Cook up a Christmas feast without the shopping and the queues

For some people, cooking Christmas lunch or dinner is part of the enjoyment of the day (even if we have to wear a mask while doing so this year). But few would count food shopping as a pleasurable experience at this busy time of year, especially in 2020.

Instead, you can order most, if not all of the delicious ingredients you need online and have them delivered to your door. Here is a selection of places that will deliver your turkey, ham, and lots more too.

Also in this series: Cracking Christmas dinners for takeaway or delivery. Read it here
To come: Suppliers of gourmet hampers for all the little extras that make Christmas dinner special

Dublin Meat Company
dublinmeatcompany.com
There is a comprehensive range of turkey and ham options available here, from a starter pack containing a 1.2kg turkey fillet, a 2kg ham fillet and 500g of stuffing (€25), to a range of oven-ready free range birds from 5.4kg (€60) going up to 8.1kg (€90).

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If you are unsure how much turkey you need, or have any questions about cooking it, Dublin Meat Company founder and veteran butcher Paddy O’Leary will answer queries via a helpline, as well as taking orders over the phone. The hotline number is 086-1381519. The closing date for placing orders is December 19th and delivery slots are available on December 22nd and 23rd. Earlier this year Dublin Meat Company they donated nearly 10,000 meals to frontline workers.

James Whelan Butchers
jameswhelanbutchers.com
Pat Whelan's family firm was one of the first make it easy to shop online for meat products. They have a full brochure of Christmas products including turkeys, turkey crowns, geese and spiced beef and a range of smoked and unsmoked hams, bone-in or boneless, including the multi-award winning Heritage Cure ham (€49.99/14-16 servings). While you're browsing, you might like to add a meat thermometer to your order (€15), to take the guess work out of whatever you're roasting. JWB is also delivering a variety of mixed boxes of Peter Hannan's Himalayan salt-aged beef in the Republic.

FX Buckley Victualler & Grocer
fxbuckley.ie
The Pembroke Street gourmet food store and butcher has free range and bronze organic turkeys from Crowes farm in Co Tipperary and goose sourced from Evan Fitzgerald in Tullow, Co Carlow, as well as a variety of hams, and sausagemeat for the stuffing. To make carving easier, you can have the turkey boned and rolled, with the legs being stuffed free of charge. You can't order online, but you can email shop@fxbuckley.ie or call 01-5688087 to place an order for collection, or delivery in Dublin. The shop also stocks the Christmas larder range from the nearby Merrion hotel.

Tom Durcan Meats
tomdurcanmeats.ie
Spiced beef is a Cork speciality and Tom Durcan, who has been trading at the city's English Market since 1985, makes what is often heralded as being the best example. You can buy it online on its own as well as in the Durcan's Tastes of the English Market hamper whch costs €135 and can be delivered nationwide. Lots of the traders at the market are doing click and collect and delivery this year and you can see a full list here.

Hogan's Farm
hogansfarm.ie
Hogan's Farm is a second generation turkey farm in Cortown, Kells, Co Meath, now run by Fintan and Paul Hogan and their wives Hilda and Sandra. They have a variety of turkeys available to order, from the standard white turkey to a slower growing variety, the Charlesland turkey, and what they describe as their "super premium" offering , a free range Woodland Bronze. As well as the oven ready birds, they have an easy-cook option for six to eight diners which includes a 2kg cook in the bag fresh Charlesfort white turkey breast, a 2kg cook in the bag honey and mustard bacon joint, plus stuffing and cranberry sauce, for €48. Delivery is available in Dublin and Leinster on December 22nd and 23rd and to the rest of the country on December 21st and is free on orders over €100.