Free-range fresh bronze turkeys

Marks & Spencer Pembrokeshire Free Range
£10 per kg, marksandspencer.com
Lovely golden crown. Very moist. Flavoursome dark meat and juices. I’d be happy with that on Christmas Day.
★★★★

Natoora Fosse Meadows Truly Free Range
£15.16 per kilo, natoora.co.uk
This feels really free range… I like the brown meat - very tasty.
★★★

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Medium
£8.50 per kg, sainsburys.co.uk
The leg is nice and brown. Beautifully coloured. It’s more chickeny; less succulent.
★★★

Whole Foods Market Bramble Farm Free Range
£9.99 per kg, shop.wfm.com
The brown meat is good and moist. The white meat looks darker and tastes quite bland. The meat feels crumbly.
★★

Stuffing

Natoora The Butchery Ltd Apricot, Herb & Macadamia Stuffing
500g, £6.95, natoora.co.uk
Similar to the one we make at Christmas. I like that nutty texture.
★★★★

Waitrose Figgy Pudding Stuffing Balls
340g, £3.99, waitrose.com
They look fancy. Good consistency. For me, the flavours are too rich - there’s too much fig.
★★

Whole Foods Market Traditional Sage and Onion Stuffing
450g, £3.99, shop.wfm.com
Lots of bread and not much else. A bit odd.
★★

Asda Extra Special Honey and Rosemary Parcels
300g, £3, asda.com
It’s basically like eating chipolatas, which is lovely, but it’s not what I’d call stuffing.
No stars

Free-range ham

Daylesford Alderton ham
2.75kg, £45, daylesford.com
It has very natural flavourings, it’s very moist and I like the fat. This tastes like my mum had made it at home. My favourite.
★★★★

The Ginger Pig free-range glazed ham
£16.50 per kg, thegingerpig.co.uk
It seems saltier than the rest. Very natural looking and the fat is nice. It’s got a great old leg of pork flavour to it.
★★★

Laverstoke Park Farm organic honey-glazed ham
1kg, £32, laverstokepark.co.uk
Looks and tastes drier. The sweetness is coming through. The glaze is nice - sweet and sort of porky.
★★

Waitrose Duchy Roast Ham with Heather Honey
1kg, £25, waitrose.com
Not too salty, pretty moist as well. Feels plasticky as it’s so round.
★★

Cranberry sauce

Whole Foods Market Wilkin & Son Organic Cranberry Sauce
210g, £2.39, shop.wfm.com
You can see the cranberries. Nice texture. It feels natural and it’s not so sweet.
★★★★

Morrisons M Cranberry Sauce
300g, £1.49, morrisons.com
You can visibly see the fruit, however, it looks very red – redder than you would think. It feels quite jam-like.
★

Tesco Finest Cranberry Sauce
225g, £1.99, tesco.com
Oh no… This sounds weird, but it tastes like blackberries to me, blackcurrant jam… It doesn’t taste of cranberries.
★

Selfridges Cranberry, Port and Orange Sauce
250g, £6.99, selfridges.com
Very artificial tasting. There’s a sweetness I don’t like. You don’t really get the fruit. Nice texture.
No stars

Christmas pudding

Marks & Spencer Collection Intensely Fruity Christmas Pudding
454g, £7.50, marksandspencer.com
You taste the fruit and the nuts. Good texture. Not too boozy.
★★★★

Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference 18-Month Matured Christmas Pudding
900g, £12, sainsburys.co.uk
It smells of orange. The texture of the nut is coming through, which I like.
★★★★

Lidl Snowy Lodge 18-Month Matured Christmas Pudding
907g, £7.99, lidl.co.uk
All I can smell is raw alcohol. Very soft… I like it a bit coarser.
★★★

Iceland Luxury Christmas Pudding
454g, £3, iceland.co.uk
The fruit has lovely texture, but it’s a bit dark – not burnt, just a bit too bitter. It simply doesn’t taste very nice.
★

Brandy butter

Ocado Thursday Cottage Brandy Butter
110g, £1.85, ocado.com
It looks like lemon curd. Very smooth. A lot of brandy, you really feel the alcohol in this one.
★★★

Fortnum & Mason Cognac Brandy Butter
210g, £3.95, fortnumandmason.com
Very sweet. It’s got that crunchy, sugary thing… I think that’s too rich, personally.
★★★

The Co-operative Loved by us Brandy Butter with Courvoisier and Vs Cognac
200g, £1.75, co-operativefood.co.uk
It smells fatty and buttery, but the brandy and sugar overpower the butter.
★

Tesco Finest Brandy Butter with Courvoisier Vs Cognac
150g, £2.40, tesco.com
It doesn’t look very yellow or feel very natural to me. It’s been whipped to an inch of its life.
★