@@LindsayHoliday I am swayed to believe especially the jellies and fish wouldn't last long enough, even if put in modern refrigerators (that Victorians didn't obviously have), especially those that were already partly eaten. Like, what would you do with literal leftovers of very varying sorts of food? There are limits to what you could mince together into a pie. At some point, they would only be good to fertilize queen's roses at best. A ridiculously expensive fertilizer IMHO.
Fascinating fact: Prince Albert didn't 'introduce' the Christmas Tree to England. This honour goes to Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of King George III in the 18th century. Queen Charlotte was the first to bring the Christmas 'branch' and later 'tree' to England, from her native Germany, but this didn't take off as a regular Christmas tradition beyond the top nobility in Britain until Prince Albert revived the custom in the 19th century. What Prince Albert, along with Queen Victoria, did was make the Christmas Tree popular as a result of the pictures of them which appeared in British and American newspapers.
wow you don’t really ever think just how many things and traditions started because of Queen Victoria. Everything from white wedding dresses to what we eat for Christmas comes from her. She really was a very influential and a very admired woman. 🥰
There is a show called Victorian Christmas on Prime Video. It has a group of people who do everything right to the way it was done during Victorian Times. Very interesting.
@@daisybtoes she was asking about birth control which was very radical given the time. She loved having sex with Albert, but hated having babies. She was not demure. She was sheltered, but not because she was a princess. She was THE princess and the closest living heir to the throne. It was also used to control her.
@@claudiamiller7730 Mine of 40 does this. He loves Christmas decorations. He pulls out all the boxes, puts up the outside lights, the couple trees we have. Then his back gets sore, or he’s over it, , and leaves the rest to me😒. I would frankly be happy with just the tree and a couple wall hangings, but he wants a hallmark movie.. So I’ve got these bloody boxes sitting around that I pick away at. Happens every year.😠
@@mangot589 My husband and I had 40 happy years together before passed on, a year ago last summer. We both loved Christmas, and had our own holiday tradition. We had three miniature villages, a pretty Nativity, lights and music, movies to watch, and there was the afore-mentioned Victorian dinner we made one year, with limited success. Actually, we had Chritmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, we'd go to our favorite Chinese restaurant, just like Ralphie and his family.
@@Lisa59 - poached lamb brains in white wine and lemon and butter is delicious. They resemble a cross between meringue and a poached egg white. Very light.
My German teacher in high school told me that someone she stayed with in Germany in the 70’s, I believe, still used candles. When she voiced a similar concern, his reply was to the effect of “A few fires here and there are worth how beautiful it is. Artificial lights would make it look like a disco hall.”
I live on the Sea Islands of the Southern United States. Our Christmas feast is mostly seafood: crabs, steamed shrimp, oysters, and other side dishes like rice and vegetables. I would love to spend one Christmas in London; eating minced pies and plum pudding.
I was a medieval history and literature major in college. My gang of medievalists would hold winter and summer feasts, mostly involving lots of mead, singing and roast chicken (those being the days when beef was far too expensive for college kids). Fast forward to the years (from the mid 1980s on) when I lived in the UK, inside the North Circular Road. This meant easy access to London's vast array of fishmongers, fresh fruit and veg markets, specialty bakers and butchers. And one year, I scored a piglet to make roast suckling pig in my modern ground-floor flat kitchen. I vividly recall the surprise on my British guests' faces when I marched around the table to the Boar's Head Carol, bearing on an oversize platter an actual pig head -- complete with gilt apple in its mouth!
We are In America but my mother always served a traditional English Christmas feast! Prime Rib roast, Yorkshire Pudding popovers, buttered green beans, spiced crab apples and Plum Pudding. Yum!
I am dying of a heart attack from watching this video. How rich and succulent the food must have been. I enjoy fine dining as a treat, but cannot imagine eating like this on a regular occurrence. Nevertheless, I would not mind enjoying a traditional Victorian Christmas feast no matter what the cost.
I seriously doubt that any one person could eat some of everything. It's just too much food. There were a lot of people at Victoria's dinner, mostly relatives, guests, and some of the courtiers. There had to be enough to feed two or three dozen people. I'm not prepared to argue about the menu selection from over a hundred years ago, because tastes in food do change. Look at what must of us used to eat. I grew up in the 50's, and we ate stuff that most of us today wouldn't touch. And remember when everyone practically lived on fast food?
