SA produce on the menu for perfect Friendsmas festive feast

Traditional festive roast dinners are giving way to a new trend of simple shared fare that celebrates the spirit of togetherness.

Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without a festive feast but the old tradition of sitting down to a big meal with the family is changing. These days, Christmas lunch is more of a casual gathering, with simple offerings. Rather than turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce and vegetables, today’s menu is all about togetherness, with share platters, crackers and cheese, fruit salad, bread, dips and more.

“With our weather, people are doing outside entertaining with platters – something more casual than the traditional Christmas lunch and dinner,” Alan Jones, national marketing manager at Romeo’s Retail Group says. “The traditional turkey side of it has faded a little bit.

“We offer a range of grazing crates including a gourmet meat crate, chicken, cheese and dips, fresh fruit and vegan, all made fresh in our stores each day. There are plenty of options.”

With the majority of its products sourced locally, those options also help to support South Australian producers. “Romeo’s has always been very strong about supporting local – even when customers don’t realise the goods they’re buying are local,” Jones says. “Arnott’s chocolate biscuits are made here in Marleston, Smiths Chips are made at Regency Park, we have cauliflowers from Virginia, local suppliers like Maggie Beer and Ferguson seafoods ... even our ice is produced around the corner.”

That support also extends to the company’s staff and the local community. “Romeo’s is family owned and community minded,” Jones says. “We support hundreds and hundreds of community projects. At Christmas time we always do the Foodbank hamper packing as a team. Across South Australia and New South Wales we have just short of 3000 employees so we need to be viable to support both them and our local suppliers.”

Send A Gourmet Basket owner Joanne Quigley. Picture: Russell Millard

Supporting local suppliers is also of key importance to Jo Quigley, owner of Send A Gourmet Basket. For the past 20 years, Quigley has been creating award-winning gift hampers packed with South Australian produce, including Barossa Country Homemade Biscuits, Fruchocs, Continental Taralli Biscuits, Port Willunga Fine Foods, T Bar Tea, Walkerville Produce Fruit Cakes, Paracombe Wines, Barossa Cider Co, Mismatch Brewing and more. There is also a range of pampering products, including soy candles, organic body scrubs, face mist and hand and body lotion.

“We specialise in South Australian produce – we use a lot of smaller cottage industry places, so our hampers are supporting local suppliers,” she says. “A lot of produce is handmade, which is really nice.”

Designed around casual get-togethers, Quigley’s hampers are perfectly suited to a shared Christmas lunch experience. “We try to create something you can open and eat, rather than things you have to put together or cook,” she says.

They also make the perfect festive gift and are popular with interstate and international customers. “We get quite a few customers who can’t spend Christmas with their relatives – they will send a hamper so they can be a part of the Christmas feast without actually being there,” she says. “Instead of sending presents to individual people, they’ll send a big hamper with a couple of bottles of wine and munchies they can all enjoy in their get-togethers.”

Shared lunches are also a great way to take the complexity and the cost out of Christmas. “It’s an easy way to share the cost,” Quigley says.

“Everyone is on a different budget and many people don’t have the money to spend. Going out for a meal can put pressure on people, whereas with a shared lunch, people can bring something that’s not overly expensive, everyone is adding in bits and you have a huge spread for everyone.”

romeosretailgroup.com.au

sendagourmetbasket.com

INGREDIENTS FOR THE PERFECT FRIENDSMAS LUNCH

Share platters – seafood, meat, vegan, fruit

Variety of cheeses

Crackers

Sourdough bread

Jams, pickles, chutney

Fruit paste

Selection of dips

Cakes and chocolates

Wine, beers and non-alcoholic beverages

It’s time to Celebrate SA and support South Australian businesses these holidays. Proudly brought to you by BankSA. #WeBackSA