Dear Anglophiles: While some Christmas traditions in the U.S. are similar to those in Britain, others are not.  Naturally, we Anglophiles are especially curious about those that "are not."  Here, guest writer David Harding, a Londoner, gives us the lowdown on Christmas traditions across the pond.

BRITISH CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS
by
DAVID HARDING

Many Christmas traditions started or evolved in Britain and spread throughout the Commonwealth and English-speaking world.  Other traditions stayed at home, some begun only recently.  What are these British Christmas traditions, both old and new?

The enduring popularity of the Charles Dickens' novel A Christmas Carol have led many to associate a British Christmas with Victorian England.  Below are a list of the traditions and a few recipes for you to try!

CHRISTMAS CRACKERS

Often accompanying food on Christmas Day, they were invented by the London baker - Thomas Smith - in 1846 and consist of a brightly coloured paper tube, twisted at either end. Two people pull the cracker, which ‘cracks’, and the contents of a brightly coloured paper hat, joke and toy fall out.

CHRISTMAS DINNER

Eaten on the afternoon of December 25th and consisting of Roast Turkey, with ‘all the trimmings’, which typically refer to: stuffing, Brussels sprouts, parsnips, roast potatoes, carrots, pigs in blankets, bread sauce and cranberry sauce.

CHRISTMAS NUMBER ONE

Quite simply, the single (song) that is number one in the charts closest to Christmas; it’s normally a novelty, charity or Christmas-themed song. Traditionally, sales of singles increase at Christmas, and it is considered highly prestigious to obtain the Christmas number one.

CHRISTMAS TREE

Technically a tradition ‘borrowed’ from Germany, it did not  become popular until Queen Victoria’s German husband, Prince Albert, introduced the custom to Britain in the 19th Century. Every year in Trafalgar Square, London, a tree is erected -- a gift from the people of Norway in gratitude for British support during World War II.

FATHER CHRISTMAS

The name typically given to Santa Claus in English-speaking countries outside of the USA and Canada, although in practice, the terms are now interchangeable. In the past, Father Christmas was also referred to as Sir Christmas or Lord Christmas and was associated with good cheer and not particularly with children or gift-giving. Father Christmas dresses in red and white but used to dress in green, signifying his pagan roots.

PANTOMIME

Popular amongst British children (and some adults!), pantomime plays are song and dance adaptations of popular fairy tales and often feature innuendo, audience participation and contemporary jokes, i.e. jokes about celebrities, politicians and songs from popular culture.


The Christmas panto Cinderella, in the video below, features songs and original music by Philip Pope, Kevin Powell on bass.

 

ROYAL CHRISTMAS MESSAGE

The reigning Monarch broadcasts a Christmas Message on Christmas Day, a tradition that began in 1932 with radio broadcasts and in 1957 expanded to include television broadcasts as well.  Now the message is broadcast on radio, television and the Internet--at 3pm, the time being chosen as a time convenient for the majority of the Empire.  Since 1993, Channel 4 has broadcast an ‘Alternative Christmas Message’ lampooning the Royal Message and featuring a controversial celebrity.

To read the history of the Royal Christmas Message on the official website of the British Monarchy, click HERE)

 

GUEST WRITER BIO

 David Harding is a 26 year old who was born and raised in South West London, now living and working there. When he was younger, his older brother moved to Australia sparking an enduring fascination with the culture, kinship and common language of the English Speaking People's all over the world.  @davidhardinguk

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Dear Anglophiles: Please welcome today's guest writer, Ella Jameson!  Ella gives us the lowdown on a true gastronomical revolution: Britain's acquired taste for curry.

SPICE AND EASY DOES IT; THE BRITISH CURRY REVOLUTION
by
Ella Jameson

For most Brits, a good curry is part of a normal diet, as commonplace and British as a roast  dinner or beans on toast.  Chicken tikka masala has been described as a 'true British national dish’, and a stroll down almost any British high street will lead you at least one curry house.  But just how long have we had such an appetite for all things curry? 

Probably longer than you think.  The East India Company was set up in the 1600s so that  Britain could trade with India, and with it came an influx of foreign spices previously alien to the British palate.

The 1747 cookery book The Art of Cookery contained recipes for several curries and pilaus, curry powder was made commercially available in 1780, and by the 1800s, ginger, cayenne, turmeric, and cumin were store cupboard staples.  The first Indian restaurant opened in London in 1809, though despite Queen Victoria’s enthusiasm for curries, it seems the rest of London wasn’t quite ready, and the restaurant closed three years later.