One Christmas I copied the menu of the Cratchits: roast goose with sage and onion dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and applesauce. Dessert was plum pudding with a sprig of holly on top, doused in brandy and ignited.
My grandpa who is 97 talks about how when he was little he would eat turtle soup. Im told my great grandma made the best in town. He still talks about how good it was.
When I was young we always ate turtle chowder. When I got older I heard of 'clam chowder' and thought the restaurant was nuts for replacing the turtle for clams. Found out that I was the odd person at the table because of my appetite for turtle. My grandpa made the best but he's gone since 2006. It was delicious!
It was queen Charlotte, king George lll’s wife, that introduced the Christmas tree to the English royal family. And queen Victoria grew up with having a Christmas tree in her room during her childhood so there was a tradition with Christmas trees before Prince Albert’s time at the court. But it got widespread during their marriage
I know that Liver and Onions was a staple for my grandmother to make as it was cheap[F.Y.I My mom's side has alot of German & her maiden name also was too.]. My mom never made that for us growing-up, but I LOVED eating the German food called LIver wurst. As for another German food, I love Gingersnaps or Gingerbread Cookies. Oh yeah and Pfeffernüsse.
One thing I did when the kids were small is on Christmas eve we would load down the tree with small presents, and candy so when they got up Christmas morning it was amazing . I also do a similar steamed pudding called bread pudding . I plan to do it again this year. What a good video, Merry Christmas, and God bless us everyone.
My Mother made a sugar plumb tree several years, not to eat. A limb of Holly was painted white and dusted with Epsom salts for an ice like finish. Various colors of gumdrops were wrapped in small squares of crinkly cellophane and stuck on the thorns and branch tips where all leaves and berries had been removed. It was magical in a child's eyes.
I'm drooling right now! That's a lot of food! I do love learning the origin and history of foods and dishes. I never thought of Queen Victoria as a foodie. But I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. I have some newfound respect for Queen Victoria after watching this video. She left a lasting influence on Christmas traditions. I do love decorating and admiring Christmas trees and cooking on Christmas.
Queen Victoria enjoyed life, food, wine, and sex very much. When Albert died she went into extreme grief, and from what I understand from her diary she was never really happy again. She continued eating though! Lol
Totally. My English grandmother made a fabulous mince pie from a recipe her foremothers had used. So many vibrant spices! I remember she used suet for the pastry rather than vegetable shortening. Raisins, sultanas, currents, dried sour cherries all went into the fruit filling. I think she used molasses rather than treacle because treacle wasn't easily available here back then. It was a heavy and tasty slice!
Listen up, people. You all would not decline an invitation to such a feast. So quit your bitchin'! Granted, some of the items sound a bit over the top, but I'm sure nobody gorged themselves on everything. It reminds me of our family holiday feasts; you have a bit of this, a nibble of that, and so on. I am sure this meal was planned and produced to be shared with many folks and staff. Stop being a Grinch and be thankful for what you have to share. Lindsay, you did a great job describing this event and providing us all with vicarious enjoyment!
All of this reminds me that while Queen Victoria and her family/friends mindlessly enjoyed these luxurious feasts, the working classes starved practically to death and lived under horrendous living conditions.
@@jessegaspard your welcome even though I can smell the sarcasm from here much like the Cockatrice served in the tutor court as it was a pig front stitched to back end of chicken or the beautiful cheese from Italy and the Papal state and sausages that came from the Holy Roman Empire (chuncky Germany) as well as the Polish and Lithuanian commonwealth and huge lashing of meat from many estates under domain of Henry ranging from goose to wild boar and even whale meat (the whale wore often caught at sea not really part of his domain but the rest was) oh and the alcohol plenty of wine and port but no vegetables or even potatoes they commaner food and then more meat. But yeah sarcasm smells a little like that
There are programmes on the BBC where it shows modern day confectionery professionals making Christmas candies from the tudor period to modern day. Its very interesting. Watching "hidden killers" also shows sweet meats and its just sugar molded into a shaped and coloured
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍 I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?
