Turning the Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper Into a Celebration Spread

Serve the Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper in three waves rather than all at once. Pita, olives and peanuts go out with the first glass. The fig and almond paste follows about half an hour in. Truffles and honey popcorn come last, once people have stopped hovering over the table. Spread that way it is the nibbles course for about three, and it reaches six once cheese, fruit and something cooked are carrying most of the load.

The box holds six food items and a bottle, in French blue finished with gold ribbon. Laid out all at once it looks like a lot of small packets on a bench. Laid out in sequence it behaves like a proper spread, and it stretches from the first drink to the last one. If you want to know what each packet is before you plan the order, our post on what's inside the Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper goes through them one at a time.

None of it needs cooking, a chopping board or a fridge, which is what makes the sequencing worth thinking about at all. The only decisions are what goes into a bowl, and when.

Wave one: the salty half, with the first glass

Open the box on the bench, not on the table. Three things go out with the first pour: the olive oil and sea salt artisan pita broken out of its 100g box, the Kangaroo Island Mediterranean olives drained out of the 185g jar, and the 100g bag of roasted peanuts tipped into something shallow. Set an empty bowl beside the olives for the pits before anyone has to ask for one.

The pita is the item to watch. It is the base the olives, the peanuts and the fig paste all end up sitting on, which makes it the packet most likely to run out first, and 100g is one box rather than two. If there is a second box in the cupboard, this is the night for it.

Wave two: the fig paste, once people slow down

The 75g fig and almond fruit paste is the bridge between the savoury bowls and the sweet end, and it is the one item people walk straight past if it appears too early. Slice it thin with a warm knife about half an hour in, lay the slices beside the pita, and it goes.

Fruit paste wants something salty next to it. If there is cheese in the fridge, a hard sheep or goat cheese or a wedge of aged cheddar is the thing to reach for. Our guide to building a Christmas cheese board has the quantities if the spread is quietly turning into a meal.

Wave three: truffles and popcorn, after the food

The cocoa dusted Belgian truffles and the Kangaroo Island honey popcorn are the last two out, and in an Australian December they are also the two that suffer most in the heat. Keep the truffle box somewhere cool until you want it, then give it ten minutes in the fridge before serving. Cocoa dusted truffles go soft on a warm table faster than anything else in the box.

The popcorn is an 80g bag, which is one bowl rather than two. Put it out whole. It reads as generous in a single bowl and thin split across a pair.

How far the bottle goes, and how to chill it

The bottle is Mumm Marlborough Brut Prestige, 750ml, made by the traditional method. At a standard 125ml pour that is six glasses, so it is one round for six people. If the room is bigger than the bottle, open a second one rather than stretching the first across everyone.

Give it three to four hours upright in the fridge, or twenty minutes in a bucket of half ice and half water, which chills faster than ice on its own. Open it before the first guests arrive rather than in front of them, and pour into anything with a stem. Enjoy responsibly.

If there are more than three of you

This hamper is built for a table rather than a party. The six food items come to 690g between them, and our grazing guide works on 250g a head before a meal, so as the nibbles course it covers about three people. It reaches six once cheese, fruit and something cooked are carrying most of the load, which is also what the bottle pours.

Once the numbers climb the savoury half runs out first and the sweet end holds, which is useful to know before you open anything. Top up with a second box of pita and a second jar of olives rather than a whole second hamper, and keep the food out of direct sun. Our guide to building a Christmas grazing table that survives the heat covers the rest of it, including what changes when the table is outside.

Questions about serving this hamper

How many people does the Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper serve?

About three as the nibbles course, and six once cheese, fruit and something cooked are carrying most of the load. The six food items are all small formats and come to 690g together, so the box goes further spread across an evening than it does as a single course. The bottle pours six glasses at 125ml. Past that, add pita and olives rather than a second hamper.

What should I add to the Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper?

Cheese and something fresh. A hard cheese sits well against the fig and almond paste, and a bowl of cherries or grapes lifts a table that is otherwise all jars and packets. A spare box of the artisan pita is the other thing worth having in the cupboard, since that is what empties first.

Can I set a hamper spread up in advance?

Set out the bowls, the board and the pit bowl in the morning and leave every packet sealed. Pita and popcorn soften within a couple of hours once they are open in December humidity, and the truffles are better for staying cool. Chill the bottle in the afternoon and the whole spread takes five minutes to put out.

Ordering one

The Mumm Sparkling and Gourmet Finest Hamper is hand packed on the northern edge of Geelong and travels in an insulated shipper with a personalised gift card written out for you. Shipping is free Australia-wide on orders over $100.

Orders placed before 12pm on a weekday are dispatched the same day from our Corio, VIC warehouse, tracked with Australia Post. If you are sending it rather than serving it, the rest of the season sits on our Christmas hampers page.