As the British influence in India intensified during the Victoria era, so the interest in their cuisine grew, and while the Brits may not have been ready for a single-purpose curry house, they had developed a taste for these spicy dishes.  Piccalilli, which is considered an English classic and was first created during the nineteenth century, was an initial attempt at making authentic Indian pickle.

It wasn’t until after the Second World War that the Brits became hooked on curry.  Bombed-out chip shops and cafes were snapped up by Indian sailors who arrived in the UK at the turn of the century, and authentic curry recipes were tweaked and adapted for a more British-friendly taste.  The locality of many of these shops meant they were perfectly situated to provide for the post-pub packs, and thus another great British tradition was born.

The pinnacle of the British curry revolution was in the 1960s; the arrival of thousands of Indian and Bangladeshi people into Britain, either to seek work or refuge, led to an unprecedented explosion of curry houses and restaurants, particularly in London, Birmingham, and Bradford.

Although to the Brits the seemingly exotic tikka masala may have transported them to an exciting, foreign land, in truth there is not much Indian about tikka masala at all – nor many of the ‘classic’ curry dishes you can find on menus at almost all Indian restaurants.

The humble tikka masala can now be seen as one of the first examples of fusion food; while the Brits had developed a serious passion for all things spicy, they still enjoyed their meat with a bit of gravy.  In the 1970s, a Pakistani chef in Glasgow began giving his customers a large dollop of masala sauce with their meat to counteract the ‘dryness’ (so the legend goes) and the rest is curry history.

Or is it?  Although the creation of the tikka masala can be seen as an early example of fusion cuisine, it could also be seen as nothing but a culinary demonstration of the British capacity ‘for reducing all foreign foods to their most unappetising and inedible forms’, as the author Lizzie Collingham observed in her book Curry: A Tale of Cooks and Conquerors.

While this stance may be a little firm, it has a point; try locating a tikka masala overseas and the chances are you’ll come up short.  Indian food is some of the most diverse cuisine in the world and yet in Britain we often reduce it to a few favourites: the balti (created in Birmingham), rogan josh, vindaloo.

In view of the fact that India is approximately the size of Europe and is just as geographically varied, the fact that we remain ignorant about so much of their food seems like a colossal waste.

Thankfully however, there seems to be a change in the air.  After years of being heralded as the nation’s favourite, the tikka masala was replaced by the jalfrezi in the hearts of British people in a 2011 poll.  Glossing over the small and insignificant detail that the jalfrezi may have also been created by a Brit, shunning the overly sweet and creamy curries in favour of a dish packed with fresh chillies and an authentic kick of spice is certainly a step in the right direction.


As further testament to the idea that Britons’ taste buds are evolving and we are becoming more adventurous, the same poll found that the second most popular curry was the madras, another hot dish containing large amounts of chilli.  The once-beloved tikka masala only made it into eighth place, and the mild, creamy korma only received two percent of the vote.

The fact that we are becoming more exploratory with Indian food has had a real impact on the dining scene in Britain.  London favourite Tayyabs was recently named as one of the capital’s best restaurant in a ‘Tastes of London’ shortlist, further reinforcing the notion that curry has become as synonymous with British cuisine as fish and chips or pie and mash.

Two London restaurants (Tamarind and Zaika) have each received Michelin stars, supermarkets are selling previously little-known regional dishes such as the Goan Xacutti alongside the bhunas and baltis, and restaurants selling authentic Indian street food are taking off in the capital.

Since the initial ‘curry revolution’ of the 1960s, Indian food in Britain is turning another corner. After years of being happy with a tikka masala, a bhajik, and a pint, it seems that British consumers are finally ready to try something new. 

BRITISH CURRY EATING HABITS

WRITER'S BIO:

Ella Jameson is a freelance writer, blogger and contributor to many different websites, blogs, and magazines. After graduating from university with a degree in English Literature, Ella worked as an editor and copywriter for several years before becoming a freelance journalist. Her specialist subjects include food, travel, health and fitness, and the environment. Check her out at @JamesonElla, Google+ Ella Jameson, and about.me/JamesonElla

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The British have given the world many great inventions, from the corkscrew to the internal combustion engine, from penicillin to fax machines, from rubber bands to sewing machines.  But here is the greatest gift of all: the digestive biscuit.  Truly.

Digestive biscuits (or simply “digestives”) are lightly sweetened, subtle-tasting, hard-baked cookies.  The Brits, of course, call cookies “biscuits,” thus digestive biscuit.  Digestives typically contain brown, whole-grain, wheat flour; sugar; malt; oil; and baking soda for a raising agent,  It’s the baking soda, a known remedy for indigestion and heartburn, which gave the biscuit the moniker “digestive.”  Some variations add oatmeal and/or milk.  Unlike most cookies manufactured in the U.S., which contain high-fructose corn syrup, the healthier, little digestive contains old-fashion sugar, and not much of it. 

