The Christmas Hamper!

Hello, dear readers, and happy 2011! Now that the joyous swirl of holiday revelry is over, I have resurfaced to share a very special Christmas treat.

I have a British stop-motion adaptation of The Wind in The Willows to thank for my introduction to Christmas hampers. Oh, how I loved that endearing series, especially the festive winter episodes! In one such episode, Toad challenges four weaselly troublemakers to a downhill race, and a Christmas hamper - or 'ampah, as the accent would have it - is the winner's prize. My young American sensibilities were amused that (1) a hamper would be a desirable prize - laundry, anyone? - and (2) said hamper was actually a large wicker basket, picnic-style, filled with fine foods. Hampers became a bit of a family joke, especially when other BBC period productions confirmed they were a "thing" beyond TWITW. Still, I never thought much of  them beyond those laughs.

Then, imagine my surprise last summer when I was at Fortnum & Mason, in London...and I saw an entire floor of that great emporium devoted to hampers! I kept murmuring to myself, "they're real!", as I perused wicker box after wicker box filled with desirable confections.

I wanted one, badly. Bringing one back on the plane was out of the question, so I told myself I would order one for Christmas. What a great treat that would be for the family to enjoy, right?! Well, I was not as diligent as I could have been, and Christmas was upon us before I knew it. I had not ordered a hamper.

Fortunately, my father had been attentive where I had not. Christmas Eve saw a rather formidable box, with a very promising logo, positioned in front of our Christmas tree.

I honestly couldn't contain my excitement upon seeing the large Fortnum & Mason cardboard box. This excitement reached an even higher pitch when I noticed the wicker visible through the box's handles. I gleefully cut through the box's tape and lifted the hamper out of the box, pausing briefly to admire its weaving as well as the F&M emblazoned on its side. I unbuckled the hamper - yes, it is fastened shut with two leather buckles! - and unwrapped the well-cushioned treats within. I may have also done a little dance of happiness, both in and out of the original box.

So, what was in this hamper? You can see the treats, in their lovely keepsake tins and other such packaging, here. I should add that this was a "bespoke" hamper, with contents tailored to my family's dessert preferences!

• Piccadilly biscuit assortment - Piccadilly biscuits are wafer-thin and rather crisp, yet they pack a lot of flavor! The lemon curd biscuits were a particular standout.
• Explorer biscuit assortment - this tin contained many exotically-flavored biscuits, of a heartier nature than the Piccadillies, featuring different spices and nuts from around the world. The Lucifer biscuit, a pungent ginger cookie with chilli spice, is a great example of the tasting adventures found within this assortment.
• Christmas tea - this tea was so, so flavorful! I detected hints of orange, clove, ginger, and cocoa. It paired perfectly with our holiday breakfast (orange rum coffee cake) and official dessert (buche de Noel).
• Chocolossus biscuits - I have previously extolled the virtues of the Chocolossus biscuit, and this batch had an especially smooth chocolate coating and richly-flavored biscuit center. I have to add that the scent of Chocolossus biscuits will forever remind me of London. Sigh.
• Christmas biscuit assortment - this musical tin played a music-box version of Jingle Bells and contained Christmas spice, lemon curd Picadilly, and traditional butter biscuits. The butter biscuits were very, well, buttery!
• White and amber F&M sugars - the perfect addition to a bitter tea, these individually-wrapped sugar wafers with F&M imprint were quite welcome...and cute! I guess the British use "amber" to denote brown sugar?
• Superb English creams - these dark-chocolate-covered candies blew me away. I've never really enjoyed American fruit creams, where the fruity filling usually looks like nougat and tastes like an artificially-flavored, overly saccharine marshmallow. Many American chocolatiers make this filling even more of an abomination by adding nuts. However, F&M's creams were filled with a substance I can only describe as a pleasantly sweet, crystalline version of the fruit, or bean, or root, they were meant to imitate. So, I tasted surprisingly robust forms of black currant, coffee, and ginger (to name a few), while enjoying the sensations of sugar dissolving on my tongue and rich dark chocolate melting in my mouth. Superb, indeed!
• Dark chocolate bar with rose and violet - ok, I haven't tried this yet...but if F&M's other chocolates are representative of this bar's quality, I will enjoy it thoroughly.
• Milk chocolate bar - repeat the above bullet's comments!
• Christmas spiced biscuits - these hearty biscuits were thick and chewy. They had plenty of spice flavor, and crumbled nuts plus bits of dates added textural variety. These treats really highlight the differences between English biscuits and American cookies. They're denser, creamier, less sweet, and more robustly flavored than the average cookie found on this side of the Pond.

I feel so lucky to have enjoyed this hamper, a delicious synthesis of childhood memories and present adventures! I'm pretty sure that Toad and the weasels would have approved. Both the packaging and the delights within surpassed all expectations.

While most of these treats may now be gone, the hamper will continue to serve us. My family has decided to make a tradition of filling the hamper each year! I can't wait to see what next Christmas will bring...