United Kingdom
Christmas dinner in the United Kingdom is usually eaten in the afternoon on 25 December.
The dinner usually consists of roast turkey (although other poultry such as goose, chicken, duck, capon or pheasant are alternatives), sometimes with roast beef or ham or, to a lesser extent, pork. Served with stuffing, gravy and sometimes forcemeat; pigs in blankets; cranberry sauce or redcurrant jelly; bread sauce; roast potatoes (sometimes also boiled or mashed); vegetables (usually boiled or steamed), particularly brussels sprouts, parsnips and carrots; with dessert of Christmas pudding (or plum pudding), sometimes mince pies or trifle, with brandy butter and/or cream.
In England, the evolution of the main course into turkey did not take place for years, or even centuries. At first, in medieval England, the main course was either a peacock or a boar, the boar usually the mainstay. The turkey appeared on Christmas tables in England in the 16th century, and popular history tells of King Henry VIII being first English monarch to have turkey for Christmas. The tradition of turkey at Christmas rapidly spread throughout England in the 17th century, and it also became common to serve goose which remained the predominant roast until the Victorian era. (it was quite common for Goose "Clubs" to be set up, allowing working-class families to save up over the year towards a goose before this). A famous Christmas dinner scene appears in Dickens' A Christmas Carol (1843), where Scrooge sends Bob Cratchitt a large turkey. The pudding course of a British Christmas Dinner may often be Christmas pudding, which dates from medieval England. Trifle, mince pies, Christmas Cake or a Yule Log are also popular.
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