Sometimes, just sometimes, I get a little jaded by the festive menu of turkey with all the trimmings, followed by heavy plum duff and oversweet mince pies.

But that is nothing compared to the irritation I feel at the recent monopolisation of Christmas by the German food markets which seem to have sprung up in every town and city across Scotland. Let's face it, the food they sell is dull, dull, dull. I mean, bratwurst? Stollen? Gluhwein? Give me a break.

What I don't get is how people are willing to queue up, sometimes for hours, just to get a taste of this cliched fare. I hear that we are now buying more stollen in shops than mince pies. Yes, I know Christmas came to us from Germany thanks to Prince Albert, but surely it's time to revive the winter feast by following the northern star that shines on seasonal Scottish food and produce from other countries of the far north.

I was heartened last week to see that Edinburgh, which also hosts Scotland's largest German market, is at last showcasing innovative hot food at its Scottish Food Market in St Andrew Square. I reckon this is the first proper such festival.

There's Alanda's Seafood Grill serving takeaway langoustine, Eyemouth lobster and haggis, with chips seasoned with Hebridean sea salt. A local butcher is serving homemade sausages wittily called the Pig, the Boar and the Stag; The Heilan' Coo, from Dalgety Bay, is serving locally sourced Highland beef in a range of guises, including the Lang Link (a brilliant challenge to the ubiquitous bratwurst) and a 10-hour slow-cooked pulled beef with no added seasoning. I'm told chef is about to launch the Hurger (work that one out for yourself). It's a good start, but why on earth did the organisers allow the Snowdonian Cheese Company to join in when we have a fantastic thriving artisan cheese industry of our own? There is no Scottish cheese, bakery or patisserie present.

Scots pine, sea buckthorn and other indigenous plants are increasingly being used to flavour a range of ingredients from chocolate to beer. I tasted a fabulous juniper, Scots pine and smoked salt hot chocolate at the Urban Angel stand, produced by chocolatiers Edward & Irwyn. And Edinburgh chef Tony Singh's takeaway is a brilliant blend of Scottish produce and the kind of imported spices that have given Scots a taste for Indian curry.

If this food market eventually gives consumers a taste of how we might celebrate Christmas in future, it's worth doing. But I'd argue that we could go even further north to embrace Scandinavian cuisine. After all, in winter there are strong parallels with this and our own.

Trine Hahnemann, the Copenhagen-based chef, food consultant and writer, is an expert on the unique terroir of Scandinavian food. She argues that the raw ingredients in Scandinavian food are common to most of northern Europe and Russia, and that the people of these regions are essentially Scandinavian but just haven't admitted it yet. She says the traditional "food of the North" is all based on locally-sourced seasonal ingredients in a balanced diet of protein, carbohydrates and beneficial fats which consists of a wide variety of grains, berries, vegetables, fish, poultry and game meats. She also believes a Nordic diet is comparable in terms of nutrition to the Mediterranean diet, but because it's local it's more eco-friendly.

Her charming cookbook, A Scandinavian Christmas (Quadrille, £16.99) offers deeply attractive alternatives to our traditional festive fare that it would be easy for us to adopt (although I suggest the Scandinavians should copy our trifle).

The big family meal takes place on Christmas Eve, and is made from traditional recipes passed down through the generations. It starts with Christmas porridge made with cinnamon, sugar and butter; and the main meal includes various dishes such as slow-roast duck and goose stuffed with apples and prunes, cured lamb chops, turnip and bacon gratin, kale salad with pomegranate, caramel potatoes, chicory and orange salad, red cabbage, sprouts with clementines, rice pudding with hot cherry sauce.

On Christmas Day the meal is arguably even better: root vegetable salad and kale bruschetta; rye bread slices spread with spiced pork fat and topped with beetroot or ginger pickled herrings, liver pâté, cold cuts and leftover duck salad. Afters include blue cheese and plums, and honey buns. Gifts to make at home include sea buckthorn or raspberry vinegar, rosehip chutney and lingonberry compote.

My point is that most of these ingredients are also indigenous to Scotland. They're seasonal and healthy, just the kind of foods we should be eating.

And the best bit? In Scandinavia, children have to wash up the dinner dishes before they get their presents. How cool is that? Just saying.