Ever wonder how mince pies got their name, or why a "turkey" comes from South America? Why not take a look at how...
Midwinter Feasting is an Ancient TraditionWinter festivities are no new thing - archeologists have found evidence of midwinter feasting at Durrington Walls near Stonehenge, suggesting we've been celebrating the year's end since the Neolithic.
In the Tudor era, mince pies were made to symbolize Jesus and his disciples. They were made using thirteen ingredients and included mutton (to represent shepherds) as well as the fruit and spices we expect today. The meat was eventually removed from the recipe towards the end of the Victorian era, though the suet remained.
Yule Logs Were a Sacrifice for the Sun
So, you might be wondering why turkeys are called turkeys - the answer is a little convoluted. Europeans were already used to eating African guineafowl (imaginatively referred to as turkey fowl) imported by Turkish traders... so when those same traders started importing American birds, they got called turkeys as well!
- Midwinter Feasting is an Ancient Tradition
- Mince Pies Came Back From the Crusades
- Yule Logs Were a Sacrifice for the Sun
- Goose Was Replaced By Turkey
- Gingerbread Has Pharaonic Roots (and Magical Significance)
- Sweet Chestnuts Were an Ancient Survival Food
- Christmas Pudding and Christmas Cake Evolved From Plum Pottage
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| Turkeys don't come from Turkey... but they did borrow the name! (PublicDomainPictures) |
Midwinter Feasting is an Ancient TraditionWinter festivities are no new thing - archeologists have found evidence of midwinter feasting at Durrington Walls near Stonehenge, suggesting we've been celebrating the year's end since the Neolithic.
Ancient refuse found around the site suggests that the menu would have included beef, nuts and berries aplenty. The area was also littered with pig bones, each with growth patterns indicating that the animals died at around nine months of age... and since pigs are born in the spring, we can infer that they were slaughtered around mid-winter.
Fast forwards a little bit and you'll find the Romans celebrating midwinter with Saturnalia, a festival filled with feasting and gifts. The citizens wore colorful clothing and conical hats normally reserved for freed slaves - and even the currently enslaved were allowed to participate in the meals and games. Doesn't it sound suspiciously like modern Christmas?
Mince Pies Came Back From the Crusades
European nobles returning from the Crusades brought some strange ideas with them - such as cooking fruit and meat together in the same dish. This little bit of culinary innovation inspired the mince pie, a spiced mince and fruit concoction fit for a royal feast.
The early versions bore little resemblance to the mince pies of today. One British recipe can be found in the 1390 CE cookbook "The Forme of Cury" (cury comes from the Old French queuerie or cookery.) Some of these "Tartes of Flesh" included ground pork, cheese, saffron, sugar, salt and more!
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| An ancient sacrifice in modern form... (Kisoulou) |
Yule Logs Were a Sacrifice for the Sun
Far from just being a chocolate roulade cake, the Yule log was once a Germanic and Celtic sacrificial rite. In order to fortify the gods and encourage the end of winter, a full tree trunk would be burnt over the course of the winter solstice.
The custom was adopted by Christianity, but as the years rolled on it became less and less practical to bring a log into a city house to burn. European bakers came up with an alternative, the rolled cake that comprises the modern version!
The whole affair is traditionally decorated to look like it was plucked from the forest floor, with chocolate frosting textured to look like bark, ground pistachios to look like moss and perhaps additional sweets in the shape of leaves and mushrooms. No doubt the ancient pantheons would be pleased that they are inadvertently worshiped each year!
Goose Was Replaced By Turkey
It's thought that turkeys were introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers, but a 16th century Yorkshireman named William Strickland did a lot to raise the bird's profile in England after a trip to the New World. He was so proud of his links to the bird that he had a turkey added to his family crest.
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| Turkey is more popular now, but goose used to be the bird of choice! (bzwei) |
Goose Was Replaced By Turkey
Being a commonly available bird, the goose was the prototypical centerpiece of winter feasts in medieval Britain. They could be kept, herded and grazed on common land, so even small communities could maintain a respectable flock of the animals. The birds were a useful commodity, offering eggs, fat, feathers (including those used to fletch arrows) and meat. By the time of the Victorian era, people could even "invest" in a goose club over the course of a year and pre-pay for the birds by instalment!
