We love kale as much as the next hipster, but sometimes only sugar and animal fats will do. Christmas is one of those times. Luckily, for those suffering from kitchen fatigue, Mumbai is no slouch when it comes to the Yuletide goodies. Everything from Stollen, suckling and guinea fowl, to guava cheese is available. You just need to know who to call. Simply fling the wrapping out of sight, plonk the food onto your baking dish, and take all the credit for a marvellous meal.
Stores
Farm Products Co: The lovely Luiza Rocha helms the Farm Products Co, one of Mumbai's oldest food stores. She sells all manner of Goan masalas and pickles. But more to the point, Rocha’s got a huge range of cold cuts and a Christmas turkey with pork mince, cranberry sauce and green apple stuffing. Try the honey glazed and smoked ham for some extra seasoning of the festive spirit.
Red Shield House, BEST Marg, Behind Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, Colaba. Phone: 22840335
Yazdani Bakery: There’s a famous story about how you can’t drive after eating Haroun al Rashid famous crumbly plum cake (Rs 300). Saturated with rum, the cake’s balanced with the perfect amount of spice and fruity sweetness. Best of all, it’s satisfyingly dense.
11/11-A, Cawasji Patel Street, Fort. Phone: 22870739
Gaylord: One of the oldest establishments in the city, Gaylord's bakery churns out plum cakes, both regular (Rs 850 per kg) and eggless (Rs 880 per kg) along with date rolls (Rs 250 per 200g), milk cream toffee (Rs 400 per 200g), guava cheese (Rs 250 per 200g), marzipan (Rs 400 per 200g) and chocorocks (Rs 350 per 200g). The goodies are consume all year round, but especially around Christmas. Plus, their Christmas hampers of cake and cookies, make wonderful presents.
Mayfair Building, Veer Nariman Road, Churchgate. Phone: 22044693
American Express Bakery:
The city fixture sells the thickly-fruited stollen loaf, marzipan, plum cakes and decadent plum puddings. For those who can't be bothered to stir a step towards the kitchen, the bakery also offers a stuffed, roast chicken (Rs 900 per kg).
AEB House, 66 A. Mirza Galib Marg, Ashadham Colony, Byculla. Phone: 26422857
City Bakery: The Worli bakery’s very popular plum cake (Rs 300) is perhaps a little stodgy, but tasty nonetheless. No frills and furbelows on this one.
Annie Besant Road, Worli Naka. Phone: 24930562
Gary: Their rich plum cake retails for Rs 900 per kg and is worth every rupee. Supplement the cake with milk sweets, marzipan, kulkuls (all Rs 120 for 200g) and satiny guava cheese (Rs 100 for 200g).
DN Singh Road, Off Sheth Motisha Lane, Mustafa Bazar, Mazgaon. Phone: 23741447
Mangalore General Store: Head over here for their feast of Christmas sweets including rose cookies and milk sweets.
Mohammed Eidu Manzil, opposite Paradise Cinema, Mahim. Phone: 24457542.
Rejoyce Cakes: The Bandra store’s perfectly voluptuous fruit cakes (Rs 1,200 per 1.5kg) ooze rum. This treat is not for the kids; its true destiny lies at the adult’s dinner table. Rejoyce also retails a decorated Christmas cake (Rs 3,100) and marzipan sweets (Rs 1,700 per kg) to soothe your sweet tooth.
Luminous Housing Society Limited, Chapel Road, Next To Mt. Carmel Church, Bandra west. Phone: 65137444
Mac Craig: The Bandra store’s regular menu offers a full roast chicken with stuffing (Rs 800), an order for which can be placed one day in advance. Their roast suckling pig (Rs 6000) requires to be ordered three days in advance. But they up the ante at Christmas with a plum cake (Rs 500 for 500g).
Gasper Enclave, St John St, Bandra west, 26411985
Mahima Mangalore Stores: Another store that specialises in a range of Christmas sweets. They’ve got everything from kulkuls to doldol.
Hill Road, Ranwar, Bandra west. Phone: 26400661
J Hearsch Bakery: Every year, the wee bakery sets out a feast of baked goods for the festive season. They’ve got everything from marzipan and milk creams to fruit cake, cupcakes and walnut fudge (Rs 150 upwards).
