Where to go for the GREAT British Christmas foods?

Sorry to be negative about this, but:

I've NEVER had a decent trifle, Xmas pud or mince pie in a hotel or restaurant. All of these (and bread sauce) are infinitely better home made.

If I were a tourist planning to be in Britain before Christmas, I'd:

- get the Delia Smith Christmas book from Amazon now
- Organise myself to make the Christmas pud on Stir Up Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent, November 24 this year) or if travel plans got in the way, beforehand
- Buy the ingredients for mince pies while in Britain, then make them back home from Delia's recipes
- Avoid any Christmas menu in a British hotel or restaurant at all costs while here.

I think you are being a bit negative here flanneruk. I agree however you do need to search.

Robertlee- can you give us some clue as to your budget? On the whole Christmas menus suffer from a bit of a mark-up in price, but there are good ones around.

PS: Not sure about trifle as a Christmas dish – what have been missing all these years. The number of mince pies I have had to force down me. I would have far preferred trifle

In fact you can even make your own mincemeat for mince pies from Delia's recipe in her Christmas book. I managed to get my butcher here in France to provide suet -for 'le pudding' as he said, and made lots - it was great.

ugh, why would anyone eat such stuff? Suet pudding, is this serious? That sounds like something only a bird should eat. Why would any person eat that, which is fat?

Just a friendly warning: My first few trips to London I brought back Christmas puds from Harrods and Fortnum & Mason. Every single person I gifted with these treats told me they didn't care for it (family and good friends--I wasn't insulted--I'm not giving appropriate context here for space reasons). I enjoyed a small portion of warm CP with vanilla sauce, but it is very strong if you're not used to it.

Just don't want you to be disappointed. Now the sticky toffee pudding--THAT's good stuff

Where will you be over Christmas? Are you looking for something for Christmas day itself? Mass transit will be minimal so you'll be sticking to your immediate area.
Last Christmas we went out to the Marlow Donkey gastropub for our Christmas day lunch (we took a taxi there and back from Maidenhead). Very nice, but we didn't try any of the desserts mentioned above...I had the chocolate sampler and my husband had a blackcurrant cheesecake.

If you can’t get fat at Christmas, when can you

Seriously Christmas Pudding - figgy pudding if you know your old nursery rhymes - has not only suet and mincemeat, but even fruit so you can pretend its healthy.

See here for a recipe http://www.britainexpress.com/articles/Food/christmas-pudding.htm

"Why would any person eat that, which is fat?"

Because it tastes terrific. Unlike muck stuffed with corn syrup that's sold to the gullible as "low fat".

We had a great Christmas lunch at Brown's Hotel. Also, most country-house hotels do excellent feasts.

Thank you all for your postings.We will be in London from Nov.24-Dec.4. Budget? Perhaps we could indulge ourselves! Sounds like "Christmas foods" are not really that special. With that in mind, any good restaurants besides Rules? Something in that price category.

I doubt you'll even see Christmas puddings, et al in restaurants that far in advance of Christmas. But the shops will certainly be selling puddings and mince meat. We are ususally in London in November and I always bring home a few jars of the prepared mince meat. I can't remember the name of the brand I buy, I do recognize the black and white label. Partridge's on King's Rd will have a nice selection of either. They do have prepared mince pies but they taste yucky to me. I prefer to make my own at home along with my Christmas puddings.

I've never thought of trifle as a Christmas dish, my husband always requests a nice sherry trifle in place of a birthday cake!

Suet isn't an essential part of either CP or mincemeat. I make both without suet, partly because it is nearly unobtainable here. In fact I make a low fat CP which goes down better than my old recipe - maybe because I haven't told them it's healthy
You can also get vegetarian suet is you prefer.

I use vegetarian suet now which I get in local British food stores. I never make my own mincemeat, although my sister does, because I just don't use that much. Bought mince pies are as good as homemade.

As jody said, the end of November is a little early to find Christmas foods. Restaurants may be just starting their Christmas menus.

Oops! Should be "Bought mince pies are NOT as good as homemade"!

My Christmas pudding recipe calls for Guinness, but as my husband has developed an allergy for beer (and similar), last year I dug up a different recipe which was almost as good (no suet for us either). I still have a tiny bit of it in the fridge, well sprinkled with brandy from time to time. I look forward to making this year's batch.

I always thought the best part of Christmas pudding was the rum butter. The cake, now, that was another matter.

Sorry, but I have to agree with flanner. The only restaurants which do traditional Christmas menus are hotel restaurants doing mass-catering, to a not very good standard - aimed at office parties, groups of OAPs, etc. Good restaurants won't do anything like that, except maybe a mince pie with your coffee if you're lucky.

