Is it just me or does Christmas food in UK feature a lot of sausages?

[NalPolishRemover]

I love reading through the what's on your Christmas dinner plate thread & the what did you prep on Christmas eve & it struck me how much sausage meat features in so many people's festive food.

Lots of pigs in blankets & pork stuffing & pork stuffing balls & sausage rolls being made & eaten it seems.

I grew up in Ireland & this was really not a thing at all for us. We might have had a cooked breakfast that featured sausages if we were eating dinner in the evening but not every year & that would be it.

Our stuffing was always breadcrumbs, onion, butter & mixed herbs. Never meat.

We did not put bacon on the top of the turkey

Our sprouts did not have bacon in them

We didn't eat sausages as part of our dinner, not as pigs in blankets nor in any other form.

Sausages rolls played no part in our festivities.

It just struck me as unusual how similar so many elements of our celebrations are & yet so different in so many small ways

I'm married into a part English family but can't adopt their love of sausage meat at Christmas!

@growyourownjam

Yes. Lots of pork/ sausages/ bacon in the UK. We don't eat pork so no pigs in blankets for us. It's a weird dish My son was amazed to see pigs in blankets in the supermarket last year .

Vegetarian stuffing is much nicer than oily fatty stuffing full of salty bacon.

I hate pork, Australia has beef sausages and they are 😋

I’m shocked OP, I think of Ireland as a land with respect for pork products. All hail the 🐷 in blankets

I am surprised how many people have melon for a starter - it's not exactly seasonal! I don't think I've seen it in the supermarket for months.

Beef sausages are very wrong! I was very surprised in Australia to realise the sausages weren't generally pork!

Bacon on the Turkey keeps it moist. Admittedly as the chef it makes a great midpoint snack, sometimes I even share it, but it's all about making the Turkey as juicy and delicious as possible.

So I wouldn't count that as extra pork on the Christmas dinner.

Pigs and blankets I can take or leave, but everyone else seems to adore, so I get high quality butcher ones as supermarket ones are often a bit gross.

Sausage rolls I adore, but would never have on Christmas Day. Often a little snack on other days (Christmas Eve, Boxing Day, 27th).

We've scrapped sprouts as no one really likes, but if we do them sometimes some of the bacon from the Turkey goes in with them.

Don't bother with stuffing, but if someone wants it's usually veggie and cooked separately. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Stuffing without sausage meat is crap.

@WoodenReindeer

Beef sausages are very wrong! I was very surprised in Australia to realise the sausages weren't generally pork!

There are pork sausages in Australia. I see them in the supermarket all the time, as well as chicken ones, kangaroo and beef/ lamb. We don't really eat Sausages at Christmas time unless they're cooked on the barbie otherwise we have cold meats, chicken, prawns, (sometimes lobster as well )with salads, potato salad, etc.

Absolutely know there are pork sausages. I said not "generally pork!" There other sausages in the Uk but it usually is pork. I love but chicken but wouldn't want a chicken sausage. I learnt to check first.

Being that Australia is in Summer no you wouldn't expect a midwinter roast for Christmas 🙄.

My husband is Australian but makes a brilliant English Christmas dinner - as well as BBQ, salads etc in summer.

@rifling

I am surprised how many people have melon for a starter - it's not exactly seasonal! I don't think I've seen it in the supermarket for months.

Melon starter is a pure 70s throw-back, it used to be all the rage. One of the first kitchen jobs I remember doing was prepping melon - my grandmother would do the big slices then I'd take off the seeds, then slice and dice for the table. She had special bowls for that.

Seasonality aside, at one point serving a starter was what made a meal fancy, so melon's not a bad choice as it's so light.

We always had sausage meat stuffing back in the 1960s when I was little

I'm living outside the UK atm and I really miss British sausages! I think sausages and pigs in blankets and pork stuffing are what I miss about Christmas dinner, not the turkey or any of the rest of it.

I'm Irish and streaky bacon on the turkey was always a big thing to stop it drying out. The butcher would always add them in with the turkey. Sausage meat was always a thing as well but just not in our house. Pigs in blankets seem to be a recent addition but the ham is a very important part of the Christmas dinner in Ireland.

@WoodenReindeer

Absolutely know there are pork sausages. I said not "generally pork!" There other sausages in the Uk but it usually is pork. I love but chicken but wouldn't want a chicken sausage. I learnt to check first.

Being that Australia is in Summer no you wouldn't expect a midwinter roast for Christmas 🙄.

My husband is Australian but makes a brilliant English Christmas dinner - as well as BBQ, salads etc in summer.

Some families here do still do the hot meal! Hams, roast veggies, turkey etc We used to do all that when I was a kid (1980s) but then it started to become more popular doing a more summer type menu.

Sorry, I missed the "generally" part.

Pigs in blankets and stuffing - not too much really.

Sausage stuffing is amazing. Possibly my favourite part of Christmas dinner, besides all the veg. I might not bother with turkey or ham next year for me and just have extra stuffing.

Strangely we don't usually have much pork even at Christmas however this year we seem to be eating a whole pig.

So i think part of it is current fashion.

Am Irish.
I have to say that the addition of pigs of blankets to my Christmas dinner is the only good thing the English have brought to my Christmas. And Irish sausages are a bit crap overall!

We did always have sausagemest stuffing at home But agree pigs weren’t a thing.

But come one the Irish and bacon/ham/gammon is well known. Maybe that’s why it’s not such a Christmas thing as it’s very everyday.

I know what you mean, OP. The rise of pigs in blankets is definitely fairly new; certainly within the last twenty years. I also prefer 'veggie' stuffing. Couldn't find one yesterday that didn't have sausagemeat in, for love nor money.

I thought exactly the same thing as I did my prep yesterday! I’ve got pigs in blankets, sage and apple stuffing with sausage meat, two rashers of bacon in my red cabbage (not strictly necessary I think), and will put bacon on my Turkey. And I’m doing a porchetta! It’s a bit much.

But we eat pork rarely the rest of the year. The nitrites/nitrates aren’t good. Once every couple of months is fine I think.

Thank you for this thread, it helped me remember to put the pugs in blankets in in oven! Disaster averted.

@TellMeItsPossible you're welcome. I'm very glad to have averted any disasters!

I'm not suggesting that pork products aren't loved in Ireland, of course they are & our own dinner features a brown sugar glazed ham.
It's just I've personally not experienced the full on sausage meat feast I've read about on here. I'm in my 50s & no one I knew growing up had sausagmeat stuffing or pigs in blankets etc

And Irish sausages are amazing for whoever said they weren't! Superquinn sausages were legendary & Aldi specially select hand tied butchers sausages are a v close second. Our local butcher also makes amazing sausages .

Anyway I hope everyone's enjoying their Christmas dinners wherever you are & whatever's on your plate.

We'll be eating our (sausage free) dinner at 7pm and looking forward to it

DH nearly forgot to serve the pigs in blankets and sausage stuffing, and left them in the oven

Growing up in NW England in the 80s we always had pigs in blankets, though we called them “bacon rolls”. We didn’t put bacon on the turkey, only butter. Stuffing was from a packet and sprouts never had bacon in them! I think it’s part of the trend for making meals a bit fancier - goose fat roast potatoes, meat-based stuffing, etc. Nowadays we do lard the turkey with bacon, still make pigs in blankets and don’t serve disgusting sprouts at all!

I think we might have called it "sausages wrapped in bacon" then but my grandparents both would cook properly so it may well be in more recent yesrs the "shop bought pigs in blankets " became a thing!