I’m first generation American of German heritage. My parents also used a bell to call us to the Christmas celebration after dinner on Christmas Eve. When I was very young Der Weinachtsman also brought the Christmas tree.
@@Dylan-kq9nv no shit, Sherlock. God forbid I can enjoy one single thing in my entire fucking miserable life like vintage postcards or candles. Do you enjoy making people feel like shit or is a just a side effect of being an asshole?
Foie gras production is so cruel: ducks and geese are force-fed by grain being crammed down their throats. Their livers swell and the birds become incapacitated; their livers are harvested later.
With a menu like that, it's no wonder that Queen Victoria was a bit on the heavier side in her later years. So much meat, which horrifies me a bit as a vegetarian. And the mock turtle soup makes me think of the poor sad Mock Turtle form "Alice in Wonderland" - "Soup of the evening, beautiful soup..." It's amazing though that we have so many of our current Christmas traditions thanks to Victoria and her family and their mixing of old English and German traditions. She, along with Dickens and some others of the same time, really did make Christmas popular again as a cozy, family centred holiday, which I think most of us are very thankful for!
@@thegodofimagination Somehow, I think the Queen's dogs were not under the table in the State Dining Room. But you never what may have happened on less formal occasions. She did love her animal companions.
A friend of mine is from Britain and hosts a traditional British Christmas dinner each year, except for this one. For the first time I had figgy pudding, flame and all. Very, very good and rich!
Wow that was amazing, as I just set my Christmas table to live stream on Facebook. It doesn’t have any food served on it, it’s just my collection of China crystal and silver. I can’t imagine how long that dinner would take to serve and I have no idea how anyone could eat all that. It’s really over the top extravagance in true Victorian style. I personally would be really picky at that meal as a lot of those organ and brain meats sound awful.
Narrator: *lists endless amounts of food served to Victoria* 23 minutes later: “So what does your Christmas feast look like?” Ooof I felt my bank account hurt
A ham is a staple on Finnish christmas table. With it we'll eat rutabaga casserole and carrot casserole. Some might make potato casserole. There will also be some smoked salmon. My kids won't eat anything except the ham, so I'll make some pasta for them. For dessert, I'll make some pastries or plum mousse. For the christmas morning I'll make rice porridge with plum soup. That's about it for our christmas meals.
Queen Victoria is my favorite historical figure. I love the fashions she introduced, especially the dresses. Her dresses were so beautiful. Merry Christmas to Her Majesty.
Watching this gave me a stomach ache! Great job on research, Lindsay. Would you consider doing a video on Queen Marie of Romania? She really influenced how Romania was treated after WWI.
Christmas was wonderful at our house..decorating, mom with her Turkey dinner and everything. Considering everything mom did a great job cooking, dad got the tree going. The 5siblings decorated the tree. Lots of presents..ha..fun, excitement. They left a good legacy for the rest of us siblings..so to this day..I have to have the tree, lights outside..light in the darkness..beautiful. I can leave the Christmas tree on and just peaceful, joyful,nostalgia. I miss that time but I have good memories. Ciao.
In Germany Goose and Fish are the traditional christmas fare (or were. not terribly certain about that one nowadays.) and to be honest I'd pick waterfowl over turkey any day. the amount of fat and dark meat on them makes them incredibly moist and flavorful.
Today there is normally no meat in mince pies. They are still a popular Christmas tradition in the UK. We usually buy these little spiced pies pre-made but some people make their own. Either way, they are best warm from the oven and served with a little cream. Have you tried them Lindsay? I wondered about the roast beef and the yorkshire puddings, did she really not have gravy with both?! Scandalous!! :D
My Christmas only menu: pudding, fish, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. On my table is a twig of a traditional Christmas tree, and icons of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist. Queen Victoria's Christmas feast is great.
Am I the only one who gets mesmerized like a child during these videos? I think I'm going to just pour a Glühwein, sit back, relax by the fire....and get mesmerized all over again. ❤️
I've made mince pies , Yorkshire pudding, and shortbread cookies. I've poured brandy over the Christmas pudding and lit it and we all marveled at the blue flame encasing the luscious dessert, usually accompanied with custard. I love the British Christmas traditions. Like pulling crackers and wearing the silly paper hats found inside and finding a joke on a piece of paper, and a cheap prize. Watching the Queen's Christmas message on tv. Yes, I love the traditions of Christmas that my family enjoy. Thanks for the video, I recognise a lot of that food. Happy New year Lindsay, all the best.