If you are going to be in the UK for Christmas Day & you're not self-catering, your best bet would be to eat lunch at the top local hotel (e.g. the Balmoral in Edinburgh) - it will be a bit better, though still not as good as you could make at home, and they'll charge you an absolute fortune. And children will probably be present.

The problem that you face is that those places who will have Christmas menus aren't really catering for fine dining. They are catering for office parties - ie tipsy secretaries in paper hats, and pervy bosses.

We eat Christmas dinner at home - it's a family time of the year. So instead of tipsy secretaries we have tipsy Aunts, in paper hats and pevy uncles.

This year I will be available for the roles of pervy boss and tispy uncle.

If you have to go out on Christmas day you need to go to a Pub. I recommend The White Swan, Ampleforth,

Hang on, everyone.

Robert A Lee (any relation?) leaves these shores December 4. And says he wants "any good restaurants besides Rules? Something in that price category.
"

Now most of us wouldn't include Rules in any list of places we'd be seen in. And although that's a good time of the year for game, what's the point of going to a restaurant when they practically give it away at most butchers and when Mrs F's a great deal more reliable than any chef at cooking the odd bit of partridge, or one of those pheasants who throw themselves at our car? Or if we're really lucky, one of Mr Marlborough's self-destructive muntjacs?

However, it's clear that some people are less interested in who's just got his third Michelin star than in finding restaurants auditioning for a place in the next Merchant Ivory production.

So where, if he thinks he's going to like that sort of thing, will Robert A Lee find the sort of thing he thinks he'll like?

"what's the point of going to a restaurant when... Mrs F's a great deal more reliable than any chef at cooking the odd bit of partridge, or one of those pheasants who throw themselves at our car" Sounds like an invitation, flanner ?!

If The Boss invites people here who threaten to shoot humans for walking dogs in Central London, I'll have a thing or two to bark about it.

Flannerpooch:

you can come to MY house any time you want and nobody is going to shoot you, that's for certain. The worst that will happen is you'll get spoiled rotten.

Audere_est_Facere: I'll have a meal with you, anytime. What fun <G>!!

Apparently the Savoy do a nice Christmas Dinner - and you get all the bumfluffery as well.

Needless to say i've never been, as my family are still just about on talking terms with me.

The pub local to my office is now advertising its Christmas menu and taking booking - but that's for pissed people in paper hats.

That does it then..Flanners place it is..all invited !!!

If you can't get to Flanners, then I suggest M&S who sell every delicious chrissie food known to man.(and woman of course)

M

>We will be in London from Nov.24-Dec.4.<

Ummm, I'm not a Christian, so I'm not really sure, but isn't Xmas around Dec 25?

In English shops Christmas starts in September.

If you want to do something uniquely British and Christamassy on your trip - go and see a Panto - most of the London ones have been announced.

Behind You!

You are too early for any decent hotel/restaurant Christmas dinners and the ones available will be catering to office booze-ups and the food is nearly always rubbish. You might find the odd place serving mince pies but Christmas pud is really reserved for Christmas day itself. Trifles aren't really a special Christmas thing so you might find them around anyway, but they aren't exactly trendy these days, so you might not.

Best thing would be to stock up on some stuff to take home. Buy a small Christmas pudding (it is very rich and I think rather an acquired taste; unless you've grown up eating it you are not likely to enjoy it much). Most these days microwave very well so you don't have to faff about with steaming etc. Buy a jar of mincemeat (it doesn't actually contain meat these days, it's just dried fruit etc) and bung a dollop on a small circle of pastry in a shallow muffin type tin when you get home, or buy a pack of ready made ones. They are ok, not as nice as really good home-made but nicer than most of the home-made ones I get thrust under my nose. I'm not a huge fan though, one just for the sake of Christmas is plenty for me, and a lot of people don't like them, so again, think small amount.



Buy some Christmas goodies to take home with you.

What else do I associate with Christmas food nibbles?

A big pack of nuts in their shells and struggling through the walnuts with my wimpy nut-crackers (nice though).

Everyone seems to buy a pack of dates but I never see anyone eating them.

lol Nona, your right, and every xmas my parents would make this small table appear from nowhere, we never did find out where it came from. On the table would be every conceivable type of nut and date. No one ever ate them lol but every year they returned.

The mysteries of Christmas !!

M

The dates my parents used to buy were callled "Eat Me" dates. Never has a food product been less aptly named.

>>If you want to do something uniquely British and Christamassy on your trip - go and see a Panto - most of the London ones have been announced.<<

Audere, you should post a link to your brilliant pantomime post from Travelers to Go - or copy and paste it here.

Lee Ann

I have a recipe I found in my grandmother recipe box for making mincemeat. It calls for suet and venison. I'm sure mincemeat originated as a way of preserving scraps of meat. I love mimcemeat pie and make it every Christmas or Thanksgiving..eithe one or the other, but I make it every year. I have not tried to make the mincemeat myself.

