With the festive season fast approaching, people up and down the country are getting into the yuletide spirit in preparation for the big day.
The UK government has sadly already conceded that “Christmas cannot be normal this year” amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and while it has been announced this week that up to three families can form a Christmas bubble between 23rd – 27th December, for a lot of people, this still means there will be friends and family members they are unable to spend time with.
This is presumably why many are seeing the greater value in gift giving this year, and if there’s one thing we’re all certain of, it’s that hampers are a classic Christmas present.
There’s just something extra special about about a hamper, right?
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And whether it be food, beer, gin, or even Christmas trimmings, there’s plenty of independent businesses across Greater Manchester that are embracing the popularity of the hamper this year and offering their own unique spin on them.
There’s so many places that are #StillServingMCR in our local area this Christmas, and there’s never been a more vital time to support independent hospitality.
We’ve rounded up some of the best Christmas hamper gifts we’ve seen.
Don Giovanni’s Christmas Hampers are really quite special this year.
Stuffed with premium Italian goodies – like parmigiano, truffle oil, homemade bottles of limoncello, truffles salami, tricolore fusilli, olives and balsamic vinegar from Modena – these are not the sort of products you can pick up in your local supermarket.
All sourced directly the restaurant from luxury Italian artisan suppliers, each hamper is designed to give your Christmas that extra bit of sparkle.
You can pre-order your Don’s at Home – Christmas Hampers via the Don Giovanni website here.
If you’re looking for a unique Christmas present this year, you need look no further than everything you’d need for a top-quality tapas night all wrapped up in a hamper.
The Abeja Tapas Bar Christmas Board-in-a-Box is packed with all the gourmet goodness you expect from Manchester’s smallest tapas bar, including – your choice of wine, Vermouth from Cordoba (250ml), meat and/or cheese board, your choice of artisan chutney, olives, extra-virgin olive oil (50ml), flatbreads, and a stocking filled with Spanish Christmas sweets.
All hampers are beautifully-prepared by hand, and are wrapped up in eco-friendly packaging.
Get your orders in for the Christmas Board-in-a-Box by by Friday 18th December for UK-wide Christmas delivery (via UPS) here.
If it’s premium gin you’re looking for this Christmas, you won’t find a much better option than the wide array of gift sets and hampers that Atlas Bar has put together, as the Castlefield favourite hangout currently has an impressive 270+ tipples stocked on its online gin shop.
The real standout is by far the This Christmas Home Gin Experience Pack at just £25.
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This contains four double gins – Tarquin’s Figgy Pudding, Four Pillars Christmas Edition, Bols Genever and Ferdinand Saar Quince Gin – and alongside these, you’ll also receive four premium Double Dutch Tonics, a Ginger Beer, and botanicals to complement your gins too.
You’ll even receive a link to an online virtual gin tasting experience, and information about your gins.
Herd’s Christmas Trimmings Hamper could be a real lifesaver this year.
Designed to “take the stress out of Christmas day cooking” with everything prepared as much as possible so you can “enjoy more time out of the kitchen and more time getting merry after this dreadful year”, each hamper comes loaded with everything you need to accompany the perfect Christmas dinner.
You can take your pick from a hamper for two (£35), four (£55), or six people (£75).
The Christmas Trimmings Hampers are available to purchase now for collection from the 22nd – 24th December and will come with full reheating and cooking instructions, plus a little Christmas treat.
Salford Roasters’ Xmas Boutique is your one-stop-shop for Christmas gift boxes this year.
Described as “a place to shop with simplicity for all your coffee gift set needs” and presented perfectly in recyclable kraft boxes and ribbon, you can choose your coffee, hot chocolate and coffee kit combinations, and it has also teamed up with local Salford Businesses – Seven Bro7hers and Sis4ers Distillery – to provide you with an awesome Festive Bonanza Bundle too.
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There’s six gift boxes to choose from, ranging in price from £21 – £60.
You can grab your Xmas Boutique gift set boxes directly via the Salford Roasters website here.
Life may still be on pause for the time being, but Salvi’s is “bursting at the seems” with the very best, hand-selected, imported produce from Italy and is inviting Mancunians to “grab a small slice of Neapolitan life during lockdown” in the lead up to Christmas.
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You can now even get your hands on a bespoke Christmas hamper too, filled with all the best deli goods.
Head on down to Salvi’s Deli in the Corn Exchange to grab yours.
Albert Street Bakery in Eccles – a truly independent and family-run bakery that proudly claims to produce “the only Eccles Cakes actually made in Eccles” – is currently taking orders for Christmas Hampers ahead of the festive season.
Each hamper comes packed with a selection of artisan breads, local cheeses and chutneys, festive filled tarts, homemade mince pies, triple chocolate brownie Christmas puds, and of course, Eccles cakes.
All of this baked goodness delivered to your door for only £45 too.
You can place your orders for the Albert Street Bakery Christmas Hampers before 14th December for delivery on 19th or 23rd here.
The Hampton & Vouis H&V Gift Bundle is the perfect way to “treat yourself or someone special”.
