Christmas Day 'English' Recipe Help

[zacsGranny]

Hi,
Not sure if I'm posting in the right place?
Our family is quite cosmopolitan and on Christmas Day there will be five couples representing different countries. Each couple has to provide small starters, main course and dessert for 10 people using recipes typical of their country.
We are England.
My thoughts so far are . . .
Starter Belly pork and black pudding
Main Slice of turkey, pig in blanket and a sprout in mini Yorkshire pudding with gravy.
Dessert Not sure whether to do an ice cream scoop of Christmas Pudding with a small amount of Rum sauce or these . .
Would love some thoughts please.
I have also have to provide English wine, so looking for recommendations.
Was thinking of Union Jack serviettes too - is that too tacky?

No to the union jack serviettes.

Your menu looks great but I'd add some mandolined curls of carrot around the edge of the yorkie before putting in the sprout and turkey because it's gotta be meat & TWO veg

Can't see what you mean by "these" in your op. Will edit if you've added it one I press "post"...

Thanks - obviously picture isn't showing yet.
It's Santa Claus on a skewer made from strawberry, grape, banana and marsh mallows.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can make this more 'English'

Fab menu, very English. Would go with the Christmas pudding dessert but can you add brandy butter rather than ice cream?

England isn’t famed for its wine, a more traditional drink would be ale - not a Christmas drink as such but definitely English. Can you get hold of that? Or some brandy in crystal glasses.

Presentation wise, I would try to find some kind of Doulton-like china side plates in a charity shop.

Where do you live out of interest?

Oh and remember to set the pudding on fire. That’ll be a great party trick if they’ve never seen it before..

There are some really nice sparkling English wines now. Apparently the soil is almost identical to the champagne region.

There are some excellent English wines around, but you could also go with cider, the traditional cloudy sort, not supermarket fizz.

I’d do smoked salmon, buttered bread triangles and lemon for starters - yours sounds absolutely delicious but Xmas is v meaty and it’s nice to have a lighter starter. Plus it’s v British.

Def xmas pudding for dessert, it’s also v British. I’d go brandy butter but rum cream might be more popular. The skewers are fun but I bet the banana would brown quickly and it’s more of a fiddle to make on the day.

Where are you all from? Where will it be held? I guess I’m thinking if people are all v used to the British food then you might be right to go a bit different.

Lots of ideas in here too: https://www.greatbritishchefs.com/collections/christmas-recipes

I like the Chapel Down wines. You could always go for port or sloe gin or something like that too?

Depends on your budget but Nyetimber make really good English sparkling wine.

Your menu sounds lovely. I would do little prawn cocktails in shot glasses
A slice of beef in a Yorkie with horseradish
Mini spiced trifle
For the drink a classic snowball

How is this served?

Given there are multiple dishes, from multiple countries, that might not go together?

A buffet?

For those asking, I'm in the UK, but DIL is Dutch. My son has lived in Germany. DIL's SIL is from Chile and another couple from Italy.

Thanks for all the advice. This will be served a bit like a Tasting Menu, with one couple at a time preparing and serving each course with gaps between. The Dutch love long buffets, so this will be similar.

I have discovered and ordered some Chapel Down wine. Still trying to make a decision about other courses. My concern is what has already been mentioned - such a variety may not go together? But maybe I'm overthinking this?

English Food for Christmas is the ideal! You can’t go wrong! Yorkshire puddings and pigs in blankets, mince pies and mulled wine, mead, hot spiced cider, pate and crusty bread with chutney, jam tarts with dried fruit in them, pickled onions and smoked cheddar, yum yum yum!

Agree with smoked salmon or prawn cocktail starter but also have you thought about pate/toast/chutney?

Properly made bread sauce. Very English!

Make sure you add cranberry sauce to the turkey. Although Goose is more traditional.

Another traditional starter option would be Devils on Horseback (dates stuffed with cheese and nuts and wrapped in bacon).

Make sure you include a Christmas cracker too… they’re not really done elsewhere.

This because the idea of belly pork & black pudding as a starter puts me off.
With the main, I know it's meant to be a small portion but I would want a small roast potato & parsnip to make it feel more complete & British to me

Bread sauce.