History: A Social History of Christmas Food in Britain: Its Significance & Meaning

Within each period considered, we will be minded to discover how the Twelve Days of Christmas as a festival reflects the demographics of society during those ages, as Christmas and its foodstuffs cannot be adequately separated from religious significances and social hierarchies. This will be demonstrated and discussed by referring to surviving menus for Christmas and Epiphany from each age. Perhaps, such recipes may inspire you to experiment this year.

Along the way, we will encounter eccentricities of belief and symbolism regarding Christmas fare. The symbolism of food is an important area to discuss, as it discloses much about the contemporary mind of each era. Thus, we will experience Christmas at the Court of Richard II, in the poorer quarters of the peasantry and later in the Tudor Court, the streets of Tudor London and Dickensian Britain.

The study of foodstuffs is an area of great interest to the social historian, as it crosses numerous historical disciplines such as the study of economic history: trade, the cost of living and access to markets, but more than this, food is a sensory experience and this will lead us to discuss its presence in literature, art and popular culture.

There is much to digest.