The holiday season can be one of the busiest times in the kitchen. So how do you create a festive feast that everyone at the table will love?
Every year, the same question arises: What to cook for Christmas so every guest leaves smiling? Falstaff turned to professional chefs who offer great solutions to this perennial culinary dilemma.
Parents may want to cling to the tradition of roast goose, while their children fight it tooth and nail. Balancing tradition with new rituals is no easy task during the holidays—but this challenge doesn’t have to end in a family feud.
“When the whole family gathers for Christmas and only one person spends the entire day in the kitchen, that’s hardly fair,” says Nils Henkel, chef at Restaurant Bootshaus in Bingen am Rhein, Germany. “There's a way to turn every Christmas dinner into a more relaxed experience.”
Henkel has even brought Christmas burgers to the table—think goose cooked low and slow, pulled pork style. The tender meat is placed in the center of the table so everyone can make their own burger. Vegetarians, meanwhile, can enjoy crispy fried mushrooms instead. For those who love to bake, homemade buns can take on a holiday twist with cinnamon or cardamom, paired with chestnuts and red cabbage slaw. Not into goose? Try fish or venison patties. “It just takes a bit of planning to make everyone happy,” says Henkel.
At restaurant Focus Atelier, chef Patrick Mahler swears by cabbage as the ultimate crowd-pleaser. He roasts white cabbage whole in a 200°C oven for about two hours, peels off the charred outer leaves, and slices the sweet, tender heart into thick pieces. “I like to fry it in butter or oil—sometimes with lemon thyme or Indian spice blends like vadouvan or garam masala,” Mahler explains.
The result is a dish that’s deeply flavorful and versatile. “It makes a perfect starter with an herbed vinaigrette, but it also pairs beautifully with fried fish, tofu, or braised meat.”
Daniel Gottschlich, chef at Ox & Klee in Cologne, Germany thinks along similar lines. Instead of cabbage, he highlights braised and roasted celery root as a showstopping main. For meat lovers, he suggests a bold twist: Beet Wellington. “Replace the beef with roasted beet,” he says, “and serve it with a crisp Brussels sprout salad, red cabbage slaw with currants, or even blood oranges.” The dish takes time, he admits, “but preparing a feast together can turn into a special family ritual in itself.”
For a more hands-on approach, Henkel recommends a Christmas bowl—a festive, mix-and-match spread set in the middle of the table. Think goose or roast duck, marinated salmon or silken tofu, alongside ginger rice, crisp vegetables, sautéed mushrooms, nuts, fresh herbs, and a selection of sauces and broths.
Guests make their own bowls. “For me, that’s festive enough—convivial like raclette, but fresher and more interesting than the usual red cabbage and dumplings,” says Henkel. “In the end, the connection between people matter more than what’s on the plate.”