For just £25, you get a H&V Tote Bag (choice of colours Pale Grey or Pastel Pink), a H&V Re-Usable Cup (12oz Gray Goo or Pink, or 8oz Molto Grizio), a box of Brew Tea Co Tea Bags, and an Independent Coffee Guide No 5, and all items when bought separately would usually come out at an RRP of £43.98, so you’re making a cracking saving too.
You can grab your H&V Gift Bundle via the Hampton & Vouis website here.
Hip Flask Craft Beer’s Manchester Box is designed to “highlight the unique identity of Manchester”.
Inside this ‘Best of Manchester’ box of craft beer is a diverse range of lagers, pale ales and IPAs created in breweries across the region, and each box contains 12 beers (5x 440ml cans and 7x 330ml cans), making it an ideal gift for any beer lover, or someone with a special place in their heart for Manchester.
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There’s brews from beloved Greater Manchester breweries – Alphabet, Beatnikz Republic, Brightside, First Chop, Seven Bro7hers, and Shindigger – inside each hamper, all for £35.
You can find more information about each brew and grab your Manchester Boxhere.
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The Manc Group has partnered with Deliveroo to help local restaurants deliver during lockdown as part of our #StillServingMCR campaign.
Working alongside Deliveroo, The Manc will ensure all restaurants on the service will get the amplification they need across our social platforms. We’ll update our one million-strong audience on your latest updates and deals and we’ll create conversations with the masses about our favourite scran from your menus.
Basically, we will champion you, and we will go above and beyond to do it.
A new pasta restaurant is opening inside the old Vertigo site on Cross Street
Georgina Pellant
A new restaurant selling freshly made pasta is tipped to open in the old Vertigo unit on Cross Street later this year, proving that when one vegan door closes another one opens.
Pastan, a plant-based pasta kitchen that first began life in London’s Covent Garden in April 2021, has submitted a planning application to take over the site from September.
If successful, it will see the new arrival take over 18 Cross Street, the original home of beloved Manchester vegan eatery Vertigo, which sadly closed its doors in March with bosses citing ‘significantly increased’ running costs.
Co-founded by Dean Fawcett and Jerome Ibanez when the world of hospitality was just beginning to reopen after the second lockdown, Pastan has hosted a number of pop-ups across the country.
Founders Dean and Jerome pictured with former Pastan team member Sienna at their Notting Hill pop-up. / Image: Pastan.UK
The duo says they ‘make no compromises’ when veganizing ‘such a classic’ as mac and cheese. / Image: Pastan.UK
It started off as a pop-up in Neal’s Yard, Covent Garden, before heading to Bristol throughout the summer of 2021 for a second pop-up opened at the Nectar House, Gloucester Road.
Following that, the owners set up a third and final pop-up in Notting Hill from September to November 2021, before opening its first permanent restaurant just around the corner from the capital’s famous Smithfield Market.
Now, it looks like they’re planning to expand into the north with a second restaurant here in Manchester
If successful, going by its London menus the new restaurant will focus on simple, fresh pasta dishes, serving up the likes of fried gnocchi loaded with a choice of sauces including BBQ jackfruit, cheese, pepper or pomodoro, alongside time-tested Italian classics like cacio e pepe and carbonara at lunch.
Image: Pastan.UK
Image: Pastan.UK
Elsewhere, you’ll find cavatelli mac and cheese topped with breadcrumbs and crispy onions, plantshakes loaded with donut skewers, Lotus Biscoff mini doughnuts and scoops of ice cream.
Come to the evening things will then be taken up a notch, with a different menu served from 5pm featuring charcoal-activated taglioni served with dill hollandaise, salsa verde-dressed pea and shallot ravioli, and a beetroot hummus-topped cheesy tagliatelle with courgette spaghetti and crunchy veg.
Pastan’s founders have over 20 years of hospitality experience between them but made the decision to set out on their own after struggling to find healthy, plant-based pasta.
With a cooking ethos that swerves away from any refined or unnatural ingredients, it’s sure to be a welcome addition to Manchester’s dining scene – particularly to city centre vegans missing their Vertigo lunch (or dinner) fix.
To find out more ahead of the new opening, head over to Pastan’s social media pages here.
The Greater Manchester delicacies you have to try at least once in your life
Emily Sergeant
Greater Manchester – home of world-famous music, Corrie, two of the world’s biggest football clubs, and, er, Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls.
We can shout about a lot of things here in the north west, but our local delicacies really are in a league of their own.
Everything from pastry sweets to meaty treats crop up in Greater Manchester’s menu of mouth-watering regional dishes that everyone should try out at least once in their lifetime.
They’re not for everyone, and there’s a good chance that for some of them, the first time you them will be the last, but we’re proud of them all the same.
Here’s some of the best the region has to offer.
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Black Pudding
Credit: Bury Black Pudding Company
A somewhat polarising delicacy, black pudding is a dark sausage made from pig’s blood and fillers such as barley, oats, and suet.
Sure, black pudding may not have wholly originated in Greater Manchester, but there’s definitely a strong argument to be made for Bury black pudding being some of the best, or at least the most celebrated and appreciated, there is out there.
