Ultimate foodie gift ideas

Whether it be Christmas, birthdays or a special occasion, it can be a challenge to settle on the perfect gift that’ll impress and excite your favourite foodie (and their taste buds!).

We know foodies appreciate fine food and beverages, nuanced flavours, quality ingredients and spend their weekends pouring over cookbooks to plan their next at-home culinary adventure.

With this in mind, we’ve pulled together a list of ultimate gifts for foodies with a selection of hampers and recommended recipe book pairings guaranteed to thrill the gourmand in your life.

For: Italophiles – Whole Lotta Love hamper

Opt for the Whole Lotta Love hamper for an Italian cuisine fanatic who views pasta as an artform and lives to cook with quality ingredients. Included in the pack is rich Little Wing arrabbiatta pasta sauce made from Italian tomatoes, onion, mild green chillies and a dash of red wine vinegar, beautiful handmade Otway Pasta casarecce and flavourful Mount Zero Yuzu-pressed olive oil. Of course, it wouldn’t be an Italiano gift pack without olives! Three different varieties of sustainably farmed marinated olives are included: lemon and fennel, lemon and thyme, and rosemary and native pepperberry. All this is topped off with Grounded Pleasures pink lake salt and caramel drinking chocolate, so your foodie is sorted from starters to dessert.

Pair it with...Nonna Knows Best: The Italian Art of Living Well

Nonna Knows Best by Jaclyn Crupi shares the wisdom of her Nonna, mouth-watering recipes straight from Nonna’s kitchen and the many uses for olive oil.

For: BBQ master – BBQ Pack

The BBQ Pack is for the foodie that fancies themselves a grill master and entertaining extraordinaire. In the box we’ve bundled all the essentials for an elevated backyard barbeque – smoked olive oil (perfect for marinating and giving meat delicious woody smokiness), pink lake salt with chilli (hello meat rubs) and several items to kick-start a divine charcuterie board including Egyptian dukkah, olive tapenade and kalamata olives.

Pair it with…Take One Fish

Take One Fish by award-winning chef Josh Niland features 60 mind-blowing recipes for cooking fish. Seafood aficionados will take pleasure in the simple dishes and relish the challenge of the more elaborate recipes. 

For: Savoury gourmets – Everything You Need hamper

For the savoury snack and meal seeker, our Everything You Need pack has all the goodies needed to experiment with and make delicious savoury appetisers and dishes at home. 2L of premium extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), crunchy Egyptian dukkah, mixed olives, pink lake salt, zingy citrus olive oils and smooth and salty tapenade. All they’ll need to do is grab a breadstick and some brie for the greatest savoury party.

Pair it with…All Day Baking: Savoury, Not Sweet

All Day Baking: Savoury, Not Sweet by Michael and Pippa James from Tivoli Road Bakery, is the must-have baking cookbook for savoury flavour fans. They’ll learn all the tricks to bake comforting and nourishing pies, sausage rolls, pastries, quiches, tarts and preserves. 

For: The cocktail connoisseur – Mount Zero Martini Pack

This hamper is for the sophisticated foodie that appreciates the complexity of flavour of a dirty martini. Featuring Maidenii vermouth, Grainshaker vodka and Mount Zero’s Dirty Olive Brine, fine beverage lovers will enjoy figuring out the ideal ratio of each ingredient to suit their martini preference. Plus, three different kinds of yummy marinated olives gives them something to munch on while enjoying a cocktail.  

Pair it with…Frantoio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For an inventive twist on a classic dirty martini adventurous foodies can try adding a few drops of premium extra virgin olive oil in place of olive brine for enhanced fresh peppery green olivey notes. Plus stunning flavourful olive oil will never go to waste in a foodie’s kitchen. 

For: Comfort food queens and kings – Smoky, Salty and Sweet pack

Your food-loving mate will adore The Garlic Company’s moreish black garlic beer toasted nut mix and two types of marinated olives. Plus, Smoked EVOO is the ideal dip for dunking pieces of fresh sourdough or for cooking up roast vegetables with a little extra special oomph. And for something sweet, handmade Monsieur Truffe 80% dark chocolate with honeycomb is the ultimate gourmet treat.

Pair it with…A Year of Simple Family Food

A Year of Simple Family Food by Julia Busuttil Nishimura is a comfort food lover's bible for generous, simple, delicious and seasonal food. Think: hearty baked maccheroni, crepes with whipped ricotta, French toast, miso roast chicken, braised pork and raspberry butter cake. So. Much. Yum.

For: The olive obsessed – All About the Olive hamper

It doesn’t get much better than this as food gifts go for people that are all about the salty deliciousness of olives in all shapes and forms. The jam-packed hamper features 2L of organic EVOO, kalamata olives, mixed olives, rosemary and pepperberry marinated olives, lemon and thyme marinated olives and black olive tapenade. This is a box of olive heaven.

Pair it with…Always Add Lemon

With over 100 recipes, Always Add Lemon by Danielle Alvarez, will inspire and guide olive lovers to put all of the gift box ingredients to good use. Standouts include duck pot pie, vegetable Panzanella and brioche.

So there are our top picks to spoil your foodie friend and shower them with glorious produce and cooking wisdom this festive season or for any special occasion. Which gift bundle would you choose?

If you want to handpick irresistible Australian produce that your foodie friend will adore, you can select extra items from our product range to create a beautifully wrapped bespoke gift box for that someone special or even as a treat for yourself.