These Are the Traditional Christmas Foods in England and Throughout the UK

Turkey and All the Trimmings

Years ago, almost everyone ate Christmas dinner in the U.K. at the same time to be finished and settled down in time for the Royal Christmas Message, live on television at 3 p.m.

Nowadays, the monarch's speech is recorded; there are more television channels, and most run the speech a few times during the day. Though that national tradition is a thing of the past, the elements of a traditional Christmas meal are still pretty much the same.

Smoked salmon, served with buttered brown bread and a slice of lemon wrapped around some prawns, is a typical festive starter.

Turkey long ago replaced goose as the most popular main course. But it is what the turkey comes to the table with that makes it especially British. The accompaniments include:

• Chipolatas, which are small sausages wrapped in bacon.
• Roasted root vegetables, especially roasted parsnips, which are sweet and moist.
• All kinds of potatoes. It seems that a scoop of the buttery mash is never enough at Christmas time. The British table almost always includes piles of crispy, golden roasted potatoes—called roasties—best made in goose fat.
• Brussels sprouts, often with chestnuts or bacon or both. Even people who never in a million years would eat a Brussels sprout will manage a few for Christmas.
• Bread sauce, a mixture of bread crumbs, milk, cream, onions, and seasonings, has to be something you grew up with because it's hardly ever a taste that's acquired.

Christmas Pudding, the Flaming Finish

The traditional Christmas pudding in the U.K. is a bit like a cannonball made of dried fruit, nuts, flour, eggs, shredded suet (a solid beef fat), or a vegetarian version of suet, spices, and loads and loads of alcohol. It comes to the table sprigged with holly or winter cherries and flaming with brandy.

Rich and heavy, a little Christmas pudding goes a long way. There is nothing quite like it as a base for its variety of accompaniments: brandy butter, hard sauce, poured custard, white cornstarch sauce, and, more recently, whipped cream or ice cream.

A good Christmas pudding is started months before Christmas, steamed for several hours, then tightly wrapped and left to age. Whisky or brandy is used to plump up the dried fruit, and are "fed" to the cooked pudding from time to time. On the day, the pudding is once again steamed for a few hours. Then hot brandy is poured over it and set alight.

Traditionally, a three-penny (thruppence) or six-penny (sixpence) coin, both long out of circulation, is baked in the pudding. Finding it is considered good luck. In some families, silver or porcelain charms are kept for this purpose.

People rarely eat more than a few spoons of Christmas pudding,g, so the dinner usually includes several other desserts and savories. Pies and chocolate desserts may be brought to the table. Cheese and port or brandy are offered to finish.

Christmas Cake, the Teatime Essential

Christmas cake in the UK is started months before the holiday. The rich fruit and nut cake is "fed" with brandy or whisky - a few spoonfuls at a time, every few days for weeks.

Before Christmas, the cake is enrobed in a rolled layer of marzipan and topped by a thick layer of rolled white icing. Then the whole thing is neatly wrapped in a red ribbon and topped with a holiday picture.

In effect, by wrapping the Christmas cake like a present it is sealed airtight in all that marzipan and icing. That, plus the amount of alcohol it has absorbed, should make it last a very long time. And, kept in a biscuit tin or a plastic food box with a sealable lid, Christmas cakes have been known to be edible for months, even years.

The Christmas cake is not usually part of Christmas dinner but is kept to be offered at tea time and for snacks during the holidays.