There are so many amazing aspects of such an option. And they are quite different from anything you might be used to. What first strikes the person who takes this up is the absolute attention to detail these Victorians put into their dinners. Think about it – who nowadays would spend so much energy adorning their dining room with linens and china, evergreens, flowers, and all the rest of it? We make excuses for our “busy” lives, and we don’t give time for quality in these events nowadays. Yet they did then quite regularly.

And the food at the Victorian dinner! This was of such high quality that it is almost a crime that Americans today don’t eat it! There were all kind of creative options to choose from go beyond the standard option of turkey, as good as that is. We’re talking about anything from boars head to a rib of beef to Yorkshire pudding to clear turtle soup. As far as the meat was concerned, the most exciting feature was the goose. People in southern England, during Queen Victoria’s reign, were more likely to feast upon this specialty. It would be prepared in a similar way to turkey, but with a dressing featuring sage and onions, in order to complement the goose’s unique flavor.

But by far the most important feature of the Victorian Christmas dinner was the pudding. It had the distinction, odd for a pudding nowadays, of including suet (beef fat), but it also included raisins, currants, bread crumbs, all kinds of citrus, spices, and sherry and brandy. This would be a major investment, involving the whole family.

And while it was not the predominant feature of the meal, mincemeat was still a famous feature of these dinners.

And last but not least – sugarplums! These scrumptious desserts are sure to bring joy to even the grouchiest scrooge.

I think you will agree that the Victorian Christmas dinner is your most memorable.

Historically, Wassail would refer to a festival meant to ensure an abundant harvest of cider apples in the following Autumn. Yet, as it was associated with Yule, many would incorporate it into their Christmas festivities.

For the following recipe, I feel obligated to credit the website paganwiccan.about.com:

So – to start, we will need the proper ingredients. These are as follows:

• 1 Gallon apple cider
• 2 C. cranberry juice
• 1/2 C honey
• 1/2 C sugar
• 2 oranges
• Whole cloves
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• Allspice
• Ginger
• Nutmeg
• 3 cinnamon sticks (or 3 Tbs. ground cinnamon)
• 1/2 C – 1 C brandy (optional)

So, we have all of these wonderful ingredients, but how do we make this concoction? Well, to make it, we have to have a crockpot. We will want to set this crockpot to it’s low setting, and pour all the apple cider, cranberry juice, honey and sugar in, mixing carefully. We will want to stir this up as the crockpot heats, and watch the materials dissolve. After this, we will add the diced appl, and a couple of tablespoons of allspice, ginger and nutmeg to taste. Finally, snap the cinnamon sticks in half and add those as well.

Following this, you will want to cover your pot and allow it to simmer 2 – 4 hours on low heat. About half an hour prior to serving, if you like, add the brandy.

Like Christmas, Yule was around December 25, and therefore good for the Christians to absorb in an attempt to expand their influence. It was Germanic in origin, and spread among associated groups like the Anglo-Saxons (among whom it went by the name geola).  It was a very important Winter Solstice celebration.

wicca.com summarizes one of the most important features of the festival:

“The ceremonial Yule log was the highlight of the Solstice festival. In accordance to tradition, the log must either have been harvested from the householder’s land, or given as a gift… it must never have been bought. Once dragged into the house and placed in the fireplace it was decorated in seasonal greenery, doused with cider or ale, and dusted with flour before set ablaze by a piece of last years log, (held onto for just this purpose). The log would burn throughout the night, then smolder for 12 days after before being ceremonially put out. Ash is the traditional wood of the Yule log. It is the sacred world tree of the Teutons, known as Yggdrasil. An herb of the Sun, Ash brings light into the hearth at the Solstice.“

The Victorian “Christians”, ever spiteful of “pagan idolatry”, nevertheless were content to plagiarize many features of the Yule festivities – along with the date of the celebration,the wassail drank at Yule became the modern apple cider.

In Victorian times, those who were not luxuriating in opulence still desired the general taste of the soup. So they invented “mock” turtle soup varieties. Given that the you are not likely to have turtles readily available in your area, I will be posting a mock turtle soup recipe for your benefit. The recipe comes from Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management.

So how do we make this? First, let’s start with the proper ingredients:

We will want to put all the ingredients, except the forcemeat balls and lemon juice, in an earthen jar, and stew all of this for 6 hours. Then we will want to wait for the mixture to cool. This will provided the foundation for our soup, and when we want to make the soup, we will skim off all the fat, strain the mixture carefully, place it on the fire, cut up the meat into inch and a half squares, put the meat, with the forcemeat balls and lemon juice, into the soup, and serve the result.

