Overcooked turkey, rock-hard sprouts – the much maligned traditional UK Christmas lunch will hopefully be better prepared at my family gathering this year
- With a reputation for being bland and unappetising, the traditional UK Christmas lunch is full of components consumed – or for many, suffered – only once a year
- No wonder people hit the sherry as soon as they get up on Christmas Day. Come to think of it, that might also be the problem with the cooking
Christmas comes but once a year. This time, in Hong Kong, there will be plenty of cheer as the city marks the first festive season since the lifting of Covid-19 restrictions.
I loved being in Hong Kong at Christmas. Unlike in Britain, the weather is usually fine and all the shops stay open. The harbourside lights are a joy.
This year, there is an abundance of festive revelry on offer. WinterFest in West Kowloon boasts a Christmas Town, with a colourful 20-metre-tall tree. The shopping malls have been as creative as ever with their wacky themes, from Mount Santa Paws to Merry Spacemas.
Much as I miss the Hong Kong festivities, I am looking forward to a first English Christmas in my own home. My family will be arriving for lunch at our village house.
Two Christmas trees were bought from a nearby park. The church on the green is adorned with an illuminated star that seems to hover in the night sky. The temperature, meanwhile, has plunged to near zero, so a log fire is lit most evenings.
The main event will be lunch. My first Christmas meal in Hong Kong, in 1994, was steak with mashed potato. It was all I could manage in my tiny kitchen with no oven. In later years, we progressed to a turkey, initially ferried hurriedly back to Mui Wo from a bakery in Discovery Bay.
Dark winter days are already here in Britain – spring can’t come soon enough
This year, a turkey has been ordered from a local farm, to form part of the much maligned traditional Christmas lunch. Most of its components – turkey, Brussels sprouts, and Christmas pud – are consumed (or for many, suffered) only once a year.
I suspect the problem lies less with the ingredients than with the cooking. Turkeys are often overcooked and dry, while the sprouts are served rock hard. The result can be so bland and unappetising that people tend to flood their plates with gravy, usually of the instant variety.
No wonder they hit the sherry as soon as they get up on Christmas Day. Come to think of it, that might also be the problem with the cooking.
I avoided Covid in Hong Kong. Now back in the UK, my luck finally ran out
Christmas puddings, meanwhile, tend to be dense and require lashings of cream and brandy butter to make them palatable. This year, apparently, they are being eclipsed by the new-found British passion for panettone. As one news report put it, English people would not so long ago have struggled to pronounce panettone, let alone eat it.
I will be relying on my wife and younger son to produce a lunch that is not only edible, but delicious.
Whether chomping on char siu or braving the traditional British lunch, I wish you all a very merry Christmas.