Oh my goodness! I am legit tempted to make these dishes for christmas and dress everyone up in victorian clothes for some christmas in the future XD My family would be all in too. It's really interesting to find out that I had most of these dishes and they are as deliscious as described including beef tongue and chicken comb soup ;) Its so interesting to see and hear about my family connections since I was born in and grew up in the Austrian-Hungarian Regions.
Lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Pies, cake, and/or ice cream for dessert. Make your lasagna-filled pans the night before and reheat on Christmas day for dinner. Baked Italian style pasta dishes are always better the second day.
I love Christmas pudding for dessert with a brandy sauce or even a custard sauce. Also it wouldn’t be Christmas without a Turkey with a savoury stuffing. Although not mentioned, it is also tradition to have Christmas Crackers during the meal and Sausage Rolls for appetizers.
As a Pagan I don't do Christmas but I do do Yule and have a proper feast of venison and pheasant with seasonal vegetables and wine. And yes, we certainly do need a "Happy New Year".
Our Christmas delight is roast duck with roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots. We do not have 'Plum Pudding' but fruit and ice cream. For drinks: sherry to start, red wine with and a choice of liqueurs with coffee - then 'Go to sleep'
My family has Royal receipts, bills of sale, from the Crown from her reign when she purchased our family’s apples from our family farm for her Christmas feasts. Pretty cool!
Christmas Eve "feast" at my house is usually along the lines of a small fish filet in "whatever" sauce, colcannon, fruit compote, and meatless mince pie, all washed down with vanilla black tea. After dinner I decorate the door to the house with a wreath or holiday wrap, and then open the front curtains a bit and plug in the lights on my tabletop tree (which stays there, decorated, all year) so passersby can see the winking colors. This year, though, I did not have time, energy, or money to drive an hour to pick up the mince pie and an hour to drive back home, and the "feast" came from what was in the pantry. I served canned roasted-vegetable chili under a popover dome (secret recipe!), and the holiday drink of the evening was Chinotto. No room for dessert!
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍 I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?💭
Wonderful presentation! So glad many traditions live on in one way or another! BTW, Mel Torme who was Jewish as was Jesus aka "'Yeshua" composed his classic song "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" and "I'm Dreaming of a "White Christmas" was composed and written by the late great American song composer Irving Berlin who was also Jewish and wrote around 1000 songs, many still popular to this day like "God Bless America"! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024!
Mmmm! I wanna try ALL those festive foods if I can. In fact, I eat head cheese all the time--it's a favorite of mine! Merry Christmas, Lindsey Holiday! 🎄🎅🍗✨
My family used to have turkey a lot for Christmas growing up, but now we usually have roast beef, so funnily enough it sounds like we're going back to the classic dish, haha!
True, but once the Queen finished eating her course, you were obliged to as well- and it is recorded Victoria was quite a fast eater, so you wouldn't have too long to eat the whole meal
This video was awesome! My traditional Christmas feast growing up was pizza because my mother would always forget to plan for a meal 😂 I’ve spent many a holiday in a little Caesar’s lobby.
I have at one time or another had every single one of these dishes, but I would never eat foie gras again as it is tortuous to the geese! Brawn sounds horrible but it is actually very juicy and flavourful. Turkey is the blandest of all these foods and requires sauces with it to make it palatable. We no longer use real meat in our mince pies, but we do use suet fat.
My brother's mother in law makes the best plum pudding that I have ever tasted bar none.. Every year I look forward to eating it on Christmas Day as one of many desserts on offer.. and yes.. it is set aflame dosed in brandy!
I love your channel and learning about the history of the Tudor era! Will you be making a video about Elizabeth of York? She’s my favorite queen and I would like to know more about her!❤️
Thanks so delicious memories! I live alone but will shopping because I cannot cook these delicacies! Thankyou for this happy memories. ❤😊 God bless you and yours 😊
I really enjoyed this short doc. on Victorian Christmas feast. Yes, I would gladly try any one of the delicacies that were offered by the Victorian Court!! I am a fan of headcheese. But what we get in the U.S., which is sold at the deli counter at the local grocery, pales dramatically to what was shown in your video. Now that headcheese looks like the real deal!!
