There’s a lot to think about during the festive season, but can Christopher Winn, author of The Book of Christmas: The Hidden Stories Behind Our Festive Traditions, help us figure out at least one conundrum: what time should people sit down to eat?
If I had to guess, I’d say traditionally it’s served around the Queen’s speech, or the King’s speech now?
It’s just supposed to be a middle-of-the-day meal, so the Queen’s speech, at 3pm, adapted to it rather than the other way round. In other parts of Europe, people prefer their Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and eat leftovers the next day. In Britain, much of the way we do it comes from the Victorians. Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a good snapshot: Scrooge gave the Cratchits a turkey instead of goose, that sort of thing.
Wait, so which is traditional: goose or turkey?
Turkey is relatively new. It was introduced in the early 16th century but only the very wealthy could afford it. They preferred it to what they did before: eating peaco*cks. Ordinary people would have had a native bird like pheasant or goose, until the 1950s, when refrigerators became popular.
I’d be livid if my goose was swapped for turkey. Goose and potatoes, roasted together – you cannot name a more iconic duo!
Of course, the Christmas meal itself is based on a midwinter feast from pagan times. The Christians adapted it into Christianity, so the ring of holly for pagans was to ward off evil spirits but then became a symbol of Jesus Christ’s crown of thorns.
So dinner is the culmination of many traditions.
Exactly. Feasting is thousands of years old, but the details change based on whatever newfangled invention is in circulation. Brussels sprouts came with the Hanoverian kings because they a) grow in winter and b) have more vitamin C than an orange. And Prince Albert loved them. It’s usually the wealthy who start traditions.
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I wonder how our current ultra-wealthy will change Christmas dinners.
Well, things are pretty settled now, but there have been little additions – Christmas crackers etc. The wealthy just do it to more excess, don’t they?
Ooh, I know what they’ll add – some sort of biohacking pill that stops you feeling hungover.
A hangover pill sounds brilliant.
Let’s talk about regional traditions. Yorkshire pudding: traditional or not?
Traditional. Yorkshires go back ages, from when people would catch spit-roasting beef dripping on a tray of pancake batter. Then there’s regional cheeses and local delicacies. Scottish dinners might feature haggis. I suppose Welsh dinners might feature leeks.
Before I go, what were you saying about Christmas crackers? How new are they?!
They were invented by Tom Smith in 1847 and included paper crowns, but you’d just twist them open. One day Smith was sitting by a crackling fire and it gave him the idea to add a bang. The jokes were only added when his sons took over. What’s that old cracker joke: “What is the favourite Christmas wine? I don’t like brussels sprouts!”
Awful. A truly terrible joke.
But it wouldn’t be Christmas without them.
