The artisan Christmas table, straight from the makers

Article, 27 October 2026

The best Christmas food is often made by one family, in one place, in small batches. This year, try building the table from British makers, one course at a time. Every maker here is on Earth & Ocean, with a link to their page and their own website.

A tip before you start: small makers sell out, and the post slows down in December, so order early.

To start: smoked fish

Hot-smoked salmon on sourdough
Hot-smoked salmon on sourdough. Photo: Andy Li, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons

Salar Smokehouse in the Outer Hebrides is best known for its flaky hot-smoked salmon, lovely warm or cold with soda bread. On the Isle of Lewis, Uig Lodge Smoked Salmon hand-slices its smoked salmon for a classic Christmas morning plate. Fancy oysters instead? See our oyster season guide.

The charcuterie board

North Charcuterie in Kent cures British meats from high-welfare, rare-breed pork. Cornish Charcuterie rears its own Cornish Lop pigs on a North Cornwall farm. From County Tyrone, Ispíní Charcuterie makes chorizo, salami and air-dried meats. Add a jar of Calders Kitchen piccalilli, made to Grandad Charlie's family recipe from 1954, for the cold cuts on Boxing Day.

The cheeseboard

Waterloo cheese
Waterloo, made by Village Maid Cheese. Photo: Js.wigmore, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Three to five cheeses is plenty: something soft, something hard, something blue. Take them out of the fridge an hour before you eat.

  • Village Maid Cheese, Berkshire: Wigmore, Waterloo and Barkham Blue, made by hand since 1986.
  • Bath Soft Cheese Co, Somerset: the Padfield family's organic soft and blue cheeses, from their own herd.
  • Lynher Dairies, Cornwall: nettle-wrapped Cornish Yarg, a looker on any board.
  • Keen's Cheddar, Somerset: traditional unpasteurised Cheddar, made by the same family farm since 1899.
  • Caws Teifi, Ceredigion: raw milk Teifi and Celtic Promise from the longest established artisan cheesemaker in Wales.
Wild garlic Yarg
Wild garlic Yarg from Lynher Dairies. Photo: Tristan Ferne, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Something to pop

A glass of sparkling wine
A glass of sparkling wine. Photo: JIP, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

English sparkling wine stands up to anything French at the Christmas table. Try Fairmile Vineyard, a short walk from Henley-on-Thames, or All Angels Vineyard near Newbury, made only from grapes grown in its own vineyards.

Something sweet

Death By Fudge hand-makes fudge in small batches in its own little shop. At Kernow Chocolate in St Eval you can watch the chocolate being made, and Ocelot Chocolate in Dundee makes organic bars from regeneratively grown cacao.

A present for the cook

Halen Mon sea salt
Halen Môn sea salt. Photo: Llywelyn2000, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Good salt is the gift every cook uses. Halen Môn harvests sea salt from the Menai Strait, and Wight Salt makes organic sea salt from the water at Ventnor.

Find more makers near you on the Producers page, or plan a food trip to stock up in person.

Cover: a charcuterie and cheese board. Photo: Paora, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.