Love your video! For our family Christmas meal: appetizers: dip and veggie tray, pretzel , crackers, cheese and meat tray, main course: turkey, ham, sweet potatoes mashed, sweet potato candied, regular mashed potatoes, green bean casserole with the little crunchy onions on top, stuffing, Brussel sprouts with bacon maple syrup and walnuts. And finally dessert, which is 100% my aunt : apple pie, pecan pie, oreo pudding, cherry pie and cookies - all the cookies! Almond balls, buckeyes, chocolate peanutbutter cookies, magic bars, cranberry shortbread, on and on with the cookies. She's an amazing baker and does a cookie exchange with her bunco ladies. Very nice of her to share! But really, just everyone being together is the best. So warm and lovely.
I have a special interest in medieval days and Renaissance. And I'm glad that you're on here. Giving some history and videos for us to see . This Christmas 2023 I am making a medieval lamb pie. I will have some dried fruits in it as well and some red wine in it. Thank you for sharing
Great video, and it must've involved a ton of research. I wonder how much weight the guests gained after the holidays! I'd like to try the carrot soup for the first course. Forget about the soups with animal heads in them
Very interesting and educational video, I learned a lot about how Queen Victoria and the aristocrats celebrated Christmas! However I do wonder if they were able to move afterwards, having had such a huge dinner!
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍 I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?💭
Being British myself, I’m going to try actually this year after watching your video roast ribeye beef Yorkshire pudding pâté de fois gras I lovely dessert. Not sure what type is it I’m gonna go for but thank you you give me some really good ideas, especially the roast beef be more traditional and turkey. Love your video really well done. Thank you
Question / Suggestion: If QV and Albert brought over and popularized most of the Christmas food and or traditions we know today then, what was the Christmas feast and / or Christmas celebrations like before Victoria and Albert's influence? More specifically in the era of the dreaded, "Kensington System" and prior what kind of Christmas celebrations if any would Victoria have enjoyed as a German child growing up in British England?
There was still Father Christmas,mistletoe hung up/wreaths and greenery brought into the house, carols,fairy lights,goose,presents,cards,stockings,etc.Alot of traditions/feasting in England from Pagan times.
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Great job as usual Lindsay! I have one burning question.... What did Queen Victoria do with all the leftover food that wasn't eaten?
She had them again for new years!
@@LindsayHoliday I am swayed to believe especially the jellies and fish wouldn't last long enough, even if put in modern refrigerators (that Victorians didn't obviously have), especially those that were already partly eaten. Like, what would you do with literal leftovers of very varying sorts of food? There are limits to what you could mince together into a pie. At some point, they would only be good to fertilize queen's roses at best. A ridiculously expensive fertilizer IMHO.
@@LindsayHoliday You are awesome at storytelling and teaching about royals/history I applaud you and hope you stay safe during the holidays 👏
@@OstblockLatina feed the servants. I don’t know about QV but earlier monarchs also gave leftovers to the poor.
@@LindsayHoliday pls to either Diana, princess of wales or Tsarina Alexandra ( alix of hesse)🙏🙏🙏
Fascinating fact: Prince Albert didn't 'introduce' the Christmas Tree to England. This honour goes to Queen Charlotte of Mecklenburg, wife of King George III in the 18th century. Queen Charlotte was the first to bring the Christmas 'branch' and later 'tree' to England, from her native Germany, but this didn't take off as a regular Christmas tradition beyond the top nobility in Britain until Prince Albert revived the custom in the 19th century. What Prince Albert, along with Queen Victoria, did was make the Christmas Tree popular as a result of the pictures of them which appeared in British and American newspapers.
wow you don’t really ever think just how many things and traditions started because of Queen Victoria. Everything from white wedding dresses to what we eat for Christmas comes from her. She really was a very influential and a very admired woman. 🥰
My favorite Queen Victoria story is when she asked her doctor if there was a way she could have sex with Albert without getting pregnant.
There is a show called Victorian Christmas on Prime Video. It has a group of people who do everything right to the way it was done during Victorian Times. Very interesting.
