A look back in time to a Tudor Christmas

Many of the things that we eat today we have been around for a long time but some of them have changed here is a little list of things that you might have seen if you was having a Tudor Christmas dinner.

Boars head .

A impressive dish of a boars head roasted with a apple or lemon in the mouth crowned with holly, ivy and rosemary . At Queen's College, Oxford they serenaded the boar's head with its own carol.

'The boars head in hand bear I,

Bedecked with bays and rosemary

And I pray you, my masters, be merry

Quot est is in convivio'

A Christmas pie

This was a large pie, to  represented the manger of Jesus,  containing  meat, game, spices, fruit and suet .

Christmas or plum porridge

This is the first sort of Christmas pudding more like a thick soup. Served at the beginning of the feast it was maid form something’s that you would not find in a Christmas pudding today .Boiled beef or  mutton broth, breadcrumbs, raisins, currants, prunes, wine, spices, cloves and ginger.  Also a  little silver charm or coins were added for good luck.

Twelfth Night cakes 

Theas are rather fancy things made form butter, flour, sugar dried fruit, nuts, spices, candied fruits and honey , then iced with decorative figures. Perhaps the first Christmas cake .

Also it was a time when all the spices and things coming in from the new worlds were stating to arrive . In 1500 Turkeys were introduced from America to England by the Spanish.but all manner of birds could be on the table,  capons, hens,  geese and ducks.

Spices were a very important and big thing , costing lots of money and showed wealth. Used  to flavour food but also as medicines and perfumes. From far away came things like cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, mace and pepper. Also salt, sugar, currant, raisins, dates, figs and apricots where know as spices. Then there was oranges and lemons very  expensive  and  popular at Christmas.

And do not forget the every still popular minced pie, very much as they are today full of suet, chopped apple, lemon peel and juice, currants, raisins, spices, candied citron peel and sugar. You had to eat a mince pie on each of the 12 days, for 12 happy months ahead.