The run-up to Christmas couldn’t be busier for the Steins as they make sure everyone in their restaurants has a sparkling celebration. But what happens after the buzz of the main event has passed? How do they see out the old year and ring in the new? We asked Rick and sons Jack and Charlie to create a menu that’s all about round-the-table joy. Good news: its easy to do and fabulous

Rick Stein made his name showing the nation how to cook seafood, so it’s little surprise that fish figures in the family’s festive celebrations. “We cook a whole turbot on Christmas Eve and serve it with hollandaise sauce,” he says. But Yuletide with the Steins has its fair share of traditional, classic festive food, too – and a small dose of family drama (it’s good to know they’re like the rest of us).

On Christmas morning the clan heads down to their pub, The Cornish Arms in St Merryn. “Just for an hour,” says Rick. “It’s the best pub session in the year.” “We buy everyone a drink,” explains Jack. “The whole community comes down and all the staff get in on it too.”

Back home in the kitchen, it’s all hands on deck for the Christmas lunch, with at least 20 friends and family taking part. Goose is almost always the order of the day and they can get through half a dozen. “A friend of mine once said: ‘Ah yes, goose; a bit too much for one, but not quite enough for two,’” grins Rick. “There’s not much meat on it but we’re lucky in Britain to have such good free-range geese.” Boxing Day is an adventure. “My uncle takes us walking,” says Jack. “He uses an oldschool map and doesn’t have any sense of direction, but we let him get us lost. It’s become our Boxing Day tradition. Rick chips in: “Yes, last year was no exception: we ended up getting completely lost around a quarry on Bodmin Moor that had been closed about 15 years before. In the end we had to call someone to find us and drive us back.”

The day after Christmas is all about the ham. “It’s slowly poached, coated with brown sugar, mustard and cloves, then roasted,” recalls Rick. “We have it with baked potatoes, cabbage and lots of good chutneys.”