The Christmas tree goes back to Germanic pagans
@@kendelrenee1 Naive, wasn't she? Well, she grew up living a painfully sheltered life simply because she was the Princess.
@@daisybtoes she was asking about birth control which was very radical given the time. She loved having sex with Albert, but hated having babies. She was not demure. She was sheltered, but not because she was a princess. She was THE princess and the closest living heir to the throne. It was also used to control her.
We can't forget Mrs. Crocombe! Mrs. Crocombe lovers unite!
YES!
A viewer of English Heritage i see.
Yessss
@De Nicki Minaj omg why is the queen of rap hitting on daddy Abraham?😩
Definitely! And Merry Christmas 🎅🤶🍽❄⛄🎄👩🍳
My ex wanted a “victorian christmas” one year so that’s what I did. It was...difficult without servants
Bahaha at least you had an ex. But wow I feel bad for you though.
Lol
If my current hunny of 47 years asked ME for a Victorian Christmas...well...I’d “EX” him, fast enough......no lie!! Pick up the slack, man!!!
@@claudiamiller7730 Mine of 40 does this. He loves Christmas decorations. He pulls out all the boxes, puts up the outside lights, the couple trees we have. Then his back gets sore, or he’s over it, , and leaves the rest to me😒. I would frankly be happy with just the tree and a couple wall hangings, but he wants a hallmark movie.. So I’ve got these bloody boxes sitting around that I pick away at. Happens every year.😠
@@mangot589 My husband and I had 40 happy years together before passed on, a year ago last summer. We both loved Christmas, and had our own holiday tradition. We had three miniature villages, a pretty Nativity, lights and music, movies to watch, and there was the afore-mentioned Victorian dinner we made one year, with limited success. Actually, we had Chritmas dinner on Christmas Eve, and Christmas Day, we'd go to our favorite Chinese restaurant, just like Ralphie and his family.
Sweetmeat: not meat, sometimes bread.
Sweetbread: not bread, always meat.
basically
sweetmeat: *desserts involving glucose* (pastries/confectionaries, candies, & fruits)
sweetbread: *internal organs*
And sugar plums aren’t actually plums! British food is so misleading.
I think sweatbreads were the brains of a livestock animal. Yum yum
@@Lisa59 - poached lamb brains in white wine and lemon and butter is delicious. They resemble a cross between meringue and a poached egg white. Very light.
@@Lisa59 glands not brains, usually pancreas or thymus. They look revolting but taste really good
The sight of the trees covered in lit candles is giving me anxiety like woah 🎄 🔥 😅
My German teacher in high school told me that someone she stayed with in Germany in the 70’s, I believe, still used candles. When she voiced a similar concern, his reply was to the effect of “A few fires here and there are worth how beautiful it is. Artificial lights would make it look like a disco hall.”
The idea is you don’t have a branch directly above the candle
@@melissamarsh2219 But what if one fell? They looked like thin candles...
@@Lauren.E.O German engineering prevents such things.
Same here
I live on the Sea Islands of the Southern United States. Our Christmas feast is mostly seafood: crabs, steamed shrimp, oysters, and other side dishes like rice and vegetables.
I would love to spend one Christmas in London; eating minced pies and plum pudding.
We eat mince pies and plum pudding in Canada I made mince pies this year
I’m right there with you. I’d love to spend a Christmas in a place in Europe that is snowy and storybook.
And I would love to enjoy a Christmas dinner just like yours on sea island
I was a medieval history and literature major in college. My gang of medievalists would hold winter and summer feasts, mostly involving lots of mead, singing and roast chicken (those being the days when beef was far too expensive for college kids). Fast forward to the years (from the mid 1980s on) when I lived in the UK, inside the North Circular Road. This meant easy access to London's vast array of fishmongers, fresh fruit and veg markets, specialty bakers and butchers. And one year, I scored a piglet to make roast suckling pig in my modern ground-floor flat kitchen. I vividly recall the surprise on my British guests' faces when I marched around the table to the Boar's Head Carol, bearing on an oversize platter an actual pig head -- complete with gilt apple in its mouth!
Thank you Albert and Victoria...we are forever indebted!🎄
We are In America but my mother always served a traditional English Christmas feast! Prime Rib roast, Yorkshire Pudding popovers, buttered green beans, spiced crab apples and Plum Pudding. Yum!
