A Christmas feast

serves up festive classic favourites that graced dining tables during three eras of British history

- ELEANOR BARNETT

In the midst of the Christmas festivities of 1577, the parson of the Cheshire village of Winwick preached against “gluttons and dronkerdes” who “thincke they maye eate and drinke as much as they will” during the season of goodwill. This “oftentimes” meant consuming “so much as they cannot disgest”, cramming “themselves like swine… till they bee out of theyr wittes like beastes”. Sound familiar?

Since at least the ninth century, Christmas has been associated with feasting and mirth in the Christian tradition. In fact, in the medieval period, Christmas was just the start of 12 full days of riotous consumption and celebration that ended on Twelfth Night (5 January) with another massive blowout.

Today, turkey takes centre stage on the Christmas Day menu. Native to the Americas, turkey arrived in Britain only in the 1520s and, though it featured in feasts of some of Britain’s wealthiest people, alongside swan and peacock, it wasn’t until the early 20th century that turkey came to be associated with the holiday. Instead, beef or goose were the roast meats of choice; earlier medieval Christmases often featured brawn – preserved salted boar’s meat or pork.