All wrapped up

Make your Christmas a cracker with top tips from celebrity chefs, plus advice on creating the perfect festive table. Joe McNamee and Áilín Quinlan ask the experts.

Martin Shanahan

Fishy Fishy Restaurant, Kinsale, Co Cork, cookbook author and TV chef The trick is to prepare in advance, make out a plan, get as much prep as possible done on Christmas Eve and choose an easy starter that you can do beforehand, like a nice crab crumble. My favourite is some smoked salmon and prawns on brown bread with a bit of cocktail sauce.”