There’s no need to be overly fancy the night before the Big One
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What can I make for dinner on Christmas Eve that’s easy but still feels special?
Paul, London E9
“My habit for serving some sort of fish dish on December 24 is unshakable,” writes Nigel Slater in The Christmas Chronicles, and who am I to quibble? This used to mean fish pie – “usually of haddock, prawns and mussels in a creamy sauce topped with deep furrows of mashed potato” – but now often takes the form of flaky puff pastry smuggling the likes of hot smoked salmon, smoked mackerel, leeks, new potatoes, parsley and tarragon.