Crefloors, Christmas mincemeat pies are not made from meat!!! And definitely not venison, although they do have suet in them if they are not vegetatian. They are made from fruit mincemeat.

I always thought that sherry trifle at Christmas was a very British thing, am I wrong? My family and my husband's (British grandparents) would never think of having Christmas dinner without trifle (swimming in sherry).

Mischka - in my (Scottish)family we have always had sherry trifle and Christmas pudding. I think for me the point is to have lots of both left over to enjoy the next day and the day after that. (When I typed this I typed "padding" instead of "pudding" - just about sums it up really!)

My mother always made a trifle for boxing day, so it's definitely something I associate with the Christmas season.

We used to get those 'Eat me' dates too. I always thought they looked like cockroaches lined up in that little box!

We ALWAYS had trifle on Christmas Day.

But, otherwise, I have nothing to add to the above postings, Robert.

Mischka, although modern day mincemeat doesn't contain meat, it did in "ye olden days".

I've never had trifle at Christmas - it's far too light and healthy.

I've had:

Christmas Pudding (yum)

Mince Pies (double yum)

Brandy Snaps (meh)

Christmas Cake (yum)

All of the above would be eaten with cream, custard or brandy butter while wearing a paper hat.

And of course a tangerine in my stocking. Which would be accompanied by my parents/grandparents telling me that you couldn't get tangerines/bananas during the war.

Great, so our family is normal about the trifle obsession

I really didn't know that Christmas mince pies used to contain meat, I learn something new everyday.

audere, there is NOTHING healthy about our trifle, I promise. The half bottle of sherry has nuked any trace goodness

Trifle's got fruit in it and no suet. That practically makes it a health food at Christmas.

What do yanks eat at Christmas? I know they have turkey for Thanksgiving. Surely they don't eat another one a month later?

Actually a great number of people do eat another turkey a month later.

For Thanksgiving, another "tradition' for many is pumpkin pie; some serve sweet potato pie. There's also macaroni and cheese, the ubiquitous cranberry sauce, and how could I possibly forget green bean casserole, the dish everyone says they hate but it is inevitably the first thing completely eaten up, particularly at holiday office parties.

Some prefer baked ham at Christmas and others will serve roast goose.

We're normally still eating the turkey a month later anyway.

This American has Turkey for Thanksgiving, roast beef for Christmas and roast pork with sauerkraut for New Year's day

Audere, all depends on the American family. Could be turkey, could be ham, could be prime rib, could be Italian. At my brother's in-laws, it's all pasta, all the time. My husband's aunt always has chili Christmas Eve, it's their tradition.

Whatever the family tradition, you do NOT want to mess with it. My mother once made quiche on Christmas Eve. That did not go over well.

Well we're practically having Christmas tonight. I got a gammon, and took last years Christmas pudding out the freezer and invited some friends over. Maybe if I scratch around in the cupboard I'll come across some paper hats too.....

I have to keep busy because I'm getting so excited about our upcoming trip 15th Sept. Can't wait

And then for some of us there is Hoppin' John on New Years Day.

Weirdos.

You wanted to know, so we told you.

Christmas meals in the UK for me have consisted of cadburys selection boxes and Boddingtons for breakfast. Throughout the day more goodies such as mince pies and the chocolates with the liqours filled with them.
For dinner a roast or turkey of some sort with all the good stuff the MIL makes. Yorkshire puddings, stuffing, brussel sprouts(gross) ...

Its usually great fun at the in-laws house! Beer and chocolate for us 'kids' during the day.

My "Mrs Beeton's Household Management", 1888 ed, has 3 mincemeat recipes.

Lemon mincemeat (1348) has lemons, apples, suet, currant, sugar, candied lemon peel.

Mincemeat (1365) has raisins, currants, beef, suet, sugar, citron, candied lemon peel and orange peel, 1 pottle of apples, lemon rinds and juice, brandy.

Excellent Mincemeat (1366) has the above, without meat and the addition of orange marmalade.

It is suggested that all mincemeats should be made early in December.

How can there be a thread on Christmas food without Quality Street being mentioned?

Also, why are there only about 2 purple ones, but 400-500 minging plain toffes per tin?

Did you try those mega purple ones they launched a year or two ago?

I almost ran home with one, after seeing them covering the checkout. Like eating pure sugar, only nastier.

I spat the second half out, more disappointed than when I saw what my first girlfriend looked like once she'd become a grandmother.

Has anyone mentioned satsumas? Peeling satsumas in front of a roaring fire on Christmas Day. Lovely!

Boxing Day: Roast ham and left over cold turkey with pickle (proper 'Branston' pickle), picallilli, and salad.

