The Royal Family’s Christmas dinner is very traditional but it seems to miss out one of our favourite festive treats.
There’s so much to look forward to this time of year as the Christmas countdown continues and alongside picking out thoughtful gifts for friends and family and finding our perfect Christmas party outfits, one thing we get excited about is festive food. Everyone will have their favourite Christmassy treats - whether it’s a tin of Quality Street or a mince pie - and everyone likely does Christmas dinner itself a little differently. The Royal Family gather at Sandringham House to celebrate the festive season and their main Christmas meal is reportedly very traditional.
However, whilst we’re all for the classic elements of a Christmas dinner there’s one delicious side dish that the royals seemingly don’t eat and we can’t imagine the day without it. Former royal chef Darren McGrady opened up to the Mail on Sunday in 2017 about what the Royal Family eat at Christmas and he didn’t mention pigs in blankets once.
He explained that the Royal Family typically enjoy a roast turkey which "takes centre stage" and this is "traditionally from local butcher Scoles in Dersingham" in Norfolk. According to Darren, Christmas Day is the one day of the year "that the head chef is permitted to enter the dining room, to carve the bird at the table".
"The turkey is served with mashed and roast potatoes, chestnut or sage and onion stuffing, cranberry sauce and bread sauce," the former royal chef claimed. "Vegetables include brussels sprouts, carrots and roast parsnips."
Whilst this all sounds scrumptious we can’t help noticing the absence of pigs in blankets which are a must-have on many people’s Christmas dinners. Sausages wrapped in bacon, as well as the roast turkey, sprouts, cranberry sauce and bread sauce are the elements which could be seen to turn a regular British roast dinner into a specifically Christmas roast dinner.
Missing them out of the Royal Family’s Christmas dinner might be a divisive choice in the minds of many, though it could possibly be that they’re not seen as traditional as the other dishes or ingredients. It’s not known when pigs in blankets started being a Christmas food custom and some have suggested that food writer Delia Smith popularised them being included as part of a British Christmas dinner in the 1990s.
Meanwhile, Metro previously alleged that the earliest written record of pigs in blankets dates back to 1957. Although Darren McGrady didn’t suggest that they are something the royals ate during his time, it’s possible that since then things have changed and the likes of Prince William and Kate and King Charles and Queen Camilla could now enjoy this treat on Christmas Day.
They do apparently open Christmas crackers (though Darren claimed they are "more luxurious than most" and after their roast, the royals eat Christmas Pudding "doused in fine brandy and decorated with holly".
"The one presented on Christmas Day is often made the previous year, which allows extra time for it to mature," he shared. "There is a lot of alcohol in it, but - perhaps for obvious reasons - no coins or trinkets are added. No one wants to be responsible for a Royal choking. The pudding is served at 2pm with brandy butter and brandy sauce for good measure."
All in all, this sounds like a pretty spectacular Christmas dinner for the royals to enjoy together as a family in Norfolk.
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