A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver

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Andi Oliver

Helen Veale

Vicky Hamburger

Al Edirisinghe

Outline Productions Ltd

Factual

Factual: Food & Drink

BBC Two - A Taste of Christmas with Andi Oliver

Andi meets three Glaswegian families and joins in with their festive feasts.

Andi meets three Glaswegian families and joins in with their festive feasts. She hopes to learn what the joyous meals mean to them and what they say about their city.

Andi Oliver joins three Glaswegian families to share the food and the fun of their three very different festive feasts. Rolling up her sleeves to help with their planning and prep, she also hopes to learn what the dishes at the heart of these joyous meals mean to the people who love them and what they say about the city these families all call home. 

Andi’s three feasts of Christmas begin when she meets Sara Capaldi and her husband Antonio De Carla, a couple who are part of a big clan of Italian Glaswegians whose Christmas celebrations are built round the classic Italian recipes the family has always known and loved. The centrepiece of the meal is porchetta, traditionally prepared days ahead by curing it with salt, garlic, sage and rosemary. 

The second family to invite Andi to share their seasonal celebratory meal are the Chaudhrys. Hashim and his wife Atika live with his mum Farkhanda and his dad Masud. They’re Muslims of Pakistani heritage but true Glaswegians, or in Hash’s words 'GlaswegAsians', who love to celebrate along with the rest of the city at this time of year. A family feast at the Chaudhrys is a big affair which always sees Farkhanda and Atika preparing a range of salads, curries and meat dishes – two of which Andi gets stuck into to help get it on the table. Dishes include Farkhanda's shoe kebabs, named because the patties of minced chicken are shaped to resemble shoes. 

The third and final family to throw open their doors to Andi are the Youngs. Mum Eleanor and Dad Ron are from families that trace their history back to Glasgow as far as anyone can remember. They have three daughters - Amelia, Claudia and Olivia. Ron is in charge of the turkey, but the big event is all the veg that goes with it, with loads of different dishes to make sure everyone gets what they love most. For the girls, the Christmas meal can’t start without Eleanor’s mum Jean’s traditional cock-a-leekie soup. 

Reflecting on all the amazing meals she’s enjoyed, Andi feels she has at last got under the skin of Glasgow, a city that knows how to make you feel welcome.

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