03 Dec
Christmas Food Facts
As we get ready to be swept up in the craziness of Christmas, here are a few interesting Christmas food facts to read;
- A traditional Christmas dinner in early England was the head of a pig prepared with mustard.
- An old wives’ tale says that bread baked on Christmas Eve will never go mouldy.
- At Christmas, Ukrainians prepare a traditional twelve-course meal. A family’s youngest child watches through the window for the evening star to appear, a signal that the feast can begin.
- At lavish Christmas feasts in the Middle Ages, swans and peacocks were sometimes served “endored.” This meant the flesh was painted with saffron dissolved in melted butter. In addition to their painted flesh, endored birds were served wrapped in their own skin and feathers, which had been removed and set aside prior to roasting.
- In Britain, eating mince pies at Christmas dates back to the 16th century. It is still believed that to eat a mince pie on each of the Twelve Days of Christmas will bring 12 happy months in the year to follow.
- In Victorian England, turkeys were popular for Christmas dinners. Some of the birds were raised in Norfolk, and taken to market in London. To get them to London, the turkeys were supplied with boots made of sacking or leather. The turkeys were walked to market. The boots protected their feet from the frozen mud of the road. Boots were not used for geese: instead, their feet were protected with a covering of tar.
- It is estimated that approximately 400,000 people become sick each year from eating tainted Christmas leftovers.
- It was the custom to eat goose at Christmas until Henry VIII decided to tuck into a turkey. 93% of the population in the UK will eat turkey on Christmas Day; this means 11million turkeys being cooked!
- Mince pies – You should eat mince pies in silence, and make a wish with each one.
- The Christmas turkey first appeared on English tables in the 16th century, but didn’t immediately replace the traditional fare of goose, beef or boar’s head in the rich households.
You can read more facts at www.christmashottoys.co.uk/christmas-facts-food.php