Mums home made trifle

'Did you try those mega purple ones they launched a year or two ago?'

Yes - they looked like purple foiled cornish pasties! Too big for me I'm afraid. Thank god they never made the vile red cracknels in that side.

What about brazil nuts that you can't get into,not even with a sledgehammer, pickled onions and yule log. Not all in one meal, obviously.

This has nothing to do with Christmas foods, but while you're there, you might check to see if the BBC has it's Christmas Crackers concert, or any other concert that might be on at that time. We were there in early December several years ago and found that the concert really put us in the holiday spirit.

'Did you try those mega purple ones they launched a year or two ago?'

Yes - they looked like purple foiled cornish pasties! Too big for me I'm afraid. Thank god they never made the vile red cracknels in that size.

What about brazil nuts that you can't get into, not even with a sledgehammer, pickled onions and yule log. Not all in one meal, obviously.

"Why would any person eat that, which is fat?"

Umm. Maybe for the same reason a person would spread butter (fat) on their bread, or eat FATTED duck liver called foie gras. Or anything cooked in bacon grease, or "larded". In fact most cuisines have a lot of food in which fat is a major ingredient.

"What do yanks eat at Christmas"

I guess it depends on which part of the US you're from. Down here in SE Texas, it's not unusual for us to barbeque a brisket, or a fried turkey is also very popular. Also a turducken, which is a chicken inside of a duck, inside of a turkey, and then roasted. (all bones have been removed). Pumpkin, sweet potato pie, and ambrosia for dessert.

>"Why would any person eat that, which is fat?"<

Because that is where the flavor is.

>"What do yanks eat at Christmas"
As noted, depends on where you live.

In the South, we have country ham, turkey, collard greens, mashed sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, biscuits, pimento cheese sandwiches, lots of cakes and pies, sweet tea.

Why would any person eat that, which is fat?"

Also - our bodies do actually need to consume fat, something we tend to forget in these days of general over-consumption versus dieting food weirdness. It's an essential for health.

A balanced diet gets around 30% of its calories from fat (which is not the same thing as saying 30% of everything you eat should be fat).

Yule logs - my favourite! I always used to make one every year as a kid, admittedly starting with a shop bought swiss roll.

Also - roasted chestnuts!

I have successfully blotted out all memory of the horrors my sweet mother served us at Christmas in my youth. I remember only the candied carrots. Otherwise, I'm afraid it was another gigantic bird.

The most important Christmas food tradition in the states is expressing contempt for fruitcake, which is a shame, because I'm one of the few and the steadfast who actually LIKE fruitcake. Not nine-year-old fruitcake that still bears the fingerprints of dear departed Aunt Marge, but a nice compact, boozy fruitcake beats any kind of fluffy cake all hollow.

But your talk of trifles and puds and mincemeat makes me very sad and lonesome. For us, Christmas has always meant tragic meals with the vegetarian nieces, who inspect every spoonful of mashed potato to ensure that it is absolutely pepper- or salt-free before daring to consume it. Tales of the face-flushing heat of the excitement of the formation of the lamb glaze are met with blank stares or worse.

Memo to self - avoid America at Christmas - no suet puds.

PrimeRib for Christmas with roasted potatoes. Dear mother always served Yorkshire Pudding and Plum Pudding for dessert. I served Yorkshire Pudding until the past few years (getting lazy evidently) but Plum Pudding ended when mother stopped cooking for all of us ungrateful people. Veggies are always honey glazed carrots. No brusselsprouts, my silly family won't eat them. But we always have a great green salad with lots of avacados..living in California we live on avacados.

Oh yes - Christmas Cake, home made of course, with lashings of marzipan and icing, and topped with a plastic Santa, Robin and Snowman

Christmas afternoon we would all pile into our Nan and Grandad's house with aunties, uncles and cousins. The food my nan prepared used to be dried up ham sandwiches if you were lucky!! The adults were too busy downing Snowballs (advocaat)and beer to care

The good old days of Christmas *sigh*

Back to that "consuming fat" argument, I very recently saw a report about the "dangers" of the amazing numbers of mothers who only buy skim or 1% milk and that's what many kids are getting from about age 1. VERY BAD. Yea, fat is good.

The best Christmas dinner we ever had was in 1999, when we had wonderful neighbors from France for the year: parents, two boys, one girl, joined for the holidays by papa's parents. We were invited for dinner out on the deck (the weather was nearly 70 in the Sacramento Valley that day) and treated to foie gras and Sauternes, brought by the grandpère. Yum! Then came beef fondue, accompanied by 7 different sauces, followed by grandmère's bûche de Noël, which tasted nothing like the commercial versions. We began with Champagne and had a good red Burgundy (our contribution) with the fondue. What a great meal!