Steve Reed, environment secretary: I’m barbecuing the turkey this year, so I can’t tell you yet whether that’s a top tip or a total disaster! Other than that — brining the turkey overnight massively improves the flavor.
Liz Truss, ex-prime minister: My top tips for the perfect roast potatoes — don’t peel them, don’t parboil them and don’t even worry about preheating the oven. Simply cut them into chunks and put them straight into a roasting pan lined with olive oil or goose fat and put them in the oven. To ensure the perfect crispy exterior, just give them a good shake halfway through cooking.
Wait, what, pizza?
Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief executive: With a blend of vegetarians and carnivores in the family, we started a new tradition of homemade pizza from scratch for our Christmas meal during lockdown and have kept it going. There is nothing like the smell of rising dough when you come back from a Christmas walk and we all get to put on our favorite toppings together.
Mel Stride, shadow chancellor: Mine would be cocktail-related as one of my proudest possessions is my cocktail cabinet! I would recommend a spiced Negroni for Christmas. Classic Negroni, but use gin spiced with star anise, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury: My favorite cocktail is a simple Negroni — equal measures of gin (ideally Plymouth, infused in the fridge with cinnamon, star anise, cloves and bay leaf for a festive twist), Campari and sweet vermouth; stirred with ice and a slice of orange. But my unexpected new skill of 2024 has been making mezcal cocktails. Swap out the gin for mezcal for a more earthy and smoky Negroni, more fitting for winter than the summery original.
David Lammy, foreign secretary: Add a serving of Guyanese pepperpot to the side of your Christmas turkey. My aunt bringing this around always puts our family in the festive mood.