Near Holy Family Hospital, Hill Road, Bandra west. Phone: 26435361
Venus Bakery: Another store that has a rainbow of delights for the sweet-toothed Bandra dweller: jujubes (Rs 55 per 200g), marshmallows (Rs 60 per 50g), kulkuls, deep-fried nevris and crunchy rice guliyos (Rs 90 per 200g each), plum cakes (Rs 190) and fudge (Rs 170 per 200g).
Luminous Apt. Chapel Road, Bandra west. Phone: 26425306
Joseph Cold Storage: Get your Christmas roast on at Joseph Cold Storage, Bandra's choice for beef, pork and poultry.
Gasper Enclave Building, Near HDFC Bank, Saint John Street, Pali Naka, Bandra west. Phone: 26424261
Vienna Bakery: Their Christmas plum cakes are the stuff of legend - there's usually a long line of people waiting to get their hands on it. The bakery also makes confectionary such as guava cheese along with the regular puffs and pastries.
Behind St Anthony's Church, Vakola, Santacruz east. Phone: 26672811
Aaron's Bake N Brew House:
The store answers the call of Christmas with traditional rum-soaked Christmas cake, milk cream (Rs 1,600), marzipan (Rs 1,200) and date rolls.
Lourdes heritage building, opposite Orlem Church, Orlem, Malad west. Phone: 9920579059
Home cooks and caterers
Shirin Adenwalla:
The Churchgate home chef has an enormous (and delectable) Christmas menu. Think hot smoked salmon with orange cream, cheese platters, guinea fowl with grapes, roast loin of pork stuffed with apricot and prunes, assorted mince pies, reindeer cupcakes, Christmas pavlovas and way, way more.
Phone: 9820058792
Havovi Shroff: A South Mumbai resident from Kharegat Colony, Havovi Shroff makes a glazed leg of ham (Rs 1,000 per kg), perfect for a festive party. She also makes a Christmas cake for which she soaks the dry fruit from May (Rs 1000), Christmas cake with marzipan and fondant (Rs 1,400), and Christmas cupcakes (Rs 1,000). Her latest creation is a baked Christmas cheesecake large enough to satisfy ten eaters (Rs 1,200).
Phone: 9820945024
Kenny D'Souza: He’s one of Bandra's most famous caterers and pretty much everyone knows him. Kenny D'Souza makes his roast chicken two ways -- East Indian (Rs 900) and Continental (Rs 1,000). He also offers pork sorpotel and pork vindaloo (Rs 850 each). His beef roulade can be cut into 10 to 12 pieces and sells for Rs 1,000.
Phone: 9773931269
Leah Drego: Talented baker, Leah Drego lives in Marol, Andheri. She’s famous for whipping up a scrumptious Christmas platter of rich fruit cakes, jujubes, marzipan, milk creams and fudge.
Phone: 9870209669
Lourdes Fernandes: Located in Andheri, this home chef harks back to her handwritten family recipes, ones that have been handed down from mother to daughter and refined through the ages. Lourdes Fernandes’ list includes rich fruit cakes (Rs 750 per kg), rich fruit cake with marzipan and fondant (Rs 1,200 per kg), gingerbread cookies (Rs 500 per kg), marzipan (Rs 1,600 per kg), milk cream (Rs 1,400 per kg), guava cheese (Rs 800 per kg), tartlets (Rs 400 per kg), date rolls (Rs 800 per kg), mava nevri (Rs 360 for 12) and cashew crush (Rs 600 per kg).
Phone: 9820486057
JB Martin: They call themselves ‘Mumbai's No 1 Roast Masters' and JB Martin’s – located in IC Colony, Borivali – speciality is that odd beast, the turducken (Rs 15,000). It’s a deboned chicken stuffed with any meat of your choice, then eased into a deboned duck, all of which is then stuffed into a turkey. Martin's also offers unstuffed and stuffed chicken, turkey and suckling, plus a Christmas cake for Rs 2,000.
Phone: 98199 13114
Smita Kinny: She may be the wife of chef Paul Kinny, but Smita Kinny from Nerul is a wonderful baker in her own right. For Christmas, she’s got a vast assortment of sweets on offer ie marzipan (Rs 1,200 per kg), milk cream (Rs 1,200 per kg), kulkul (Rs 600 per kg), date and walnut roll (Rs 700 per kg), doughnuts (Rs 600 per kg), boros (Rs 600 per kg), guava cheese (Rs 650 per kg), plum cake (Rs 600 per kg), rava and coconut nevris (Rs 220 for 12), tartlets (Rs 200 for 12) and an assorted platter for Rs 200.
Phone: 9833181777
The author is a freelance writer
