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Be it the various Winter Solstice
festivals or the Christmas, food has
always played a major role in heightening
the festive spirit and adding a new
dimension to the festivities. Coming
to the topic of Christmas party food,
the one thing that invariably comes
to our mind is the ‘wassail bowl’.
Finding its origin in the Saxon phrase
“wes hal”, which means good health
or be whole, Wassail stands for a
kind of toast.
The contemporary Christmas specialties
include Roast Ham, Roast Beef, Roast
Pork and last but not the least the
Roast Turkey. On the other hand, the
traditional Christmas foods included
roast swan, goose, capons, pheasants
and peacocks. Moreover, as a special
treat, a roast boar’s head decorated
with holly and fruit was considered
to be the flavor of the season.
As the tastes of the people changed
over the years, these roasted meats
began to be served with seasonal vegetables
and a variety of fruit sauces. More
than these, one of the favorite dishes
about 100 years ago was the frumenty.
Made with grains of wheat, it was
boiled into a broth. Crushed almonds,
milk and egg yolks were then added
to it and served hot. Taken with honey
on Christmas morning or with mutton
or venison sauce, this food was quite
a popular dish during the Christmas
party. Very interestingly, present
day plum porridge or plum pottage
is actually a derivation of frumenty.
A thick soup made from boiling up
beef or mutton along with dried prunes
or plums, raisins, currants, bread
crumbs and seasoned with spices and
wine, porridge is one of the most
popular Christmas part foods.
Lastly, the Christmas pudding has
also descended from the traditional
frumenty and plum pudding. Also known
as the plum pudding in spite of having
any plums in it, the Christmas pudding
is a must at most of the households
during Christmas.
So if you are planning to arrange
for the Christmas festivities at your
home in a big way then go ahead and
take your pick from the above listed
delicacies.
For more information on anything related
to Christmas or other festivals of
tye world do visit .
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