You may have noticed that I referred to “forcemeat balls” without explaining how to make them. To make these, we will want to take a pound and a half of lean veal from the fillet, cut this into long thin slices; scrape these slices with a knife until nothing but the fiber remains; put what we get as a result into a mortar, pound this for 10 minutes, or until it is pureed; pass this through a wire sieve (use the remainder in stock).

After this, we will take 1 pound of good fresh beef suet, which we skin, shred, and chop very fine; we will put this in a mortar and pound it; and add 6oz of panada (bread soaked in milk and boiled until it is almost dry) with the suet. We will then pound them well together, add the veal, season this mixture with a teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of pepper, a half teaspoon of nutmeg; mix this all together; then add four eggs one at a time, continually pounding the contents of the mortar. When all of this is well mixed, we will take small pieces of it in a spoon, and poach in some boiling water. When this is delicate, firm, and of a good flavor, it is ready for use.

Alice actually meets a Mock Turtle in  Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, or so the story goes.  the The recipe above uses veal, another option was organ meat like calf brains or even calf hooves.  The idea was that Victorians of all classes could enjoy a good turtle soup at Christmastime.

Homemade Mincemeat for Mincemeat Pie

Mincemeat was an essential aspect of the Victorian Christmas palette. It combines various alcoholic beverages, spices, fruits, and red meats to make an absolutely astounding meal. The following recipe calls for beef and suet:

The ingredients for this recipe are as follows:

To make this delicious dish, we will first want to submerge the lemons with water in a saucepan, and simmer this for about 20 minutes. Then, we will want to remove the lemons, cut them in half, remove the pits, and chop them finely.

After this, we will want to combine the lemons with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, and mix that very well.

We will then place the resulting mixture, which is the mincemeat, into large sterile jars with tight fitting lids. We Will want to store these in cold places. If, at any time, the mincemeat becomes dry and crumbly, we should stir in more brandy.

Sugarplums are a particularly delicious candy containing many different kind of dried fruit, and no one who wants to have a quality Victorian style Christmas should be without them. So how do we make them?

For the following recipe, I am again indebted to Sarah Ban Breathnach, author of Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions:

The ingredients we need are as follows:

To make the food, we will chop the dried fruit very finely with a food processor, and set the fruit aside. We will then chop nuts in a food processor and set the nuts aside. After this, we will combine coconut, ginger, orange, lemon, and sherry in a food processor until they are thoroughly chopped, and set them aside. We will then combine the previously chopped dried fruits and nuts to the mixture, mix together thoroughly, and roll this mixture into small balls in granulated sugar. Store these balls in a covered tin lined with wax paper for one week to let the flavors blend together.

Sugarplums were so much a part of the Christmas of children of that era that the SugarPlum Fairy was featured in  Tchaikovsky’s ballet The Nutcracker.

Sugarplum Fairy from the Nutcracker

First, the ingredients. In order to make a high quality brandy butter, you’re going to want to use the following ingredients:

So how do we use all of these ingredients to make a pudding. Well, we first suggest we coarsely chop the candied fruit peel, raisins, currants, and almonds – mixing all of this with the spices.

We then blend all of this in a large bowl with flour, salt, and the ground almonds. Then work in the bread crumbs, suet, and sugar with your hands, mixing thoroughly. After this, add eggs (which you should have beaten lightly), to the mixture. Then add the allotted amounts of brandy, sherry, and milk to the mixture, until it becomes a soft paste. Refrigerate the mixture.

The next morning, pour the mixture into a well buttered pudding basin, cover the basin with greased paper and cloth, and tie it tightly around the rim of the basin.

Then you will want to set the basing in a large roasting pan, which is itself filled to the sides with water. And you will steam the pudding ofr 8 hours.

After this, you will remove the cloths and cover the pudding with fresh ground paper and muslin. You will want to store it for a month in a cool, dark place, and steam it for an additional 2 hours on Christmas day. After this, you will want to unmold the pudding.

To serve, add a sprig of holly to he pudding, cover it with brandy, and bring it to the table flaming. You will of course want to add a topping to the pudding. Most will probably choose whipped cream, but I recommend brandy butter. Or you could use both!

http://www.dickensvictorianvillage.com/Dickens%20Clothes.pdf

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victorian_clothing

http://www.dickens-literature.com/A_Christmas_Carol/index.html