Luscious mince pies signal the start of the Christmas season in theUnited Kingdom. These tiny tartlets are traditional for the holidays in England,Scotland,Wales, and Northern Ireland.
Often served with mulled wine, they start popping up everywhere, from workplace canteens and coffee corners to the local Starbucks, as soon as the days begin to shorten. Shops advertise late opening hours and fashion shows accompanied by mince pies and mulled wine; every pre-Christmas gathering, co*cktail party, and tea party will have a supply. Newspapers even have features rating this year'sbest supermarket and packaged variations.
Eating a mince pie every day of December is supposed to be good luck, and most people don't turn them down when offered. So, by the time the holiday season ends, most people are well fed up with mince pies. But whether they like deep or shallow mince pies, Marks and Spencers or Sainsbury's, make their own or simply can't stand them—most Brits know it's Christmas from their first mince pie of the season.
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Turkey and All the Trimmings
Years ago, almost everyone ate Christmas dinner in the U.K. at the same time to be finished and settled down in time for the Royal Christmas Message, live on television at 3 p.m.
Nowadays, the monarch's speech is recorded; there are more television channels, and most run the speech a few times during the day. Though that national tradition is a thing of the past, the elements of a traditional Christmas meal are still pretty much the same.
Smoked salmon, served with buttered brown bread and a slice of lemon wrapped around some prawns, is a typical festive starter.
Turkey long ago replaced goose as the most popular main course. But it is what the turkey comes to the table with that makes it especially British. The accompaniments include:
Chipolatas, which are small sausages wrapped in bacon.
Roasted root vegetables, especially roasted parsnips, which are sweet and moist.
All kinds of potatoes. It seems that a scoop of the buttery mash is never enough at Christmas time. The British table almost always includes piles of crispy, golden roasted potatoes—called roasties—best made in goose fat.
Brussels sprouts, often with chestnuts or bacon or both. Even people who never in a million years would eat a Brussels sprout will manage a few for Christmas.
Bread sauce, a mixture of bread crumbs, milk, cream, onions, and seasonings, has to besomething you grew up with because it's hardly ever a taste that's acquired.
The traditional Christmas pudding in the U.K. is a bit like a cannonball made of dried fruit, nuts, flour, eggs, shredded suet (a solid beef fat), or a vegetarian version of suet, spices, and loads and loads of alcohol. It comes to the table sprigged with holly or winter cherries and flaming with brandy.
Rich and heavy, a little Christmas pudding goes a long way. There is nothing quite like it as a base for its variety of accompaniments: brandy butter, hard sauce, poured custard, white cornstarch sauce, and, more recently, whipped cream or ice cream.
A good Christmas pudding is started months before Christmas, steamed for several hours, then tightly wrapped and left to age. Whisky or brandy is used to plump up the dried fruit, and are "fed" to the cooked pudding from time to time. On the day, the pudding is once again steamed for a few hours. Then hot brandy is poured over it and set alight.
Traditionally, a three-penny (thruppence) or six-penny (sixpence) coin, both long out of circulation, is baked in the pudding. Finding it is considered good luck. In some families, silver or porcelain charms are kept for this purpose.
People rarely eat more than a few spoons of Christmas pudding,g, so the dinner usually includes several other desserts and savories. Pies and chocolate desserts may be brought to the table. Cheese and port or brandy are offered to finish.
Continue to 3 of 3 below.
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Christmas Cake, the Teatime Essential
Christmas cake in the UK is started months before the holiday. The rich fruit and nut cake is "fed" with brandy or whisky - a few spoonfuls at a time, every few days for weeks.
Before Christmas, the cake is enrobed in a rolled layer of marzipan and topped by a thick layer of rolled white icing. Then the whole thing is neatly wrapped in a red ribbon and topped with a holiday picture.
In effect, by wrapping the Christmas cake like a present it is sealed airtight in all that marzipan and icing. That, plus the amount of alcohol it has absorbed, should make it last a very long time. And, kept in a biscuit tin or a plastic food box with a sealable lid, Christmas cakes have been known to be edible for months, even years.
The Christmas cake is not usually part of Christmas dinner but is kept to be offered at tea time and for snacks during the holidays.
Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom usually consists of roasted turkey, stuffing, gravy, 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 brandy butter, custard ...
Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom usually consists of roasted turkey, stuffing, gravy, 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 brandy butter, custard ...
Medieval monks would celebrate by spending money on rare and expensive spices, to add to their pies, fish and offal. Before the arrival of turkey, boar was a particularly popular option. Stuffed boar's heads were served as a Christmas centrepiece in England from the medieval period right up until Tudor times.
The #1 pick is roast potatoes, with a win percentage of 76%. Mashed potatoes came in second (75%), and turkey was third (73%)—the only protein in the top five. Check out this top-rated recipe for roasted potatoes.
1. Turkey. Let's admit it, a whole turkey is the best and most traditional meat for Christmas dinners. Originally gracing our plates in the 16th century, popular history tells of King Henry VIII being the first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas.
Every Christmas, Brits gather to watch pantomimes or meet their school friends at the pub. They also eat Yorkshire puddings, mince pies, Christmas pudding, and Christmas cake.
It comes as no surprise that Turkey remains the nation's favourite Christmas meat; according to YouGov, roast beef is a close second popular choice of meat in the UK.
Families who did not live in the workhouses might have a meal of rabbit or beef, but there was little in the way of gifts. Instead, factory and workhouse owners would sometimes give money or gifts to the workers on the day after Christmas, also known as boxing day.
Pork is the most popular traditional holiday dish in 23 countries, more than the 17 that focus on turkey, she said. Suckling pig is the center of the traditional Christmas table in Spain and Cuba, while the Philippines feasts on roasted pork, according to the map.
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.
No British Christmas is complete without a Christmas Pudding. Unlike American puddings, a Christmas Pudding has a sticky, dense sponge, much like a fruitcake, made from mixed dried fruit, candied fruit peel, apple, citrus juice, and zest. Brandy and spices provide a deep, complex flavor and signature dark color.
Crackers are very likely to feature at most dinner tables, with 81% who celebrate Christmas saying they intend to give them a pull. In terms of other culinary aspects of Christmas, 72% say they will eat mince pies, and 52% a Christmas pudding. A third will also drink mulled wine (35%).
In the UK (or Great Britain and Northern Ireland), families often celebrate Christmas together, so they can watch each other open their presents! Most families have a Christmas Tree (or maybe even two!) in their house for Christmas. The decorating of the tree is usually a family occasion, with everyone helping.
Mulled wine is my favorite of all the traditional Christmas drinks in the UK. Made from blending hot wine with spices, it's a great winter warmer. What is this? Mulled wine is a staple throughout the festive season in the United Kingdom.
Introduction: My name is Aracelis Kilback, I am a nice, gentle, agreeable, joyous, attractive, combative, gifted person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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