Chefs Christmas

Christmas is traditionally a day that unites family and friends. So on a day fuelled by lots and lots of food how do you ensure, that as the cook, you don’t spend most of it in the kitchen? This Christmas, from her hometown of Fremantle in Western Australia, Anna Gare (The Best in Australia) shows us how to make Christmas day a cook free day. While on the opposite Coast, in Sydney, John Lanzafame (ex-Hugo’s chef who is about to open a new restaurant venture, Le Sands Pavilion) shares his family Christmas. John’s Sicilian heritage plays a big part in his cooking and a larger part around the Christmas table. It’s no coincidence that John’s first Sydney restaurant was called Lanzafame. This Christmas, John makes an easy pasta al forno and gets out of the kitchen quickly with a little help from his mum. Anna Gare started cooking the second she could reach the top of the kitchen bench. And at the age of eight-and-a-half her catering career was well underway. Anna used to take charge of her school canteen one day a week and dish up a three course meal for a dollar. So you could say she has always had a passion for feeding people. Anna is the first to confess that she loves being in the kitchen any day of the year, everyday of the year, except Christmas! Anna’s secret to staying out of the kitchen on Christmas day is to do all of your cooking the day before. On Christmas Eve she prepares a cold Christmas feast centred around a SLOW ROASTED TOMATO, EGGPLANT & BALSAMIC ONION DOME accompanied by a POTATO, CARAMELISED LEEK AND WILTED SPINACH TERRINE WITH DILL CRÈME FRAICHE and a pyramid of TIGER PRAWNS. While John the day before Christmas makes his own ITALIAN SAUSAGES and then on Christmas Day he halves his time in the kitchen by enlisting the help of his mum to make a mouth-watering PASTA AL FORNO.