historysquee: The History of Turkey at Christmas Christmas dinner varies from country to country, d

historysquee:

The History of Turkey at Christmas

Christmas dinner varies from country to country, dependent on culture and tradition and has evolved over years. In Britain the traditional main food is turkey, or some other kind of poultry such as chicken or capon. In medieval England, the main course was boar or peacock. Turkey was not brought to England until the 1520’s, where it immediately became popular with the upper classes, due to its size, taste and the amount of meat on the bird. Other large birds such as swans were seen as attractive centerpieces to a meal, but were not considered the tastiest meat. Eating turkey at Christmas did not become widespread in the country immediately, because of the high price of the bird. Due to this issue, goose was preferred until the Victorian era, with the price not making turkey available as a widespread Christmas meat until the 1950’s. However turkey was long associated as a part of the Christmas feast for the upper classes.