Holiday Food Basket Gift Guide: 8 Great Mail-Order Edibles

Everyone loves food. Not everyone loves that striped sweater with the Christmas tree on it.

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For that reason, we here at The Daily Meal believe that there's no wiser gift than that of delicious food, especially at this time of year, when caution (and diets) are thrown to the wind.

In years past, gifted food tended to arrive in the form of a batch of rock-solid gingerbread cookies, a box of chocolates, or mail-order non-perishables that ended up earning a spot at the back of the pantry's top shelf.

But times change, and the recent artisanal boom (along with the Internet) has made it easier than ever to give a food gift that will not only be eaten, but very much appreciated.  It's also provided the entire country with the opportunity to expand their culinary horizons, and taste some of the highest-quality food available, anywhere.

At the same time, however, there are now so many options out there that when it comes time to actually decide what to get for your nephew, who can't stop talking about charcuterie, it's easy to go blank and just grab him a pair of gloves at the mall. But what if for the same price you could have sent him a Ciauscolo salami, handmade at chef Chris Cosentino's restaurant Boccalone, using an old recipe originating in Italy's Le Marche region? You'd be your nephew's new hero.

That's why we've done the work for you, taken all the guesswork out of it, and assembled a lineup of the most exciting (and drool-worthy) gifts for the food lover in your family.