Will it be socks again? Or another cook book he’ll never cook from…? For the foodies around us, and I’m definitely one of them, a book about food is always a good idea. But since you’ve gave him a cook book last year. And also something about pigs and pork for his birthday, a robust thing with bearded men in leather aprons hanging around fires with logs in their hands (thank god he never cooked something from this one)... You might want to come up with something original this year.

Of course, the best Christmas Present is a stay at Château des Edelins, such a wonderful place (yes, you can ask us for a gift voucher if you need one). And food will be involved, because at Château des Edelins, we grow, we cook, we eat, we serve.

But if you still need a book, and of course you do, because, what’s Christmas without books, get him Julian Barnes! He’s one of Britains best writers and as all good people, he likes food. Although he has written “The pedant in the kitchen” in 2003 already, everything is still relevant: his wonders about cook book writers and cook book recipes, and how weird they sometimes are. About his (and your!) kitchen drawer, all those utensils you have but never use. But more important, read it for some good end-of-the-year-reflections, that will keep you going after struggling in the kitchen or really, after whatever struggle you’re in :
”How did it taste? Bloody marvellous, actually, though I say it myself (…) Then why all this fuss? Because, well, that’s what cooking’s about, isn’t it? It’s practically a dictionary definition. Cooking is the transformation of uncertainty (the recipe) into certainty (the dish) via fuss.”

So my friends, let’s have some good fuss this year. Get the book. And the socks, of course.