Christmas in England is considered one of the most important holidays. It is customary to celebrate it with family and close friends at a Christmas table filled with all kinds of dishes. As the English themselves like to say, this is a time of fun and overeating. It is not surprising, because each hostess prepares a festive menu in advance, necessarily including dishes traditional for such an event.
Traditional Christmas food of the British
On the British Christmas table, you can almost always find beef roast beef baked with various vegetables, or a steak with onion rings and mushroom sauce, Brussels sprouts fried with cheese and eggs, and baked crisp potatoes. For this holiday, the hostesses also traditionally prepare chicken breast stuffed with nuts and small sausages in bacon, which are affectionately called "pigs in a blanket."
Some families make the popular vegetable soup for Christmas dinner, and also serve fresh oysters topped with Worcestershire sauce. The last dish is a perfect match with the popular ale in England. It's rare that Christmas in this country is complete without the traditional duck pate served with oat cakes, Yorkshire ham, calf kidney casseroles or roast lamb. Kebben cheese or poultry pies are also served as appetizers.
Well, the main dish on the Christmas table among the British is stuffed goose or turkey. Each housewife prepares them according to the family recipe, but they are always served only whole and with gooseberry or cranberry sauce. In some areas in the north of the country, smoked goose is placed on the table. These dishes have long since replaced the wild boar's head that was cooked for Christmas in yesteryear.
In England, a traditional Christmas dinner is not complete without dessert. As the latter, Christmas pudding has been baked for centuries, adding honey, fruit, bread crumbs, raisins or prunes to it. And before serving, such a dessert is poured with brandy and set on fire. The result is a real work of culinary art, the recipe of which has been passed down from generation to generation. Sometimes coins, buttons or a ring are added to this dish - it is considered good luck to find such objects in your piece.
In addition to Christmas pudding, you can also enjoy gingerbread men, gingerbread cookies, sweet rolls, baked chestnuts or apples at the British festive dinner. Almond pies or fruit muffins with nuts are also often served as a dessert.
Traditional Christmas drinks from the British
As in most countries of the world, Christmas is celebrated in England with champagne. However, during lunch, the inhabitants of this country prefer to drink spicy ale, red or white wine, hot mulled wine, port or brandy. The British also use punch and sherry.
