Gifting is a tricky business. Not least since they christened it with that grammatically dubious title. Linguistics aside, we present to you a snazzy selection of swag to suit allsorts.

In December, the Palm Court Lounge of Mayfair’s Park Lane Hotel becomes Christmas distilled and triple-filtered. The gentle plink-plonk of live harp music mingles with the pleasant chit-chat of polite conversation. It’s all terribly civilised and, in short, the ideal location for Christmas afternoon tea.  

Tequila.the old Mexican mother’s ruin, is now a drink of flavour and palatability. We’ve already looked at Olmeca Altos tequila and now it’s Herradura’s turn to come under the bar spotlight.

Asda‘s resident wine expert, Philippa Carr, has been hitting the bottle for a good few years. For a thoroughly good cause, of course- bringing UK wine lovers top tipples for the 30+ years she’s been in the industry. And she’s particularly in demand over Christmas, travelling the world to sample over 450 different wines to ensure Asda‘s seasonal wine selection passes muster.

Okay, so a flat, rectangular package under the Christmas tree isn’t going to fool anyone. But when all the whizzbang doodads and gallimaufry of geegaws have been cast aside, the book is the one gift that keeps on giving. Just please remember to scrawl a personal missive inside the front cover. It’s the only time you’re allowed- indeed, implored, to deface a book.

Miguel Angel, head chef at El Pirata Detapas, has worked closely with Lalani & Co. the boutique tea trading company to select rare teas from India and Nepal to match the tapas on the menu. Anita cocks her little finger and takes tea.

Tobias Gorn is a sommelier. bon viveur and raconteur. Toby’s pretty excited about his recent move to The Whisky Shop and about the chance to foist a few of his finest festive tipples upon Foodepedia, and we trust him totally. This is one man who truly knows how to make proceedings go with a bang.

Advent calendars- how do you eat yours? Each day’s offering hotly anticipated and lovingly savoured, or rip open every door at once and scoff the lot in a festive frenzy of shameful delight? In the best festive manner, we present you with an advent’s- worth of Christmassy canape recipes for you to ration out or binge on to your whim, drip-fed week by week.

We do like Paul A Young’s chocolates. Eccentrically English yet never eschewing the exotic, he lays on a tempting menu all year round. So at Yuletide one rightfully expects great things. A bijou box containing his finest seasonal selections hitting the doormat is more welcome than any advent calendar, and, in the spirit of festive gluttony, is scoffed in its entirety that very teatime.

A subjective selection of sublime scran we like to scoff and/or share at Christmas.