PORTRAIT: TREVOR LEIGHTON. FOOD PHOTOGRAPH: TARA FISHER. FOOD STYLING: SOPHIE AUSTEN-SMITH. STYLING: MORAG FARQUHAR
“Cranberries evoke special memories for me. I’ve always loved the diversity of the changing seasons in the kitchen but after the abundance of fruits and nuts in the autumn, followed by the arrival of navel oranges, clementines and suchlike, there’s nothing much new – except the short, six-week presence of these shiny, deep scarlet berries which, apart from accompanying the turkey, nobody knew much about.
When I was presenting Delia Smith’s Christmas for the BBC in 1990, it was a joy for me to discover the fruit’s assets. Five years later, I highlighted cranberries again for the BBC’s The Winter Collection series, exposing this glorious berry to a TV audience. The rest is history. Sales of cranberries increased 200 per cent and suddenly Britain was buying more cranberries from the US than any other country. I was later invited to the American Embassy and presented with a specially engraved wooden cranberry scoop (they are harvested in water). I now make several cranberry recipes and I offer this one as a very easy dessert that’s perfect for Christmas entertaining.”