FOOD & DRINK
Christmas food in Britain
Perhaps the most novel British Christmas foodie quirk is the Christmas pudding, which can be traced back to medieval times and reflects the British passion for both sweet and savoury puddings. This dense, fruity, dish contains 13 ingredients meant to represent Jesus and his disciples. It is made on the weekend before Advent called ‘stir-up Sunday’, when everyone in the house is invited to stir the pudding and make a wish. The pudding is then wrapped in muslin, placed in a pudding bowl and on Christmas day it is boiled before being turned out, doused in brandy, set alight and ceremoniously brought to the table aflame. Traditionally, silver pieces were placed in the pudding, but now people use coins; just be sure to warn guests before serving.
Turkey is the most popular choice as a main course for most households on Christmas day, but there are other meats to enjoy over the festive season. Gammon, uncooked cured pork, is popular on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, it is studded with cloves and covered in brown sugar before being roasted, giving it a rich smoky flavour. The ham can then be used for all sorts of dishes: enjoy it with fried eggs for breakfast, with chutneys and pickles for lunch and use the final cuts to make a delicious ham and turkey pie for a post-Christmas dish. Wild game such as duck, pheasant, partridge and venison are also in season, and have a delicate and unique flavour.
On Christmas Day popular canapés include devils on horseback (prunes wrapped and cooked in bacon) and smoked salmon blinis. Main course traditional ‘trimmings’ include roast parsnips, red cabbage and bread sauce (bread in milk seasoned with cloves). Afterwards enjoy Christmas pudding served with brandy butter, followed by Stilton cheese, crackers and a glass of port. If cooking all of this seems a little daunting, use a reliable British cook book such as Delia Smith’s Christmas cookery book to guide you.
Most of all enjoy exploring the food shops over the festive period and tasting what is on offer. Treats such as roasted chestnuts, mince pies with brandy butter, Christmas cake and mulled wine are all worth sampling. Just forget about the diet until January!
Doune Mackenzie is a trained cook and was marketing manager at Leith’s School of Food and Wine for eight years. She now runs a small lettings business for Scottish holiday homes
www.farresate.co.uk and is available for food or property- related marketing jobs
dounemac@hotmail.com
Native American traders on his travels. Prior to that, people's meat of choice for Christmas included goose, boars' head, roast swan or mutton.
Henry VIII was the first English king to enjoy turkey in the 16th century, but it was Edward VII who made eating turkey fashionable at Christmas. Today, approx- imately 10 million turkeys are eaten in the UK every year. Up until the 1950s it was widely considered a luxury, and in the 1930s the average person had to work for a week to be able to buy a turkey.
As for the festive trimmings, many of them are rela- tive newcomers. As you tuck into roast potatoes, you may be interested to know that these are a Regency speciality. Meanwhile festive Brussel sprouts were im- ported around 400 years ago. They were grown and eaten for practical reasons because they are one of the toughest vegetables, able to withstand freezing weather conditions.
Pigs in blankets are a US import with the earliest written record dating to 1957. Cranberry sauce is another dish to thank the Americans for. Legend has it that cranberries were served with turkey at the very first Thanksgiving in Massachusetts.
The historic 12-day holiday sometimes saw the ✶ ✶
10 FOCUS The Magazine November/December 2017
www.focus-info.org
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