An article from Whitley Bay News Guardian Dec 8th 1994
Christmas Dishes of the Past
Christmas food dishes have evolved and changed over the centuries.
Here are six historical facts you may not know.
- Have you ever heard of
pepper-cake? This was a special spiced gingerbread that used to be
served in Yorkshire farmhouses over the Christmas period, but especially
on the last night of the old year.
- King Henry VIII was the
first English monarch to tuck into turkey for his Christmas dinner.
It replaced the swan as the favoured festive dish of the nobility.
- Mince pies, also at one
time known as Christmas pies, were such a treat that in the days of the
poet Robert Herrick (1591-1674) they were in danger of being stolen by
sweeet toothed theives.
- A popular way of eating
raisins over Christmastide was to make "snap-dragon".
Raisins were arranges on a large plate which was put before a fire or in
the oven to warm but not get too hot. Then whisky was poured over,
set alight and as soon as possible the raisins were consumed.
- The forerunner of
Christmas Pudding was plum porridge, a spiced pudding-cum-broth that
included meat in its ingredients. This was traditionally served as
the first course of the meal.
- Even in Victorian times
there were many poorer homes where there were no facilities for cooking
meat. People used to save money weekly in "goose clubs" or
"Christmas Clubs" to buy a bird or joint of beef. Then on
Christmas morning it would, for a small charge, be cooked for them by the
local baker
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