The best seafood ham and booze to buy for your festive celebrations

From prosecco to prawns, we’ve got you covered on the best seafood, ham and wine to fill your table on Christmas Day. SEE THE GUIDE

The best value seafood, the top hams, perfect wine matches – this is your ultimate foodie guide to Christmas.

When it comes to ham, Alastair Stevenson from leading ham producer Gilly’s Smallgoods in Clontarf said your local butcher should be your first stop.

“If you want a really good quality ham going to your local butcher is the way to go,” he said.

“We don’t take short cuts, we’re curing it for the right amount of time, we’re cooking and smoking it for the right amount of time. Supermarket bacon and ham is more like boiled pork rather than a nice smoky flavoured product.”

Alastair Stevenson and brother Chris from Gilly's Smallgoods is one of Queensland's premier ham producers. Pics Adam Head

He said while some supermarket hams were the cheaper choice at around $8.50/kg, paying between $13/kg to $20/kg at your local butcher would secure you a great Australian ham with superior flavour and texture.

He also insisted on only choosing bone-in hams, which are guaranteed to be produced in Australia, as boneless products are mostly imported. Consumers should also make sure the ham has been cryovaced tightly with no water in the bag as this could lead to bacteria growth. And hams should look a beautiful pink colour, he said, as anything orange or pale indicated it was mass produced or hadn’t been cooked or smoked correctly.

For seafood, this year will again be great for lobster lovers said Queensland Seafood Marketers Association president Marshall Betzel.

Queensland Seafood Marketers Association president Marshall Betzel suggests what seafood you need on your table this Christmas. Picture: Pomelo Online via NCA NewsWire

“Tropical lobsters are a good buy,” he said. “You may be able to find them in retail for about $50/kg. There are still some limitations on export and it’s competing with the other Australian rock lobsters in the market from NSW, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania so the prices are lower than they have been in the past years. These lobsters are from the Torres Strait and they look and taste fantastic.”

On the prawn front, consumers can expect to pay between $35/kg to $50/kg for both king and tiger prawns, with banana prawns off the menu after a bad season, while the top pick are endeavour prawns at just $20/kg.

“The endeavour is a small, sweet prawn that presents terrific value and from a Queensland perspective they’re an iconic species,” Mr Betzel said.

And for wine matches to go with your festive feasts, Craig Robinson from Dan Murphy’s, in Brisbane’s Hamilton, said Covid had presented some shortages with selected brands, but this made it the perfect time to explore new options.

Craig Robinson from Dan Murphy’s in Hamilton.

“There are definitely some shortages in some things but there’ll be other choices, even from the same style and from the same region that will be as good, if not better,” he said.

Mr Robinson said there were fantastic bargains to be had this year, with many quality bottles under $20, including the Dr Loosen Blue Slate riesling for $18.99 bottle, the $13.60 La Plancheliere rose, the Brand’s Laira Blockers cabernet sauvignon for $18.95, and the award-winning The Ethereal One grenache for just $15.99 bottle.

And for those looking for celebratory bubbles, the wine guru said Dan Murphy’s had stocked up on plenty of iconic labels, but there was also great drinking Spanish cava, Italian prosecco, Australian sparkling and some unknown French drops.

“There’s some good bargains if you go outside the regular champagne houses that offer better bang for your buck,” Mr Robinson said.

“The Castelnau vintage ($79.90) is a good price for that quality. It’s not a well known one but once you have a glass of it, you’ll want to go back.”