Traditional Victorian Christmas Dishes by Jenna Jaxon

One of my favorite Christmas movies is the 1970 musical Scrooge with Albert Finney. The production values of the film are wonderful—as you watch it you truly feel transported into the Victorian London of Charles Dickens. In one sequence Bob Cratchit is heading home, buying Christmas presents, food and drink for the family’s Christmas celebration the following Christmas Day. 

That journey has always fascinated me and made me think about how and what the Victorians ate at Christmas. Depending on class and location, Christmas food traditions varied quite a bit, although there is also a lot of agreement on what should be eaten

for the holiday feast, generally the most meal extravagant of the year. The centerpiece was usually either a standing rib of beef with Yorkshire pudding in the households of the North, while the roasted goose with sage and onion stuffing graced the tables of the South.

 

Another tradition was to serve a rum punch, apparently a favorite Christmastide ritual for Charles Dickens. The making of the punch was quite a production, and Dickens would explain each step to his guests as they watched the punch being concocted. The drink is made in a large fire-proof punch bowl, where you combine lemon peel and sugar, dark rum and cognac, stir well, then take a spoonful of the mixture and light it on fire and return to the punch bowl to set it alight. Dickens would then lift out fiery lemon peels for the guests to admire. Afterwards, the flames are extinguished by a metal tray placed over the punch bowl. Nutmeg was then grated over the punch and ladled out to the guests. 

And last but not least was the Christmas or Plum pudding. Traditionally, this pudding was begun on the Sunday before the beginning of Advent, called Stir-up Sunday. If the household was to have good luck, the Christmas pudding must be begun on this day and left to ripen until Christmas Day. God’s blessing would only be bestowed on those who started their puddings on this day. For good fortune, the entire household should help with stirring the pudding with a wooden spoon and only clockwise and only East to West to honor the journey of the three kings. Once all the ingredients are assembled—raisins, currants, sultanas, dates, citrus peel, almonds, spices, cake crumb or breadcrumbs, brown sugar, butter, brandy or tum, and stout—the pudding is boiled or steamed for six hours, then removed from the pudding basin and wrapped with foil and a pudding cloth. It is then aged for about two months. On Christmas Day it is boiled for another four hours, then unmolded onto a platter. A ladle of brandy is heated then poured over the pudding and set alight for a dazzling desert.

There are many other traditional foods the Victorians ate at Christmas, but I thought these three would give a good idea of how the Victorian chose to celebrate the Season with fabulous food. 

I sincerely hope everyone has a warm and wonderful holiday season with your own special traditions and food. 

Sources: 

Burns-Booth, Karen. “Stir-Up Sunday, Traditions and My Traditional Victorian Christmas Pudding             Recipe.” Lavender and Lovage: Food and Travel from Home and Abroad, November 24, 2012.

Graham, Colleen. “English Christmas Punch.” The Spruce Eats Newsletter. May 13, 2021. 

Wondrich, David. “Holiday Punch—Plus a Cozy Fire.” Esquire, December 11, 2012.

The Victorian Christmas

One thing I have bemoaned time and again is the lack of Christmas traditions in Regency England. During the Regency Christmas celebrations were usually quiet family affairs that included going to church on Christmas Day, some greenery for decorations (including mistletoe but not a tree), a Yule log, and perhaps a present or two for children.

Once Queen Victoria ascended the throne, however, Christmas began to be much more merry and bright.

One of the first traditions to emerge that continues until today, is the Christmas card. This tradition was begun by Sir Henry Cole, an assistant at the newly founded Public Record Office (Post Office). He had an artist friend create cards, advertised as “Christmas Congratulations Cards” that sold for a shilling each. The cards could be sent for a penny and by the 1860s were cheap enough for most people of the middle class to send.

Victoria and Albert began another wonderful custom—the Christmas tree. A German tradition brought to England by George III’s wife, Queen Charlotte, the Christmas tree didn’t catch on until Victoria’s consort, Prince Albert (also German) began celebrating the yuletide with a

decorated tree. When the Illustrated London News published an engraving of Victoria and Albert and their children gathered around a Christmas tree in 1848, the popularity of the Christmas tree rose sharply. Technological advances enhanced the tradition by providing hundreds of different types of sparkly ornaments to hang on the tree, along with homemade sweet treats, small presents, and candles.

Another near and dear Christmas tradition arose in t e 1860s: The Christmas cracker. These little tubes, stuffed with small trinkets and candies, made a resounding “bang” when pulled apart and quickly became a staple of the season.

The emphasis placed on family by the Victorians lead to the traditional Christmas dinner, with all the family gathered around the table. Food was the centerpiece of the Victorian Christmas dinner and included roast goose with sage and onion stuffing (in the South), standing rib of beef (in the North), Yorkshire pudding, oysters, ham, turkey, potatoes, mince pies, plum pudding. The making and serving of the Plum Pudding was quite a ritual that began several days before Christmas and culminated with the cooking, cutting, and eating of it.
After dinner people continued to celebrate with presents, singing, shooting off firecrackers, and playing games.

All in all a much merrier time was had by all during the Victorian period.

Merry Christmas to all! God bless us, everyone!

References:
“The History of Christmas Cards.”
“Victorian Christmas Traditions,” from Christmas at the V & A.
“Common Victorian Times Christmas Food: roasted goose and pudding.” The Victorian Era Facts about Queen Victoria, Society and Literature. Victorian Era Organization.