Consuming Interest

By LESLIE ADRIAN ABout' this time of year the newspapers start their Christmas carol of 'only x more shop- ping days till Christmas.' If this exercise has any object, it is to get us to shop early, so I have spent some time this week trying to find out how early one really needs to shop.

For the turkey, wine, ready-made plum pud- dings and Christmas cards, it is wise to get there before the crowds. But for gift shopping I see no point in panic _buying. In the majority of cases goods shown are well covered by stocks. Last on the list should be the Christmas tree.

Turkeys are going to be scarcer than last year and prices for the best Norfolk birds will prob- ably• be between 5s. 6d. and 6s. a pound.

Just as a great many Surrey chickens and Aylesbury ducklings have never been near these places, so many Norfolk turkeys have been born and bred elsewhere. Today, most of them come from farms in Hampshire. But they have a repu- tation for being plump, well-fleshed birds, and the shopper who has bought a Norfolk turkey usually goes away with that slightly smug air of the man who knows he's bought the best.

But the turkey connoisseur prefers the Irish birds. These may not be so plump, but the flavour is superior, as most Irish turkeys are reared on free ranges in the open.

Apart from the Irish turkeys, the only foreign birds this year will come from South America, as fowl-pest restrictions have prevented imports from Iron Curtain countries. Your home-bred turkey will probably be trussed and packed in a plastic container ready for the oven. Sainsburys go even further and their turkeys will all be handed tO the customers in cardboard boxes.

Order your turkey now from a good poultry dealer. He will keep it till you need it, and he usually selects the best for his first customers.

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• I suppose most people prefer a red wine with roast turkey, but the thoughtful host might offer an alternative white. I have asked three well- known merchants to make a selection of wines for turkey at different price levels.

At over £1, Justerini and Brooks Ltd. suggest Chassagne-Montrachet 1953, a château-bottled white Burgundy, at 25s. and a claret, Chaeau Haut-Brion 1949, at 35s.

Between 10s. and £1, Robert Jackson and Co. Ltd. give two Burgundies, Volnay 1949 at 16s. and Nuits St. Georges 1953 at 15s.

At under 10s., Edward Roche Ltd. say they have a well-matured 1955 Beaujolais for 8s. 6d. and a Bordeaux, Château Latour Blanche 1955, for 7s. 9d.

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Pudding pyrotechnics are a skill the expert cook should master. The secret of getting the brandy to burn with a merry blue flame is to make sure the pudding is piping hot. It should be lifted from its basin, the brandy poured over, lit, and carried to table, in a matter of seconds.

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There is an old Christmas legend that Scrooge- like men in Covent Garden sit up at night at this time of year boiling the roots of sapling Christ- mas trees. This is so that the customers will not put them out of business by planting the trees in their gardens and using them again the following year. I am happy to report that this is quite un- founded and, provided we have the necessary horticultural skill to transplant a tree which was probably reared on sandy highland soil to the clay of a suburban garden, there is nothing to prevent us from growing our cast-off Christmas trees.

Where many people fail, a forestry expert tells me, is in keeping the trees too long without water in a hot room. If you want to plant an Epiphany tree, you must plant it immediately you buy it in a roomy pot with good soil. Keep it well watered and in the coolest part of the room. Try not to disturb the roots too much when you re- plant it in the garden.

Or you may buy a rootless Christmas tree, one of the half-million Norway spruce 'top thinnings' sold by the Forestry Commission every Christmas. In both cases, wait till the last minute. There is no stocking-up of trees: the last in the shops are the freshest.

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To end my Christmas bill of fare, here are some of the inexpensive things I have seen in the shops and which I would be happy to give as presents: My favourite is Heal's black iron chestnut roast for 10s. 6d., to be dispatched, complete with a pound of chestnuts. From the same store, the 'gin and tonic' knife. It opens the tonic bottle (all brands!), slices the lemon and then prongs it into the drink. Price 28s.

At the Crafts Centre of Great Britain, in Hay Hill, W, there is splendid pottery which is very cheap. I liked Joanna Connell's unglazed plant pot holder for £1 14s. and several pieces by Helen Pincome, including a handsome brown ware casserole for £1 15s.

Mannheim, at 305 King's Road, Chelsea, specialise in Scandinavian imports. 1 liked the Swedish stainless-steel cutlery, sold in individual place settings. A four-piece setting for one costs £1 18s. From Denmark comes a newer version of the night-light table heater. Like a curly black iron candlestick, it costs only 19s. 9d. The plain walnut salad servers for 5s. 6d. are also good value.

Bourne and Hollingsworth have a new elec- tric automatic tea-maker of much better design than those earlier Emett-like affairs. Like a double-decker percolator, it costs £4 14s. 3d.

Gorringes have attractive washable rugs from Israel for 69s. I Id. and a wonderful water- powered rocket toy for 25s.

Harrods have developed a transatlantic Him- and-Her skittishness, but shopping there is still a pleasure, evoking Christmas hols. long past. So for Him, those woollen sock-slippers, not in garish folk patterns, but plain black: 39s. 6d. For Her, a Peynet 'young lovers' silk square from France for four guineas.