Turkey, tinsel and time travel.
A foodie's guide to Christmas Past.
… a delicious Christmas retrospective of how celebration food became tradition.
A foodie's guide to Christmas Past.
… a delicious Christmas retrospective of how celebration food became tradition.
Euphoria Snax
I ADORE Christmas time.
Actually, I like any time of celebration (as spoken by a true glutton), but when my dear editors at GDM told me about this issue’s theme, I couldn’t wait to dive into the holiday time machine to investigate celebration feasts through the ages.
On 25 December, countless families across the world gather to enjoy a festive Christmas dinner. Whether it’s crispy roast potatoes, golden Yorkshire puddings, or rich, savoury gravy, everyone has their must-have dish. But what would this meal have looked like 100 years ago? Or 500 years? Or even 4,500 years in the past? Wonder no more—I’ve delved into the evolution of seasonal feasting, from prehistoric midwinter gatherings to opulent Tudor banquets worthy of Henry VIII.
Christmas cuisine traces its roots back to ancient midwinter celebrations predating Christianity, gradually shaped by Roman and Medieval customs that paired fasting with indulgent feasts. In the Middle Ages, affluent households dined on lavish meats such as peacock, while the Victorian period popularized turkey and goose, making them more accessible and setting the stage for the contemporary holiday meal. Today’s festive food traditions often reflect this rich heritage, though modern trends and regional variations—like Japan’s fondness for KFC—have added distinctive twists to the celebration.
Actually, I like any time of celebration (as spoken by a true glutton), but when my dear editors at GDM told me about this issue’s theme, I couldn’t wait to dive into the holiday time machine to investigate celebration feasts through the ages.
On 25 December, countless families across the world gather to enjoy a festive Christmas dinner. Whether it’s crispy roast potatoes, golden Yorkshire puddings, or rich, savoury gravy, everyone has their must-have dish. But what would this meal have looked like 100 years ago? Or 500 years? Or even 4,500 years in the past? Wonder no more—I’ve delved into the evolution of seasonal feasting, from prehistoric midwinter gatherings to opulent Tudor banquets worthy of Henry VIII.
Christmas cuisine traces its roots back to ancient midwinter celebrations predating Christianity, gradually shaped by Roman and Medieval customs that paired fasting with indulgent feasts. In the Middle Ages, affluent households dined on lavish meats such as peacock, while the Victorian period popularized turkey and goose, making them more accessible and setting the stage for the contemporary holiday meal. Today’s festive food traditions often reflect this rich heritage, though modern trends and regional variations—like Japan’s fondness for KFC—have added distinctive twists to the celebration.
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The timeline is something like this:
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Ever wondered where gingerbread men came from?
Gingerbread has been popular in Europe since the crusaders returned from the Middle East in the 11th century with the essential ingredients – spices, sugars, almonds and citrus fruits. It has since evolved in different ways. In some countries it’s a moist and spicy sweet cake, while others enjoy it as moulded biscuits. Gingerbread men were first made by Catholic monks for saints’ days and festivals. Large and elaborately carved “cookie boards” impressed a pattern into the dough, creating biscuits which depicted celebrated saints and religious motifs.
Gingerbread became more popular as the price of its ingredients dropped. English country fairs sold medieval-style moulded gingerbread, made by boiling honey, wine, breadcrumbs and spice, which was then moulded into shapes and decorated. Today, it’s popular for making edible tree ornaments or that children’s favourite, a gingerbread house.
Remember coins in plum pudding?
While some of us worry that having too much pudding at Christmas would make us look like one, we might not be so tempted if it had kept its original form. Christmas pudding started out in early 15th-century England as plum porridge, made from chopped beef or mutton, onions, vegetables, dried fruit, breadcrumbs, wine, herbs and spices. During the 16th century the meat and vegetables started to disappear and it became a pudding. This rich dish was served on feast days such as All Saint’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day, and has been a Christmas staple since the 1670s. The recipe we know today has been the same since the 19th century.
In the Yule festival the pudding was set alight to symbolise the rebirth of the sun and topped with a sprig of holly to represent everlasting life through the winter. Inserting a silver coin for wealth or a thimble for luck into the pudding can be traced back to the cake enjoyed at the Twelfth Night celebrations held at the end of the 12 days of Christmas (January 6), which is also the feast of the Epiphany when the three kings visited baby Jesus. A dried bean was placed in the cake and the person who got it was deemed either king for the night and leader of the festivities or a guardian angel for the family for the year to come.
Instead of modern coins, people these days now use either food-safe, sterilized silver coins (like old sixpences), specially made Christmas pudding charm sets, or other tokens like a silver thimble or ring.
Gingerbread has been popular in Europe since the crusaders returned from the Middle East in the 11th century with the essential ingredients – spices, sugars, almonds and citrus fruits. It has since evolved in different ways. In some countries it’s a moist and spicy sweet cake, while others enjoy it as moulded biscuits. Gingerbread men were first made by Catholic monks for saints’ days and festivals. Large and elaborately carved “cookie boards” impressed a pattern into the dough, creating biscuits which depicted celebrated saints and religious motifs.
Gingerbread became more popular as the price of its ingredients dropped. English country fairs sold medieval-style moulded gingerbread, made by boiling honey, wine, breadcrumbs and spice, which was then moulded into shapes and decorated. Today, it’s popular for making edible tree ornaments or that children’s favourite, a gingerbread house.
Remember coins in plum pudding?