You can get your hands on some hot boiled black pudding from many local markets in the region,
Or you can buy it fresh from the regional produce section at most supermarkets, and you can even eat it locally as a takeaway snack dowsed with malt vinegar.
Manchester Tart
Credit: Jon Hillyer
Something for those with a sweet tooth and an appetite for coconut, Manchester Tart is a traditional English baked tart made up of a shortcrust pastry shell spread with raspberry jam inside, covered with a custard filling, and topped off with flakes of coconut and a cherry.
This was a staple of the 1940s and 50s school dinner, but it’s not as beloved as it once was nowadays.
If you are looking for a blast from the past though, you may be lucky enough to spot it on a specials menu at one of the many British-themed restaurants in the city centre and wider region, or in local supermarkets if you keep your fingers crossed.
It contains the juice of grapes, raspberries and blackcurrants – each in a 3% concentration – which is then flavoured with a selection of delicately-balanced herbs and spices.
It was created by John Noel Nichols in 1908 at 19 Granby Row in Manchester city centre under the name Vim Tonic and even though it’s hard to believe it now, Vimto was originally registered as a health tonic or medicine when it was first created, but was then re-registered as a cordial in 1913.
Nowadays, it’s taken on a life of its own spawning many variations, it’s sold internationally in over 40 countries, and you can get your hands on it at just about any local shop, supermarket, and chippy or takeaway.
Pasty Barm
Credit: Carr’s Pasties
Fancy an absolute carb overload?
You can’t go wrong with carbs in the north, and over in Bolton, they’re really taking that statement to heart with this staple delicacy that sees a pasty – preferably meat and potato, and really preferably from the town’s iconic Carr’s Pasties, which’s been “baking perfect pasties since 1938” – and putting it inside a bread roll, also known as a barm cake.
It sounds a lot, but all we can say is just don’t knock it until you’ve tried it – and maybe just make sure you’ve got a glass of Vimto on hand to wash it down with.
Eccles Cake
GoodtoKnow
Another one for those with a sweet tooth, the Eccles cake – sometimes down as a “squashed fly pie” or “fly cake” – is a centuries-old pastry, of course taking its name from the town of Eccles in Salford, that’s a staple often sold at bakeries and supermarkets around Manchester and Lancashire.
It’s made up of a flaky pastry dough filled with currents, and it’s often topped with a sugary crust.
While it is a sweet pastry, the Eccles cake is actually traditionally eaten with Lancashire cheese to provide a unique sweet and savoury experience, but it’s just as nice however you chose to serve it.
Lancashire Hotpot
BBC Food
This is probably one of the most famous delicacies on the list.
Mostly associated with the iconic Manchester-based soap Coronation Street, thanks to the fictional Betty Turpin’s hotpot beloved by all the Rovers Return regulars, the Lancashire hotpot remains a hot food staple on tables not just in the region, but right across the UK.
Paying resemblance to a casserole or stew, a Lancashire hotpot is traditionally made with lamb or mutton, onions and stock, and is topped with sliced potatoes, before being cooked low and slow until the potatoes on top go crispy.
If you’re looking for the best hotpot in town, then on over to Annie’s on Old Bank Street.
Rag Pudding
The rag pudding may have been invented in Oldham, but it’s now considered a specialty all over Greater Manchester, particularly in its hometown, and in Bury and Rochdale
A hearty and meaty dish, with a flavour that’s similar to a meat pie, just minus the crust, a rag pudding is made up of ground beef and onion gravy wrapped in suet, and cooked in a piece of muslin – also known as a rag – to give it its distinct and recognisable shape.
Did you know that the most notable producers of the rag pudding, Jacksons Farm Fayre in Milnrow, still lovingly hand-fold 15,000 of the puddings each week to be dished out to local butchers, delis and chippies across the region?
That’s how popular it is.
Pinterest / Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls
Parched Peas
Also known as black peas, black eyed peas (no, not the music group), dapple peas, maple peas, and probably more depending on where you come from, parched peas are dried and cooked purple podded peas, which are then soaked overnight and simmered to produce a type of mushy pea.
It’s a delicacy often served with lashings of malt vinegar, and most-commonly served in autumn and winter time, especially known to be a staple on or around Bonfire night.
The dish is popular in Bury, Rochdale, Oldham, Wigan, Bolton, Tyldesley and Heywood.
Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls
Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls are (sort of) spherical mints produced by Wm Santus & Co. Ltd in Wigan, which are made from pure cane sugar, oil of peppermint and cream of tartar.
Originally made for miners and ideal for “coughs and sniffles”, they have remained one of the region’s pride and joys for years on end, helping to keep the population “all aglow” since 1898, with it said that around 160,000 mint balls are still made every day, which is around 35 million per year.
They also have their own catchy jingle, which, if you say the name of them to a Mancunian, you’ll likely get a dodgy rendition of sang back to you.
“Suck em’ and see, you’ll agree, they’re the best in all the land”.
Emily Sergeant -
27th November 2020 
