.jpg)
From the time of the ancient Egyptians, goose was the main course of Winter Solstice feasts. Henry VIII of England is
credited with replacing goose with turkey, which is more meaty & flavorful. Turkeys were first introduced to Europe in 1519
by the Spanish, who learned of turkeys from the Aztecs (who domesticated the birds). Fruit from an exotic American plant —
the cranberry — was also added to Christmas dinners.
Christmas ham may originate from Norse traditions of eating wild boar in midwinter feasts. The ancient Romans ate boar during
Saturnalia in honor of the the god Adonis who was slain by a boar and whose birthday was December 25th. The oldest existing
printed Christmas carol is "The Boar's Head Carol" (printed 1521), which was sung in England at Christmas dinner while a
boar's head was carried on a platter. The custom is still observed every Christmas at Queen's College, Oxford — a possible
relic of the Roman occupation of Britain.
Humble pie was made from the "humbles" of deer (heart, liver, brain and other organs) by the servants of nobility who feasted
on the more choice cuts of meat. By the 17th century humble pie had become such a traditional Christmas dish that it was
outlawed by the Puritan Cromwell government in England.
Mincemeat pie was originally mainly minced meat preserved with sugar & spices. Fruits were often used as a less expensive
preservative and flavoring agent than sugar. Meat was increasingly omitted (except for beef fat) and additional fruits were
included.
Plum pudding was originally a soup made by boiling beef & mutton with dried plums (prunes), wines and spices. The prunes &
meats were later removed, raisins added and the pudding was thickened with eggs & breadcrumbs to be more like a steamed or
broiled cake. So "plum pudding" is not a pudding and contains no plums.
In the 17th century the word "plum" was commonly used to refer to any dried fruit. A "sugarplum" was any candied fruit (dried
& sugared) — and could be a plum, apricot, cherry, etc. Prior to the age of chocolate children yearned for sugarplums, which
is why "visions of sugarplums" danced through the heads of children in Clement Moore's poem — and why the Sugarplum Fairy was
a prominent character in "The Nutcracker".
Apples were a tempting ornament of the first Christmas trees in Germany, later augmented with cookies, nuts and other fruits.
Americans added strings of popcorn. Children looked forward to dismantling the Christmas tree and gobbling-up the treats.
Candy canes are edible ornaments which originated in Germany in the late 1600s. Originally made as straight white sticks, a
German choirmaster bent the sticks so as to represent a shepherd's staff — and distributed them to children during Nativity
services (at least partly to keep them quiet by giving them something to suck on). Not until the year 1900 did candy canes
become striped with the red-and-white Christmas colors or become flavored with peppermint or wintergreen. Some people have
the idea that the J-shape is a reference to J-esus and that the red & white symbolize the blood & purity of Christ.
