Skribent: Olivia Flordal
The fourth Sunday of Advent is around the corner, so it is time to start preparing for Christmas! We are all familiar with the Swedish ‘julbord’ consisting of Christmas ham, meatballs, herring and beetroot salad among other stuff. Swedes eat similar things during Easter and Midsummer and it can be a bit boring. I, for instance, am not a huge fan of the Swedish version of ‘julbord’, instead, I prefer the English version of Christmas dinner. Even though all families have their preferences regarding the content on the table I will now explain what’s on our dinner table on Christmas day.
The classic British Christmas foods consist of turkey, cranberry sauce, Yorkshire pudding, brussels sprouts, stuffing, braised red cabbage, roast carrots and parsnips, pigs in blankets, gravy and the most important (in my opinion) the roasted potatoes. For our Christmas dinner, we like to eat roasted turkey, stuffing, brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes and gravy. The turkey is traditionally roasted with vegetables such as onions, and carrots, and seasoned with salt and pepper. The turkey needs to be thoroughly cooked to exclude any risk of food poisoning!
The most important part for me is the potatoes, the carrots and the gravy. The potatoes are best prepared by lightly boiling them until the outer layer is soft but they need to be hard in the core to not be overdone when in the oven. Pour off any excess water and place the potatoes in a sieve and shake them lightly to give the outer layer a bit of texture. Lightly coat the potatoes in flour and place them in a baking dish with oil or goose fat and bake them in the oven until golden on all sides. The gravy’s base is the excess meat juice from the turkey and is seasoned with vegetable stock, salt and pepper or to personal preference. The best way to prepare the carrots is by roasting them with garlic and honey until crispy and soft at their core.
I hope this has inspired someone to try out something different to put on your ‘julbord’. I wish you all a calm and nice Christmas holiday with loads of tasty food to enjoy with family and friends.