The British generally eat digestives with tea or coffee, frequently dunking them—but if you do, be quick!  They rapidly disintegrate in liquid.  For the perfect mid-morning or mid-afternoon pick-me-up, a pot of strong tea and a few digestives are just what the doctor ordered!

From whence did ye come, Digestive Biscuit?

Folks who research such things, found a reference to digestive biscuits as far back as 1851 in the Lancet London.  The baker William Hill advertised his “brown meal digestive biscuits.”  Then the New Universal Cookery Book, published in 1894, provided a recipe.  Around this time, the British brought the biscuit to the States, and John Montgomerie of Scotland, in 1890, was awarded a patent by the U.S. patent Office for his recipe.  Nowadays, variations include chocolate-flavored digestives, and regular-flavored with coatings of chocolate (dark, regular, or white), caramel, mint-chocolate, and orange-flavored chocolate.

Digestives are not manufactured in the U.S., however.  To buy them, one must find an outlet offering international foods or purchase them online.  (Indeed, you can buy them from Anglophiles United!  Please find the link below.)  Digestives are popular in many countries, including the UK, Australia, and even Greece.  I used to buy them from a Greek grocer here in Brooklyn; the brand was “Papadopoulos,” and it offered a reduced-fat version. 

A close cousin to the digestive that is manufactured in the States (by Nabisco), is the “Barnum’s Animal Cracker.”  You remember: that delightful cookie of childhood in the little circus-cage box with a string handle.  (Those handles were originally attached so that the boxes could be hung on Christmas trees.)  But please note, animal crackers are not the same thing.  They are a different animal.  (Pun intended.)  For the real deal, hie thee hence to a Brit grocer--or purchase below.  Popular UK digestive bands include McVitie’s (the best selling), Cadbury, and Hovis.

Excuse me now....my tea kettle is whistling....and my digestives await me!

Want to bake your own digestive biscuits?  Here is a recipe provided by the website Food52: 

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A fellow Anglophile asked me why the British love Heinz baked beans, and I think other readers may be curious too.  Heinz is, after all, an American company, headquartered in Pittsburgh—yet their beans are more firmly embedded in British culture than in ours.  On a list of quintessential British foods, baked beans--particularly Heinz baked beans--is up there with bangers and mash!  How can that be?

Enterprising Henry Heinz and a friend, back in the 1870s, filled a horse-drawn wagon with their homemade horseradish, sauerkraut, pickles, and vinegar and began selling  their culinary creations to Pittsburgh grocers.  They did well, but a decade later, Henry jettisoned his partner and went into business with relatives instead, launching the F & J Heinz Company.  The new, tweaked product line consisted of ketchup, chili sauce, sweet pickles, apple butter…and baked beans.  That is, beans in a tomato sauce, packed in a tin can.  Within a decade, the company began selling goods in the UK.  Henry and his family sailed to England, lugging five sample cases laden with the company’s “finest and newest products.”  The renown Fortnum & Mason department store in London, a Georgian-era startup famous for carrying exotic specialty products (and a leader in offering products in the newfangled tin can), and a frequent Royal Warrant holder, recognized a winner when they saw one.  In a game-changing moment, the F & M buyers told Heinz they would "take the whole lot.”  When Fortnum & Mason latched onto the product, the bean’s place in UK history was sealed.

In the 1920s, Heinz stopped exporting baked beans and ketchup to the UK and opened production factories for those goods in England.  There, a company executive, trying to sell more baked beans, came up with the bright idea of putting beans on toast—and the Brits loved it.  Later, during WW II, Britain’s Ministry of Food classified Heinz Baked Beans as “essential food” in its wartime rationing system.  In fact, Heinz UK was helping the war effort so much that the Axis twice bombed the Harlesden, London, factory.  Shortly after the war, the Queen issued a Royal Warrant to the company.

In the UK in the 1960s, Heinz’ ad slogan “Beanz Meanz Heinz” went viral, as they say today—becoming one of the best-known ad slogans in the UK.  The ad creator claimed that the slogan was “written over two pints of beer in The Victoria pub in Mornington Crescent.”  Four years ago, the company renamed the beans, “Heinz Baked Beanz,” with a "z."  (Of course, there’s Cockney rhyming slang for baked beans: "Steve McQueens.")  Today, other baked bean producers compete with Heinz in the UK, (e.g., Branston and HP), but Heinz remains the top seller.  Below, I offer two recipes for beans on toast.  Enjoy!

