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As the date of Christmas Eve approaches, many families, whose monthly budget has been impacted by the rise in food prices, must fear the expenses inevitably generated by this festive moment. In the same way that they have learned to reduce food waste to save money, there are also solutions for serving a party menu at a lower cost. Here are some tips you might not have thought of.
Buy party products as early as possible…
…And freeze them! It is better to rehabilitate freezing if you want to save money for your party menu. Because it’s a reality for many products that often end up on the table: their prices rise as New Year’s Eve approaches. To convince yourself, simply check the prices indicated to Rungis market wholesalers via the Market News Network database. Thus, if we carry out the demonstration on the basis of the end of the year 2022, fresh salmon from Scotland cost professionals 8.28 euros per kilo in November, compared to 10.76 euros in December. Same analysis for turkey. A leg of one kilo or more cost 2.98 euros in November compared to 3.10 euros a month later. And unfortunately, one of the most emblematic products of Christmas, namely the truffle, does not escape the same observation: black gold from New Aquitaine cost 560 euros in November compared to 787.50 euros per kilo in December .
By anticipating the course of your Christmas meal as much as possible, you can make valuable savings on products that can be frozen, which can help offset the increase in prices for those that do not go into the freezer, such as oysters.
Take advantage of anti-waste devices
In this dynamic, it is fashionable to hunt around the shelves where the supermarkets accumulate products with very close expiry dates. Were you planning to serve blood sausage? Why not find one in one of these fridges dedicated to reducing food waste. Remember that the items concerned do not pose a health problem as long as they have not passed the expiration date. You can therefore freeze them (for foods that can be frozen and if they have not already been defrosted).
Furthermore, we can also call on new anti-waste players, such as the supermarket US Anti-waste, a new concept that recovers products whose packaging is slightly damaged or whose expiry date is approaching to resell them at a lower cost. You can do your shopping online, otherwise via stores which have opened all over France, from Lille to Brittany via Paris.
Finally, for latecomers who do not anticipate the contents of the festive menu, the baskets offered by the TooGoodToGo application made from unsold items entrusted by local merchants can also bring together elements of the Christmas table.
Prefer seasonal products and favor homemade products
Exit raspberries or tomatoes from the Christmas menu! Welcome to butternut squash and pumpkins, clementines and other passion fruits. It’s a reality that chefs keep repeating: seasonal products cost less. Quite simply because for many varieties there is no need for a suitable device, such as a heated greenhouse, to grow them, which costs more than production without (too much) intervention.
To find out about the seasonal products for the month of December, there are multiple calendars like the one posted online for free by Greenpeace.
Optimize the use of ingredients
We often talk about the staggering cost of Christmas meals. But isn’t the budget especially weighed down by the sequence of two New Year’s Eves? We can thus optimize the raw materials of the Christmas meal to consider the New Year’s Eve menu. We obviously do not advise you to consume leftovers, which would of course be unsuitable after a week. It is rather a matter of using the shells of crustaceans from the marine platter served at Christmas to create an iodized broth which will deliciously flavor a lovely pasta dish, as long as it is garnished with cream on the evening of December 31. Nothing stops you from doing the same with the bones and carcass of the turkey which will be used to prepare a base broth for a risotto or a béchamel… Also, if you have any foie gras left to Christmas, we can use the last pieces to make cannelés which we will freeze and serve as an aperitif on December 31st. Smoked salmon? And why not serve little savory cupcakes? Once again, anything is possible provided that an ingredient has not been defrosted beforehand.
Slide: Tips for surviving Christmas dinner