There are certain elements that are essential to a British Christmas. These include gifts, real or artificial Christmas trees, mince pies and a turkey on Christmas Day.
Why is turkey the ultimate festive meal though? Read on to find out.
An imported option
Turkeys have not always been central to the festivities in the UK – indeed, they were not originally native to Britain. They were brought to Europe by explorers from Spain during the 16th century. It was not until the following century that Brits began to eat them at Christmas, but they were still not the most popular choice at this time. The majority of people favoured swan or goose instead.
A royal seal of approval
What began to shift things in favour of turkeys (although it is unlikely they see it that way) was the royal seal of approval. King Henry VIII embraced turkey as his Christmas dinner choice and it remained the preferred royal option from this point on. This gave turkey a prestige status, but the journey to Christmas dominance was still a slow one.
A Victorian victory
Like so many other UK festive traditions, this one is down to the Victorians. Queen Victoria was publicly known to like having turkey on Christmas Day and that really saw the birds’ popularity skyrocket. Charles Dickens played a part too. The famous scene at the end of A Christmas Carol where Scrooge gifts the Cratchits a turkey sealed the deal in the minds of the public.
From that point on, the turkey was here to stay at the heart of Christmas dinner.
