ULTIMATE BRITISH CHRISTMAS DINNER | Foreigner in the UK
After six years in England, I had some strong opinions about Christmas dinner. Yorkshire puddings belonged on my plate. Roast potatoes needed a crisp outside and a soft middle. Cauliflower could stay elsewhere, even if someone covered it in cheese.
For my December 2021 video, I looked through an AskUK discussion about improving the traditional Christmas dinner. People suggested new dishes, swapped turkey for chicken and, in one case, proposed removing certain family members. That last answer got ten out of ten from me. But the food suggestions made me think about what I would actually want to eat.
Keep the turkey, add the Yorkshire puddings
Quite a few comments wanted to get rid of turkey. I understood the complaint because I have eaten bad turkey that tasted like wet napkins. Still, I was prepared to defend a good one. My ideal dinner would have a nice turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy. Cold turkey with leftover stuffing and cranberry sauce also sounded very good to me.
Yorkshire puddings were a much easier decision. I love them, and I had already had a go at making them in another video. For this imaginary Christmas plate, I wanted them nicely browned and not so big that they became mushy. I would happily include them every time. More Yorkshire puddings was an improvement I could get behind.
The potatoes mattered just as much. My family Christmas dinners in Ontario usually had mashed potatoes, so roast potatoes were a different part of the meal I loved here. I wanted that contrast between the crunchy outside and the soft inside. A commenter suggested a potato bake with creamy sauce and cheese on top. I had never had that at Christmas in Canada or the UK, but potato and cheese sounded wonderful.
The British additions I wanted more of
Pigs in blankets were another favourite. The British dish means small sausages wrapped in bacon, as in Miriam Nice’s recipe. We never had them at my family Christmas dinners in Canada. When a commenter proposed tripling the usual amount, I agreed.
Then someone suggested cheese wrapped in bacon instead. I had not tried that, but it sounded incredible. My proposed plate now had room for both: some pigs in blankets and some bacon-wrapped cheese. This was a wish list, though. I was imagining the combination, not reporting back on a batch I had cooked.
Vegetables would get a smaller share. I liked roast carrots with olive oil, and I liked Brussels sprouts roasted with olive oil, salt and chilli flakes. Brussels sprouts were another thing we never had at our family Christmas dinners. I would take a little portion here, but I was much more interested in making room for the potatoes. Parsnips were not a favourite of mine.
Some things could stay familiar
One commenter made pork and apricot stuffing from scratch. That sounded good, but my own Christmas craving was for boxed stuffing. I had never made homemade stuffing myself, and I would happily eat it if someone else made it. The particular taste I wanted at Christmas was the boxed version I knew from my family in Ontario.
Bread sauce was less convincing. I had tried making it in a previous video, and my version was not bad. I could still do without it. Dessert was another place where I would depart from the British options being discussed: I do not like dried fruit or mincemeat. Our family meal usually ended with apple or rhubarb pie and ice cream, although I was generally more interested in the meat and potatoes.
Someone suggested chocolate fondue instead of Christmas pudding, with melted Toblerone and things to dip into it. That was a dessert suggestion I supported. Between that, the bacon-wrapped cheese and all those roast potatoes, reading the discussion had made me very hungry. I still was not ready for Christmas. I was ready to eat.
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