It's thought that turkeys were introduced to Europe by Spanish explorers, but a 16th century Yorkshireman named William Strickland did a lot to raise the bird's profile in England after a trip to the New World. He was so proud of his links to the bird that he had a turkey added to his family crest.
Henry VIII was one of the early adopters of this exotic meat and is considered the first English king to have eaten turkey. The birds were very expensive at the time of their introduction, and even in the early 20th century a turkey would have set the average person back a full week of wages - the lack of freezers and modern farming techniques made them unfeasibly expensive.
So, you might be wondering why turkeys are called turkeys - the answer is a little convoluted. Europeans were already used to eating African guineafowl (imaginatively referred to as turkey fowl) imported by Turkish traders... so when those same traders started importing American birds, they got called turkeys as well!
When the birds became established in 18th century England, you could watch turkeys being herded all the way from Norfolk to London. Some of the farmers would even dip the feet of the birds in tar and sand to make temporary boots - protection for the long (and final) journey.
Gingerbread was traditionally made into shapes using wooden models, "printing" patterns or scenes from stories on the surface. Certain images were thought to have a little bit of power - eating a gingerbread husband was said to increase the chances at finding one in real-life, while witches were said to bake poppets (dolls) of gingerbread and use them to cast curses!
Sweet Chestnuts Were an Ancient Survival Food
With a reasonable energy content and nutritional value, chestnuts make a decent sustenance food. Traditionally the poor receive a gift of chestnuts on the Feast of St. Martin to help ward off hunger. Don't mistake them for horse chestnuts if you go foraging though - those are poisonous!
Their precursor was a sticky mess called plum pottage. This "mouthwatering" concoction was a slurry of fruit, meat and root vegetables, blended with spices and served at the start of the meal. Whilst it was most commonly served as a porridge-like mixture, it could be bagged up like a sausage and served in a more solid format.
Gingerbread Has Pharaonic Roots (and Magical Significance)
Despite being a warming treat in winter, gingerbread has a long (and royal) history. The oldest known form of this confection was a kind of spiced honey-cake that archaeologists discovered in the tombs of Egyptian pharaohs. Like many Christmas treats, the idea of sweet and spicy baked goods is thought to have been brought into Europe by returning crusaders.Gingerbread was traditionally made into shapes using wooden models, "printing" patterns or scenes from stories on the surface. Certain images were thought to have a little bit of power - eating a gingerbread husband was said to increase the chances at finding one in real-life, while witches were said to bake poppets (dolls) of gingerbread and use them to cast curses!
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| An ancient snack... (makamuki0) |
Sweet Chestnuts Were an Ancient Survival Food
One of those foods you see roasting over fires at Christmas markets, chestnuts may have been a valuable source of food for ancient humans. The story goes that Greek forces sustained themselves with chestnuts as they retreated from Asia Minor around 2,400 years ago, while charred chestnuts over 9,000 years old have been found in Japan.
Christmas Pudding and Christmas Cake Evolved From Plum Pottage
Did you know that both Christmas pudding and cake evolved from a rather different dish?
Over time, the solid pudding rose to prominence, then became associated with Christmas. One Victorian tradition was for the whole family to take turns stirring the mixture from east to west, representing the biblical journey of the magi. The mixture would be boiled in a cloth bag to make a pudding, a method later replaced by steaming in a pudding basin.
It was a variant of the Christmas pudding that became the Christmas cake. Using a richer mixture of ingredients and baking than steaming or boiling it produced a heavy fruitcake that wealthier families would coat in marzipan.
To liven up the serving of these dishes, the Victorians played parlor games like snap-dragon. This "fun" little activity involved dousing a plate of raisins and almonds in blazing alcohol and snatching titbits from the flames. The game has mysterious (possibly even druidic) origins, but it seems custom-designed to end with scorched guests - another Yule sacrifice, perhaps?
It was a variant of the Christmas pudding that became the Christmas cake. Using a richer mixture of ingredients and baking than steaming or boiling it produced a heavy fruitcake that wealthier families would coat in marzipan.
To liven up the serving of these dishes, the Victorians played parlor games like snap-dragon. This "fun" little activity involved dousing a plate of raisins and almonds in blazing alcohol and snatching titbits from the flames. The game has mysterious (possibly even druidic) origins, but it seems custom-designed to end with scorched guests - another Yule sacrifice, perhaps?