#BritishFoods #BritishCulture #BakedBeans #HeinzBakedBeans #Beanz #BritishRecipes #BeansOnToast

Purchase HEINZ BAKED BEANZ HERE
Peruse Anglophiles United "Kitchen & Pantry" page HERE

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Dear Anglophiles:  I wish all of you a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year!  If you're like me, you've had time to make New Year's resolutions--and break them.  (Especially any resolution pertaining to calorie restriction!)  If, perchance, one of the bullet points on your resolution list included "Enjoy life more," "Succumb to hedonism," or "Embrace my gastronomic nature," then I have a treat for you!  In the video below, chef Neil Colston instructs us on how to make a full English Breakfast.  Enjoy!

P.S. In defense of the full English breakfast's calorie count, I must point out that the meal is very high in protein, and protein offers a higher satiety level than carbs or fat.  Therefore, after gorging on a full English breakfast, you won't be hungry again for a long, looong time.  In fact,  the breakfast may well carry you until high tea at five!

INGREDIENTS FOR FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST

• Eggs
• Blood sausage ("black pudding")
• Pork sausage
• Smoked ham or bacon
• Crusty bread
• Hash browns
• Baked beans
• Tomatoes
• Mushrooms
• English Breakfast tea
• Orange juice
• HP sauce

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NOTICE: Dear Anglophiles, I am currently working on a large writing project and will be unable to blog for a while . . . however, I won't leave you hanging!  Each day I receive scores of interesting emails about Britain and British news, so my future blog posts, until I finish my writing project, will consist of links to some of these wonderful tidbits about Britain or videos that I find particularly interesting.  I hope you enjoy these nuggets!  (I also encourage readers to contact me about writing guest posts.)  Thank you so much for reading Anglophiles United!

_

Dear Anglophiles:  I must share a fascinating obituary I read in the Economist about Bill O'Hagan, the "pioneer of Britain's sausage renaissance."  Bill, who got rid of the "nasties" in sausage and was crowed by the British Sausage Appreciation Society as the best sausage-maker in the country, made little money from his brilliant creations.  Sadly, a former employee who, allegedly, left with some of Bill's recipes, received all the fame and fortune.


To read the Economist obituary about Bill O'Hagan, click HERE


Would you like to try your own hand at sausage making?  If so, you're in luck!  I discovered a site that offers simple recipes for nearly every type of sausage one can imagine--and the recipes give both metric and U.S. measurements!

To see sausage recipes, click HERE

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One of my favorite British dishes is Coronation Chicken, a delightful chicken salad with an Indian flair.  A London Le Cordon Bleu chef created the original recipe for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953.  It contained cold chicken, curry cream sauce, and spices. (Many variations include nuts and fruits.)  

Coronation Chicken was probably inspired by Jubilee Chicken, prepared for the Silver Jubilee of George V in 1935.  (It consisted of just cold chicken, mayonnaise, and curry.)  For the Queen's Diamond Jubilee  last year, a new recipe was concocted that featured the addition of ginger. 

The Coronation Chicken recipe I’m providing here is relatively simple, but you can certainly find highly complex recipes for the advanced chef.  Coronation Chicken is served cold, typically with a green salad and rice, or used as a sandwich filling.

Enjoy!

Coronation Chicken   (Serves 6)

Ingredients

• 6 chicken breast halves (skinless, boneless)

• 1/3 cup golden raisins

• 1 large mango (peeled, sliced, and cut into cubes.  [Mango is optional, but delicious when included!])

• 2/3 cup low-fat mayonnaise

• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

• 2 teaspoons mild curry powder

• 1 tablespoon mango chutney (Can add even if fresh mango cubes not used)

• Salt and pepper to taste

• 3/4 cup cashew pieces or slivered almonds

Directions

1. In a large pot, cook chicken in boiling water for about 20 minutes.  Drain, cool, and cut into cubes.  (Other methods of moist cooking are fine, such as using a Crock-Pot.) 
2. In a large bowl, stir together chicken cubes, raisins, and half the mango.
3. In a medium bowl, mix together mayonnaise, lemon juice, curry powder, chutney, and salt and pepper.  Now fold in chicken mixture and half the nuts.
4. Transfer to a serving bowl, then garnish with the remaining mango and nuts.

(Don’t forget the rice and green salad!)

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Few foods are more pleasant with your afternoon tea than homemade crumpets.   "Homemade crumpets?!" you gasp.  No fear, my Anglophile friends!  Below you will find a simple recipe for this quintessentially British griddle cake.

