4 Top Chefs On Christmas food memories and traditions in Europe

These Singapore-based chefs tell us about their best Christmas memories, homey festive specialties and family traditions back home in Europe and England. This year, the culinary experts have also established new restaurant concepts – ranging from casual to fine dining – that are close to their hearts. We find out more about their new year’s resolution and plans for 2025.

Chef Kirk Westaway, Executive Chef JAAN by Kirk Westaway and The Albion by Kirk Westaway (Hôtel des Arts Saigon)

My favourite Christmas memory is… a very traditional English Christmas lunch. It was always simple but filled with joy. As the cook of the house, my mother would be in the kitchen, preparing our meal. The kids would be helping out, sitting around peeling the Brussels sprouts. Mum would have a glass of sherry as she worked, and it was such a nice family moment. I always loved the Christmas crackers at the dining table and afterwards we would watch a Christmas movie together. It was a warm, friendly, and happy family environment — exactly what Christmas should be.

Our Christmas meal always includes a wide variety of vegetables from little organic farms, as my mum has always been really into organic produce and great ingredients. It’s an approach that inspires me in the kitchen today. Christmas was always a warm, jolly, and happy time. While we usually had a traditional Christmas dinner, with half the family being vegetarians, there was also a homemade nut roast, packed with interesting nuts and served with a freshly made cranberry sauce. It was always so impressive and absolutely delicious. I have such fond memories of those meals. My mum is an amazing cook, and everything she makes creates a warm, loving family atmosphere.

The dish I would recreate from my childhood is… a Christmas or Sunday roast. For me, it’s one of the greatest meals in the world, and definitely my favourite. It features a huge selection of vegetables, with some roasted, some butter-blanched, and others braised, alongside crispy Yorkshire puddings and perfectly broken roast potatoes. We always have incredible gravies, a big spoonful of creamed horseradish and mustard, and maybe a slice of beef or turkey if needed. But for me, the highlight is always the vegetables. They are the true stars of the dish, with the meat playing a secondary role. The charred, crispy onions, roasted carrots with a touch of honey — amazing. That’s what excites me about this meal, the special childhood memories of those Christmas holidays and Sundays, where the vegetables took centre stage.

Even though I live in Asia now… I still try to recreate the traditional English Christmas here. I usually invite a group of friends over, and luckily for me, many of them are in F&B or are sommeliers, so they bring along some incredible bottles they’ve been saving for years. It’s always a fun moment, sharing amazing food and wine together on Christmas Day. The only difference is, instead of bundling up in scarves, we’re usually in shorts and t-shirts, enjoying the warmth of Singapore.

This festive season… at JAAN, we’re aiming to elevate the traditional Christmas experience. We’ll be serving a beautiful saddle of venison, paired with clean, bright and fresh vegetables with rich sauces made from all the trimmings. The focus will be on winter and root vegetables such as Jerusalem artichokes, roasted turnips, crosnes, celeriac, and potatoes. We want to create a dish that’s truly special, warm, and comforting.

My New Year’s resolution is… to focus on staying active with more running and exercise, while also making sure to spend more quality time with my family. For the restaurants, we have some very exciting plans in the pipeline. I’m a strong believer in ‘don’t tell people your plans, but show them your results’. Watch this space for the new year.

Mirko Febbrile, Chef-Partner, Somma at New Bahru and Fico at East Coast Park

To me, Christmas is... always extra special, and it’s usually the largest gathering of the year. Back home, we’d sometimes even bring our own dining tables over to the host’s home so that we can all eat together. My favourite memory is seeing my family cook in the kitchen, while the rest of us gathered around the fireplace. It sounds picture-perfect and in many ways, it was — there’s nothing else quite like it.

Christmas meals are… quite traditional for us, and the festivities stretch all the way into the new year. On the last day of the year, families and friends come together to celebrate both the past and the new beginnings, toasting for a hopeful year ahead. The meals would start early in the evening and last well into the night. At midnight, the table is cleared to make space for a dish that is meant to bring prosperity, success and wealth into the future of the starting year: an Italian pig terrine made with the poorest part of the pig, stuffed like a salami and cooked in boiling water for many hours and known by the name of cotechino. It’s always served with a generous portion of lentils. We pay tribute to this memory and celebratory dish through one of our signatures at Somma: Pig Snout – Onions – Black Bread – Parmigiano Vacche Rosse. In reference to my years in Asia, we slow-cook the pig snout in Chinese rice wine, bay leaves, dried dates, juniper berries, and soy sauce. We then brush it with a barbecue sauce we make with roasted tomatoes, and grill over charcoal. We pair this with a Parmesan fondue, slow-cooked, charcoal-grilled Borretana onions, lentil cracker and grated parmesan for added richness. The bread sauce, made from leftover bread, miso water, and vegetable stock, is emulsified with olive oil to create a smooth, savoury accompaniment. A topping of toasted bread crumble and crispy fried onions adds texture and sweetness, completing the dish. Finally, the dish is finished with a drizzle of rich pork jus at the table.

