A very Sussex Christmas

After a recent move to Sussex, Lovefood's News Editor Simon Ward found he could keep his Christmas dinner local this year.

This year, my wife and I went local with our Christmas dinner - very local. Since moving to East Sussex 18 months ago, I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of excellent local producers (across both East and West Sussex) making everything from artisan bread to cheese to award-winning sparkling wine.

So we decided to plan our Christmas Day menu with as much of a local flavour as possible:

Starter
Seafood platter from Bickerstaffs, Newhaven with Ridgeview Bloomsbury sparkling wine

Main course
Topside of beef from Townings Farm served with local vegetables and Bolney Estate Lychgate red wine

Dessert
'Windfall' apple crumble (apples courtesy of some of our neighbours) with Downsview Farmhouse blackberry ice cream
Cheeseboard
High Weald Dairy Saint Giles organic, High Weald Dairy Duddleswell sheep milk cheese, Alsop & Walker Sussex brie, Five Ashes Sussex blue with Harveys Imperial Extra Double stout

As well the benefit of dramatically cutting back our food miles (less than 30, I reckon), in the course of buying the ingredients it was a joy to meet local people who are passionate about what they sell and why they sell it.

Oh, and it all tasted great. Merry Christmas.

What do you have on your table on Christmas Day? Did you go local? Let us know below.

Post-Christmas inspiration
Make the most of Christmas leftovers
Turkey rissole recipe
Ham and apple pie recipe