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Traditions & Celebrations

Christmas dinner, afternoon tea and the customs that shape what Britain eats, and why.

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Christmas Dinner: From Boar’s Head to Turkey and Christmas Pudding

Medieval feasts featured boar’s head, goose and even peacock. The turkey arrived from the Americas in the 16th century, but it took Victorian Britain, and Charles Dickens, to put it at the heart of the nation’s Christmas.

3 October 20263 min read

Traditions & Celebrations

Afternoon Tea: The Duchess, the Scone and the Great Jam-or-Cream Debate

Afternoon tea is credited to a hungry duchess in the 1840s. Here is how a private snack became a social ritual, why “high tea” is not what it sounds like, and why Devon and Cornwall still argue about scones.

21 September 20262 min read

Christmas Dinner: From Boar’s Head to Turkey and Christmas Pudding

Afternoon Tea: The Duchess, the Scone and the Great Jam-or-Cream Debate

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