sake – a rice wine created by decades-long Dom Perignon cellar master Richard Geoffroy – embraces an experimental blend of three Japanese rice varietals, five yeast strains, and multiple vintages. The result is a rich elixir with notes of almond and pear. $195 (about R3 400)
Dom Perignon Rosé 2008
Containing the rosé vintage 2008, the iconic Champagne house created this flashy pink, limited edition bottle's label in collaboration with musician Lady Gaga. Look for notes of raspberry and rose with the rich-bodied bubbly. $450 (about R7 800)
NON
Haute restaurants like Brooklyn's two Michelin star Aska have poured NON – an Australia-born alcohol alternative – as a fancy wine replacement. The delicious bubbly drinks comes in flavours like salted raspberry with chamomile, and caramelised pear plus kombu. $30
KITCHEN
Blanc Creatives Pro Bronze Handle Rondeau and Stainless Steel Lid Set
Style meets function with Blanc Creatives' newest cooking set, a multipurpose rondeau that's great for searing, simmering, even oven-roasting, capped with a durable stainless steel lid each piece is handmade at a decades old factory in Pennsylvania. $675 (about R11 800)
The Noma 2.0 Cookbook
Vegetable, Forest, Ocean the grand new volume from celebrated chef Rene Redzepi, with Mette Soberg and Junichi Takahashi, tells the story of Noma in 200 dishes, from a truffle feather to reindeer heart tartare. The book has recipes for enthusiast cooks, and striking pictures for anyone who wants to armchair travel to the restaurant. $75 (about R1 300)