Laila Said’s Holiday Gift Guide
Laila Said
Laila is a Mexico City native of Lebanese descent. Using traditional food cultures as her compass, she earned a Masters in Gastronomy at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in northern Italy. She has hosted culinary tours throughout Baja California and has delved into in-depth culinary research throughout the south of France for an upcoming cookbook titled le SUD.
Laila is the Senior Travel Designer at PRIOR, where she curates bespoke experiential itineraries throughout the world. She is currently based in Paris.
Photo above by Ylenia Cuéllar (@yleniacuellar)
Laila’s gift ideas for this Christmas Season
Given my work in travel and curating bespoke travel experiences, I appreciate nothing more than gifts that capture the scents, shapes, textures and tastes of faraway lands and transport me there.
1. The Chocolate Soap Collection by Casa Bosques Chocolates
Casa Bosques Chocolates, the brainchild of Mexico-city based designer Rafael Prieto, is a project that explores the origins and culture of chocolate. Through single-origin sustainably sourced beans as a medium, the brand works with an array of artists, chefs and creatives to incorporate everything from medicinal plants and seeds to spices and cheese narrating stories of provenance and taste. Their latest launch gives an edible nod to the ancestral craftsmanship surrounding soap making around the world, from its impeccable traditional packaging all the way to its look, fragrance and flavour (it’s chocolate, not soap!).
2. Candle Scamorza by Laila and Nadia Gohar’s Gohar World.
The candle is produced at Cereria Introna, a family-run factory that has been producing candles in Bari, Italy since 1840. The traditional craft has been passed down through six generations, and I am so into the idea of this southern Italian cow’s milk cheese in candle form adorning a festive table.
3. Kofuku Donabe by TOIRO
Used for hot pots, stews, steaming fish and making rice, Donabe is a traditional earthen clay cookware found in many Japanese homes. Tokyo-born Naoko Takei works with artisans Nagati-en, a family-owned ceramics company in Iga, Japan where ceramics have been all hand-crafted using traditional and artisanal methods since 1832. Following the wabi-sabi philosophy which embraces imperfection and individuality, no donabe is identical to the other and looks great displayed around the kitchen.
4. Tsehay Kabtamu beans from Deep Coffee Roasters:
First stop in Marseille (France) is always at Deep, a micro-roastery and coffee shop whose approach is eco-conscious and sustainable. Mindful of impact, they only partner with small producers under the intention of positively reinforcing their partners’ social, environmental and economic livelihoods. My favourite bag of beans to buy is Tsehay Kabtamu which bears the name of its producer, who alongside her husband operate a small independent farm just outside the centre village of Wegida in Ethiopia. The tasting notes are floral: raspberry, rose with a hint of cocoa.
5. À Table by Paris-based author Rebekah Peppler
There’s nothing that I appreciate more than a dinner that places equal importance on the rituals interwoven within the main meal itself. From drinks and light snacks (think XL gougères) for apéritif all the way through to dessert and digestif (après spritz with Armagnac and dry Lambrusco, anyone?), no part of the experience of a meal is overlooked in À Table. The lifestyle visuals and recipes, are full-on transportive to a table in France.
6. MaderaSanta Incense from Xinú.
I always have a stack of these hand-rolled incense sticks by Xinú, a nuanced perfumery from Mexico City inspired by the aromatic botany of the Americas. They’re made by artisans using sustainable ingredients including cedar leaf oil, Guatemalan patchouli, cedar wood oil and Mexican vanilla beans.
7. Hasami Porcelain’s Tea Set:
I’ve always found the ritual of making tea to be grounding, forcing you to be in the moment. Made in Japan, Hasami’s aesthetics (matte, clean lines) and texture (sharper, organic porcelain) reflect the individuality surrounding each piece due to the nuances surrounding seaonality and manual labour. While you can’t buy directly from Hasami Porcelain online, here is a shop list to buy directly in person based on location (some of these locations have an online store you can purchase from).
8. MT La Reina/The Queen plates (natural) by Colectivo 1050º
Artisans from more than seven communities throughout Oaxaca, Puebla and Chiapas joined forces and created a cooperative to preserve the craftsmanship and respect surrounding clay and pottery. Colectivo 1050º is made up of 17 members who represent more than 50 craft potters, each who bring the deep-rooted knowhow to their trade to create handmade one-of-a-kind pieces for the home, whilst keeping tradition alive. These natural plates can be mixed and matched with the other MT La Reina/The Queen colours (burgundy and chocolate) to make up a set. Additional points of sale for in-person purchases can be found here.
9. The first gift I ever gave my partner was a curated Basque box from The Tinned Fish Market.
The short version of the long story is that she had been planning a month-long stay in the French Basque Country and had to cancel due to covid lock downs. Knowing her love for tins, I reached out to The Tinned Fish Market who work with small, family-run canneries (shout out to the owners Stephen and Patrick!) who helped me curate a box filled with tins from the Basque Country. Whether you’re into solely sardines or want a themed box from specific regions like Galicia or Cantabria, they have quite the exquisite array to choose from.
10. Yola Mezcal
As a Mexican, there’s nothing that brings more joy than being able to taste the flavours endemic to my land, especially when I’m not physically there. Whenever I taste the innate smokiness of the female-owned, handcrafted Yola Mezcal, which preserves the tradition of artisanal mezcal-making, I am immediately transported to Oaxaca and the agave fields where the agave's piñas are being roasted underground. Pair with sliced fresh oranges and spicy worm salt and call it a night.
11. Bougie Toursadée by Faire La Bees.
All candles are handmade to order and produced 100% from beeswax made from Jamie Lozoff’s hives in Rognes, France— perfect to set the right lighting and mood.
