The celebrated food writer, who died in 1991, apparently always meant to write a book called Food for Christmas and had not only collected recipes and useful quotes but written the introduction, which makes clear her preference for smoked salmon and a glass of champagne without all the commercial fuss. She even regretted the failure of Cromwell's regime to suppress the whole thing, as clandestine festivities would have been much more fun than enforced jollifications. Her recipes vary between the deliberately old-fashioned, like spiced beef or suckling pig, and those intended to be innovative, such as the family recipe for chocolate ice cream instead of Christmas pud. A welcome revival that fills a gap for those who have thumbed too many times through Delia Smith's Christmas.