Christmas dinners through history | English Heritage (2024)

FAQs

What do Englishmen traditionally have for Christmas dinner? ›

Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom usually consists of roasted turkey, stuffing, gravy, yorkshire puddings, pigs in blankets, bread sauce, redcurrant jelly, roast potatoes; vegetables (particularly Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, and parsnips) with dessert of Christmas pudding, mince pies (both served with ...

But instead of very large parties and gatherings, the Victorians saw Christmas as a family occasion. Most Victorian families had roast goose for their Christmas dinner, wealthy families ate beef, venison and turkey, often served with a chestnut or veal forcemeat stuffing.

For Christmas Day the feast featured eight different meats, demonstrating the status of the household. The shopping list for such a feast included a whole wild boar, three beef cattle, two calves, four doe, four pigs, eight partridges, two geese and over 60 birds (mostly hens).

It is believed that the forerunner of the Christmas dinner was the midwinter feast enjoyed by our ancient ancestors. Feasts were held to celebrate the pagan midwinter solstice, and archaeological digs have discovered that the most popular meats served up were pork and beef.

This traditional British holiday feast features classic dishes like holiday roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, braised red cabbage, and pureed parsnips, plus classic English Trifle and Christmas plum pudding.

Overall the traditional Christmas dinner classic, the turkey, is far and away the winner for most popular festive food.

Turkey or Festive Bird for Dinner

Like many of us, Victoria and Albert enjoyed turkey at Christmas time. They would sit together as a family for their main meal and enjoy turkey with all the trimmings. As you would expect, the royal family were fortunate to share in several courses.

In medieval England the main meat served with Christmas dinner was wild boar! Through the 16th and 17th centuries goose or capon was commonly served, and the rich sometimes dined upon peaco*ck or swan.

The most popular Christmas dinner is brawn (roast pork) with mustard or roast beef. Also popular are mince pies, frumenty, plum porridge, and a Christmas pie of neat's tongue, eggs, sugar, lemon & orange peel, spices. Good husband and huswife, now chiefly be glad, Things handsome to have, as they ought to be had.

The Family Circle magazine listed this Christmas dinner menu in the December 1956 issue, “Holiday glazed ham, parsley potatoes, spiced peaches, cornbread diamonds, vegetable scallop, relish tray of olives, watercress, watermelon rind, radishes and celery, eggnog pie, coffee, salted nuts, mints.”

What is a traditional Irish Christmas dinner? ›

For an Irish family Christmas, the traditional dinner is key and getting it right is a real art. Roast turkey and stuffing, clove-studded baked ham, crispy goose fat potatoes, steamed Brussels sprouts, buttery sweet carrots, crispy parsnips, cranberry sauce, bread sauce, gravy, phew, there's a lot to think of!

Rationing meant that the traditional Christmas dinner was off the menu. By Christmas 1942 almost all foods apart from bread and fresh fruit and vegetables were rationed, which meant using substitute ingredients to bake staples such as plum pudding and Christmas cake.

Is ham a traditional British Christmas dinner menu? Turkey with pork are the usual Christmas Dinner meats, served hot. However, it is very common to have a ham at Christmas more commonly served sliced cold along with cold pork & turkey for Christmas 'tea', the festival of gluttony in the evening.

A third of Brits choose them as one of their seasonal must-haves. Traditionalists claim it's a festive faux pas, but a survey suggests that Yorkshire puddings may well have a place on our Christmas dinner plates.

Families welcome the warmth and cheer of a Yule log blazing on the hearth. They decorate their homes with holly, ivy, and other evergreens and hang a mistletoe "kissing bough." Throughout the holidays, carolers go from house to house at twilight ringing handbells and singing Christmas songs.