Every Christmas… we will receive dozens of panettone. These will sit under the tree until Christmas day. We end up with so many that this becomes a breakfast staple right through February! My dad, in particular, absolutely adores panettone. He dips it with a little bit of milk in the mornings. So, to me, the panettone really encapsulates the spirit of Christmas, and I wanted to bring a true slice of home to our community in Singapore. This year we are introducing Panettone Festivo at Fico, in collaboration with Olivieri 1882, an award-winning, family-run bakery from Arzignano, Italy. I met the fifth-generation owner, Nicola, a few years ago, and we immediately connected. He has a brilliant mind, and I truly respect the thought and technique that they put into every product. We collaborated on a delicious recipe for the Fico x Olivieri 1882 Panettone Festivo that combines the nostalgia of roasted chestnuts with a hint of bergamot and the indulgence of gianduja. I’m glad we have the opportunity to showcase their 140-year heritage with our friends here.

Christmas in Singapore feels… different. I come from a small town in Puglia, so Christmas has always been family-oriented and cosy. Singapore is super fast-paced! I try to replicate this as best as I can, for example, I invite my mum to Singapore every year for Christmas, and I’ll throw a party with my friends and cook at home, just like how we used to at my grandparents’ home.

Carlos Montobbio, Chef-owner of Esquina and Carlitos at Joo Chiat 

When I was a child… we’d have a couple of weeks of holidays from school during Christmas. During that time, we’d always have family coming over for meals at home. We have a big family, so it was common to cook for 20 to 25 family members. I have fond memories helping my mom out in the kitchen to cook for everyone since a very young age. It will just be the two of us in the kitchen, and I enjoyed cooking together with her. It was our way of spending time together, and it remains a precious childhood memory. I also recall loving Iberico ham so much that I asked for a Iberico ham leg (and some video game that I don’t remember now) from Santa for several years. I would look forward to going home daily, as I would carve it myself after coming back from school, and share with whoever was home at that time. I remember being bummed out when we finished it – it only lasted a couple of months, but it was real fun while it lasted!

During Christmas, my family loves… the canellonis that my mom prepares and also the Macarrones de Cardenal that my grandma makes. The canellonis is a typical dish in Barcelona made by filling rectangular sheets of pasta with meat – traditionally leftovers from the Christmas roast – rolling them up, covering them with béchamel sauce and gratinating them with cheese. While my grandma makes the Macarrones de Cardenal with macaroni pasta, secreto iberico sofrito and a cheese sauce. Both dishes are represented at Carlitos.

Christmas essentials include… a roast for Christmas lunch that’s made with either chicken or suckling pig. With whatever is left over, we prepare canelones for the following day of Sant Esteve (26 December). During Christmas dinner, we always have Escudella i Carn d’Olla (a traditional soup made with meat and vegetables). There are also plenty of desserts, like the chocolate log cake for Christmas, the Tortell de Reis, otherwise known as the Kings’ cake, served on 5 January dinner or the turrones  (nougat) that are consumed throughout the Christmas season.

My New Year’s Resolution… In 2025, I will be busy with the first year of operations at Carlitos. We have put in a lot of work to launch it, and I can’t wait to have guests over! I always think that my restaurant is a table with three legs – my guests, team and shareholders. If one leg fails, the table will collapse. Hence, every decision I make is based on keeping the guests, team and shareholders happy to ensure a sustainable restaurant for the long term.

Louis Pacquelin, Chef-partner of Les Ducs and Madame Claude

When I was young… I lived in Sardinia, Italy, where Christmas and New Year’s Eve are taken very seriously. They host big parties (even with fireworks) that last for days. You really don’t stop eating for almost 15 days straight. I also have fond memories from La Rochelle, France, where dinners with friends often ended in the morning. Before heading to bed, we would indulge in oysters to combat the hangover that would come the next day. A typical Christmas meal back home featured plenty of seafood — lobsters, scallops, langoustines — and a bit of foie gras. But the oysters were a must-have every Christmas.

Holiday essential dishes include… offal, boudin noir (a tasty combination of fresh pork blood, pork and caramelised onions), andouillette (a French coarse-grained sausage made from the intestine of pork, pepper, wine, onions, and seasonings) and other delicacies. Unfortunately, it’s quite difficult, if not impossible, to import these to Singapore. So when I go home, I must have tripoux — a French braised dish made with small bundles of sheep tripe, usually stuffed with sheep’s feet, sweetbreads and various herbs and garden vegetables from Aveyron. Like I mentioned earlier, I indulge in boudin noir from the Basque country; andouillette from Troyes; and saucisse de diots (sausages of fatty ground pork seasoned with salt, pepper and nutmeg) from Haute-Savoie. I love the powerful flavours of these meaty dishes.

This Christmas at Les Ducs… I have developed a partnership with Sturia Caviar, a French caviar farm located just 50 km from my hometown. We’re offering weekly specials at Les Ducs that will pair perfectly with this caviar. From 1 to 31 December, we’ll offer our “Caviar By The Gram” special, allowing guests to enjoy from 1g to 500g of this exquisite French caviar at a special price. We’ll also have a takeaway menu available from 15 to 31 December. It will feature foie gras, volailles aux truffes (roast chicken with truffles), lobster thermidor, and more. Our social club, Madame Claude, will also offer amazing champagnes at special prices to complement our caviar bites, which are seasonal snacks that will change based on the market. We will have special dishes throughout the festive season. I’ve decided to introduce special items like oysters, grilled blue lobster with caviar and passion fruit beurre blanc, beef tartare with seaweed vinaigrette, and more.

Next year I would love to… spend more time with my one-year-old twins, and my wife. As for Les Ducs, 2025 will be filled with surprises, including collaborations that will be announced early next year. Madame Claude will also be hosting wine events as part of our “Meet the Winemaker” programme, as well as some quarterly party brunch and special themed nights.

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STORY BY JOCELYN TAN