Dickensian Christmas Dinner

This year my foodie-filled family has decided to add a twist to our Christmas dinner. An Oliver Twist, that is.

We’re having a Dickensian Christmas dinner, full of potluck goodies ranging from popovers to plum pudding. (Get the Oliver Twist reference now? Funny….)

We think of Charles Dickens when the term Dickensian is thrown around, of course. Except, most food-related content in Dickens’ books is related to the very, very poor.

One obvious exception to this in A Christmas Carol, when Scrooge is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Present, and is shown a feast to top all feasts. But, Dickens’ whole reason for including that was to (hopefully) encourage Scrooge to see the light about all the suffering that surrounds him.

I won’t go further; we all know how the story ends. Right?

So, while Dickens may have shown food in a more meager light in many of his novels, our Dickensian Christmas dinner isn’t shaping up to include things like gruel or a simple loaf of bread.

We’re pulling together a menu that would rival that of Scrooge’s nephew, or even Dickens himself – a noted Victorian foodie who grew up very poor, but amassed great wealth as an adult. It’s inspired by the early 18th Century, and so many classic recipes that have gone by the wayside in modern times.

So, what’s on the menu so far? (I see a more than one post headed your way over the next couple weeks!)

Dickensian Christmas Dinner Menu

Ham

Roast Duck

Curried Fish

Yorkshire Pud

Duchess Potatoes

Winter Salad

Glazed Carrots

Plum Pudding

This menu doesn’t even include the stuff that I plan to make; it’s everyone else’s food. And, by the way, I still need to figure my part out.

Hmmm….

Maybe a cheese tray with crusty bread?

How about meat pies?

Cocoa Flummery? We DO need another dessert….

Stay tuned!