For most English families, Christmas is a giant feast as well as a celebration, so there will be many traditional English recipes we dig out only once a year.
That's not an ideal situation for a cook, because how is one meant to remember from one year to the next how many raisins produced the best pudding mix or how much salt you really added to the Cumberland sauce?
I often leave little notes in the recipe books I've used, but whether they survive until the following Christmas is anyone's guess - and even though I have my grandma's cookery book, a beautiful bound tome with index tabs inside, I only rarely add to her and my mum's notes.
So to make it easier on myself, and everyone who struggles a bit when it comes to Christmas food, I've started this page where I'm collecting some tried and tested
traditional English Christmas recipes - as a useful lookup come the
time. It's meant very much as a starting point. Many families have their own traditions and very special recipes and if you'd like to share your own favourites with us, I'd be very grateful indeed!
So there you have it. An initial handful of recipes that are either firm Christmas favourites, or blend wonderfully with everything going on at that time of year. I hope you give some of them a try, while I'm aiming to add to this page as I experiment with more delicious Christmas food.
For cheats and treats and other ideas to make Christmas run smoothly...
Return from traditional English recipes to the Christmas in England section.