Some of you may not be familiar with crumpets.  They're first cousin to an English muffin, but more moist and dense.  They also have deeper holes (i.e., "nooks and crannies") than English muffins, which is part of their charm.  When you slather the crumpet with butter, the butter seeps into the holes, making the crumpet taste all the more decadent!  Cap the buttery crumpet with your favorite jam, and you will know heaven on earth.

CRUMPET RECIPE

Note: You will need crumpet/English muffin rings for this recipe.  If you don’t own any, you can buy them from Amazon on the link below.  Alternatively, you can use small tuna tins by simply removing the tops and bottoms of the tins—or use round cookie cutters, if they’re not too shallow.

INGEDIENTS

• 3 ½ cups all-purpose flour

• 2 ½ teaspoons instant yeast

• 1 cup lukewarm milk (do not boil)

• 1 ½ cups lukewarm water

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil or butter

• 1 ¼ teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon sugar

  DIRECTIONS

1. Put all ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat for 2 minutes, until smooth.  (Will be a bit thicker than pancake batter.)
2. Cover bowl with cloth and set in warm room.  Let rise for about 1 hour, until puffy and bubbly.
3. Lightly grease a griddle or frying pan and preheat to “medium” hot.  (I.e., Cooler than one used to cook pancakes.)
4. Grease crumpet rings well and place rings on griddle or skillet.
5. Spoon batter into crumpet rings until rings are about half full.
6. Cook batter 4 or 5 minutes, until tops are set and filled with holes.  (The tops should be dry and the batter fairly firm.  *See photo above. )
   
7. Lift off the crumpet rings and flip crumpets.  (Bottoms should be moderately browned when turned.) 
8. Continue cooking crumpet for 1 or 2 minutes.  When done, centers should be firm; tops should be spongy and only very lightly browned.  
9. Remove from skillet and drench with butter--then top with jam.

Enjoy!

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Zella’s Proper British Scone Recipe

So you're wanting to flex your culinary muscles and show the world what a true Anglophile you are?  Brilliant, I say!  You can start here with my recipe for Proper British Scones.  Be sure to serve with tea and invite friends!



INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 Tablespoons table sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 4 Tablespoons (1/2 stick) cold butter or margarine  (Helps to put in freezer a few minutes before using.  NOTE: For heart-healthy scones, substitute ¼ cup walnut oil or almond oil for butter.  This substitution, however, will create a somewhat less fluffy scone interior.)
  
• ½ cup of milk + 1 Tablespoon
• 1 whole egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 Tablespoon turbinado (course) sugar or table sugar

For variation, add:

• ¾ cup raisins, or....
• ¾ cups dried cranberries and 1 Tablespoon orange zest  (Note: For zest, scrape or grate the outer, orange-colored skin of one medium orange.)
  

PREPARATION

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and grease a cookie sheet

2. Mix flour, baking powder, table sugar, and salt in a mixing bowl (If using raisins or cranberries and zest, add now.)

3. Stir together ½ cup milk and whole egg in a separate bowl

4. Pinch off pea-size bits of butter and drop into mixing bowl, then add milk/egg mixture. Fold wet ingredients into dry, but just enough to get dry ingredients moist.  (Do not overwork!  If you do, scones will be hard.  You want hard exteriors but soft interiors.)

5. Place dough, in a ball, on floured surface  (If dough doesn’t hold together, add small amount of milk, 1 Tablespoon at time.

6. Knead dough 3 or 4 times.  (Again, do not overwork!)

7. Pat dough into circle, 1-inch thick.  (Make sure dough is at least 1-inch thick, or scones will be too flat.) 

8. Cut dough into approximately 10 circles (or triangles) and place on greased cookie sheet

9. Mix egg white and 1 Tablespoon milk, then brush over scones

10. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over scones

11. Bake 10 to 15 minutes, until nicely browned.  Keep eye on scones last few minutes of baking to ensure they don’t over-brown.

Serve with butter and jam or clotted cream and jam.

Enjoy!

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Dear Anglophiles: I've long been proud of the state-by-state listing of British venues in the U.S. that I've provided and want to thank those of you who have emailed me suggestions for the list.  I dare say, Anglophiles United has the Internet's largest, most-up-to date, accurate list of British pubs, restaurants, tea rooms, and shops located in the U.S.!  


(Note: If you ever find faulty info on the list, please let me know straightaway!  With your help, we can keep this list topnotch.  Thank you!)

Check out the list on my "Britain in your town" page!

And if you're in New York City, check out my "Britain in NYC" page!

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