Mrs Darlington's Winter Berry Preserve With Mulled Wine - 340g

Britain takes its preserves seriously. There is the everyday jar of jam, and then there is the jar that comes out in December, gets a spoon of its own and sits on the table beside the good cheese. This is the December jar.

People spending Christmas in Canada go looking for it because a British Christmas is built from small things. The crackers, the tin, the cheese board after the pudding, and a winter preserve to go with it. Leave one out and the whole table feels slightly off, even if nobody can say why.

A 340g jar is a good few rounds of toast or one very determined cheese board. Keep it in the cupboard and follow what the jar says once it is open. Toast, scones, crumpets, a slab of crumbly cheese, the cold turkey on Boxing Day: it goes wherever you put it.

Mrs Darlington's also makes curds, jams and chutneys, so the jar rarely travels alone. Add oatcakes, a wedge of Stilton and a box of crackers and you have more or less built a hamper for someone who misses home.