While some of us worry that having too much pudding at Christmas would make us look like one, we might not be so tempted if it had kept its original form. Christmas pudding started out in early 15th-century England as plum porridge, made from chopped beef or mutton, onions, vegetables, dried fruit, breadcrumbs, wine, herbs and spices. During the 16th century the meat and vegetables started to disappear and it became a pudding. This rich dish was served on feast days such as All Saint’s Day, Christmas and New Year’s Day, and has been a Christmas staple since the 1670s. The recipe we know today has been the same since the 19th century.
In the Yule festival the pudding was set alight to symbolise the rebirth of the sun and topped with a sprig of holly to represent everlasting life through the winter. Inserting a silver coin for wealth or a thimble for luck into the pudding can be traced back to the cake enjoyed at the Twelfth Night celebrations held at the end of the 12 days of Christmas (January 6), which is also the feast of the Epiphany when the three kings visited baby Jesus. A dried bean was placed in the cake and the person who got it was deemed either king for the night and leader of the festivities or a guardian angel for the family for the year to come.
Instead of modern coins, people these days now use either food-safe, sterilized silver coins (like old sixpences), specially made Christmas pudding charm sets, or other tokens like a silver thimble or ring.
Modern shortbread is definitely a Scottish specialty.
However, this buttery biscuit could be a legacy of Scotland’s close associations with Scandinavia, where oatmeal bannocks (a griddle-baked flatbread) were made for pagan Yule celebrations to honour the sun. These “sun cakes” had a hole in the centre and symmetrical lines running to the edge to represent the sun’s rays. Today, the lines are still moulded but are seen more as a convenient place to break the biscuit!
Take the cake.
Whether baked at home or bought from a favourite bakery, rich fruitcake remains a seasonal staple. Like Christmas pudding, it began life as plum porridge, a simple mix of oats and dried fruit. By the 16th century, cooks began adding butter, swapping oatmeal for flour, and binding it all with eggs—transforming it into the luxurious plum cake traditionally enjoyed on Twelfth Night.
Since the Middle Ages, Twelfth Night had been marked by masquerades, feasts, and riotous celebrations. But in 1870, Queen Victoria—ever the moral guardian—banned the festival as unchristian, prompting confectioners to shift their creations to Christmas instead.
In England, Stir-up Sunday—the final Sunday before Advent—is still seen as the last day to prepare fruitcakes and puddings so they have time to mature. Tradition dictates that every family member takes a turn stirring the batter clockwise, eyes closed, while making a secret wish for the year ahead.
Out of the woods.
The French Christmas cake bûche de Noël, or Christmas log, traces its origins to ancient Yule celebrations. During these winter festivals, families would burn a massive log in their hearth for the twelve days of Christmas, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun. Letting the fire die out before the final day was thought to bring misfortune. Today, this tradition lives on in a much sweeter form: a decadent chocolate sponge rolled with creamy filling and cloaked in rich, dark frosting. Far more delicious—and far less labour-intensive!
However, this buttery biscuit could be a legacy of Scotland’s close associations with Scandinavia, where oatmeal bannocks (a griddle-baked flatbread) were made for pagan Yule celebrations to honour the sun. These “sun cakes” had a hole in the centre and symmetrical lines running to the edge to represent the sun’s rays. Today, the lines are still moulded but are seen more as a convenient place to break the biscuit!
Take the cake.
Whether baked at home or bought from a favourite bakery, rich fruitcake remains a seasonal staple. Like Christmas pudding, it began life as plum porridge, a simple mix of oats and dried fruit. By the 16th century, cooks began adding butter, swapping oatmeal for flour, and binding it all with eggs—transforming it into the luxurious plum cake traditionally enjoyed on Twelfth Night.
Since the Middle Ages, Twelfth Night had been marked by masquerades, feasts, and riotous celebrations. But in 1870, Queen Victoria—ever the moral guardian—banned the festival as unchristian, prompting confectioners to shift their creations to Christmas instead.
In England, Stir-up Sunday—the final Sunday before Advent—is still seen as the last day to prepare fruitcakes and puddings so they have time to mature. Tradition dictates that every family member takes a turn stirring the batter clockwise, eyes closed, while making a secret wish for the year ahead.
Out of the woods.
The French Christmas cake bûche de Noël, or Christmas log, traces its origins to ancient Yule celebrations. During these winter festivals, families would burn a massive log in their hearth for the twelve days of Christmas, symbolizing the rebirth of the sun. Letting the fire die out before the final day was thought to bring misfortune. Today, this tradition lives on in a much sweeter form: a decadent chocolate sponge rolled with creamy filling and cloaked in rich, dark frosting. Far more delicious—and far less labour-intensive!
Red, White, and Delicious…
The end of the school year usually brings with it a mad rush to hand out Christmas cards and candy canes. These sweet stripy sticks were originally white and straight, but in 1670, or so the story goes, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany bent them into canes to represent a shepherd’s staff and gave them to his singers to keep them quiet. The red-and-white stripes and peppermint flavouring were added in the 19th century.
As usual, there’s not enough space in this publication to share my entire History of Holiday Gluttony, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite just enough to encourage your own exploration of Christmas on a plate!
To get you started, we’ve published some very special recipes to try for yourself. You can find them HERE.
The end of the school year usually brings with it a mad rush to hand out Christmas cards and candy canes. These sweet stripy sticks were originally white and straight, but in 1670, or so the story goes, the choirmaster at Cologne Cathedral in Germany bent them into canes to represent a shepherd’s staff and gave them to his singers to keep them quiet. The red-and-white stripes and peppermint flavouring were added in the 19th century.
As usual, there’s not enough space in this publication to share my entire History of Holiday Gluttony, but I hope I’ve whetted your appetite just enough to encourage your own exploration of Christmas on a plate!
To get you started, we’ve published some very special recipes to try for yourself. You can find them HERE.
