At Christmastime, a whole range of seasonal foods will appear that you might be expected to eat. Here in the final part of our series on Christmas is your guide.

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Christmas Dinner: Since the 1500s this has meant a roast turkey. Although some families have a goose instead, everyone cooks so much that they end up eating leftover meat in sandwiches for days. It is served with ‘all the trimmings‘, which means a whole range of other things, as follows:

• Roast potatoes. Cut into halves or quarters, the goal of the chef is to make them crunchy around the edges!
• Other vegetables usually include brussels sprouts and roast parsnips.
• Gravy is best made from the juices of the turkey while it is cooking.
• Stuffing is bready, herby stuff that is stuffed inside the turkey while it is cooking. Sometimes this contains some pork as well.
• Yorkshire Puddings are made from batter and baked in the oven. They are light and crispy at the top and more soggy at the bottom. They go really well with gravy.
• Pigs in Blankets are mini sausages wrapped in bacon.
• Sweet Cranberry Sauce is usually served with turkey

In the picture above we can see roast turkey at the top, sausagemeat, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, peas, roast potatoes, pigs in blankets and stuffing

The next course is usually Christmas Pudding, a rich, heavy fruit pudding enriched with alcohol and served with whipped cream and brandy butter. It is common to heat up brandy on a spoon, set it on fire and pour burning brandy over the pudding before bringing it to the table. This is a difficult thing to do at home, but very impressive when it works out! 

Some other Christmas food:

• Mince pies. These contain something called ‘mincemeat’, but it is NOT meat. I know – it makes no sense, but these small sugary shortcrust pastry pies are filled with sweet and sticky dried fruit. They are best served warmed up with a bit of ice cream. 
• Eggnog. A weird drink made from cream, egg white, alcohol and spices. It is only served in small measures so don’t be afraid to try it. It’s okay.
• Bucks Fizz. Some people drink this mixture of orange juice and champagne in the morning. Usually it is just an excuse to start the drinking early.

Christmas Crackers are usually placed on the dining table to be pulled apart with your neighbours (you can see them in the main image to the right of the plate). They snap apart with a little bang and one side will be left with the contents: usually a paper crown, a little gift and a piece of paper with a joke. Usually everyone reads out their jokes, which are very corny, but it’s quite good fun and kids really love them.

I’ll leave you with a thought about one of the most important things at Christmas: Remember to look after the mums. This is really important. While the children get all the excitement and the presents, and most guys are happy with a good meal and an excuse to drink all day, it is usually the mothers that put all the effort into buying all the stuff, getting it all ready, making all the food and making sure everyone is happy.

Christmas is such a huge topic that I couldn’t possibly include everything in this article. But if you have any specific questions about Christmas, ask in the comments and I’ll answer them all!

Image: Fezbot2000 on Unsplash

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More in our series on Christmas:
Part 1 – Early preparation, music and the tree
Part 2 – Cards and presents
Part 3 – Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

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