I am dying of a heart attack from watching this video. How rich and succulent the food must have been. I enjoy fine dining as a treat, but cannot imagine eating like this on a regular occurrence. Nevertheless, I would not mind enjoying a traditional Victorian Christmas feast no matter what the cost.
My sentiments exactly
to much food
My goodness gives a new meaning to the word gluttony.
Its beyond gluttony, it's freaking outrageous!
I seriously doubt that any one person could eat some of everything. It's just too much food. There were a lot of people at Victoria's dinner, mostly relatives, guests, and some of the courtiers. There had to be enough to feed two or three dozen people. I'm not prepared to argue about the menu selection from over a hundred years ago, because tastes in food do change. Look at what must of us used to eat. I grew up in the 50's, and we ate stuff that most of us today wouldn't touch. And remember when everyone practically lived on fast food?
@@bonniecartwright8537 actually left overs were given to the servants and then the poor so nothing went to waste
One Christmas I cooked a 🎄"Dicken's" Dinner🎄 with Roast Goose, Chestnut Dressing. & Plumb Pudding. The family looooooved it !!!
Heaven! 🌰
One Christmas I copied the menu of the Cratchits: roast goose with sage and onion dressing, mashed potatoes and gravy, and applesauce. Dessert was plum pudding with a sprig of holly on top, doused in brandy and ignited.
My grandpa who is 97 talks about how when he was little he would eat turtle soup. Im told my great grandma made the best in town. He still talks about how good it was.
Memories
This is terrible. Turtle must no be eaten!!!
@@sarahsarita0 It was the 1930s. What else were they going to eat? They didn't have any money but they had a pond with giant snapping turtles.
@@crystalschweitzer7625 Makes sense now
When I was young we always ate turtle chowder. When I got older I heard of 'clam chowder' and thought the restaurant was nuts for replacing the turtle for clams. Found out that I was the odd person at the table because of my appetite for turtle. My grandpa made the best but he's gone since 2006. It was delicious!
It’s hard to think of Victoria being into Christmas. She never seemed that whimsical to me... 🎄
she popularized the christmas tree
@@itsalice2780 Yeah, it’s just odd for me to think of her as someone who got into the party spirit.
@@Lauren.E.O She *DID* enjoy a party get-to-gether portrayed in the movie "The Greatest Showman" Starring {Australia's} Hugh Jackmam. 👸🎄🎟🃏🦸♂️💯
She was into it because it was her husband’s background.
@@sabrinagrant8003 Good point
It was queen Charlotte, king George lll’s wife, that introduced the Christmas tree to the English royal family. And queen Victoria grew up with having a Christmas tree in her room during her childhood so there was a tradition with Christmas trees before Prince Albert’s time at the court. But it got widespread during their marriage
Thank you
It’s fun to see how much of these dishes still sound amazing
As a German I am extremely proud 😂 Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone 💕
Seems the Germans influenced most Christmas traditions.
As a proud Austrian American citizen, I echo your greetings!
I know that Liver and Onions was a staple for my grandmother to make as it was cheap[F.Y.I My mom's side has alot of German & her maiden name also was too.]. My mom never made that for us growing-up, but I LOVED eating the German food called LIver wurst.
As for another German food, I love Gingersnaps or Gingerbread Cookies. Oh yeah and Pfeffernüsse.
One thing I did when the kids were small is on Christmas eve we would load down the tree with small presents, and candy so when they got up Christmas morning it was amazing . I also do a similar steamed pudding called bread pudding . I plan to do it again this year. What a good video, Merry Christmas, and God bless us everyone.
My Mother made a sugar plumb tree several years, not to eat. A limb of Holly was painted white and dusted with Epsom salts for an ice like finish. Various colors of gumdrops were wrapped in small squares of crinkly cellophane and stuck on the thorns and branch tips where all leaves and berries had been removed. It was magical in a child's eyes.
I'm drooling right now! That's a lot of food! I do love learning the origin and history of foods and dishes. I never thought of Queen Victoria as a foodie. But I guess you can't judge a book by its cover. I have some newfound respect for Queen Victoria after watching this video. She left a lasting influence on Christmas traditions. I do love decorating and admiring Christmas trees and cooking on Christmas.
Queen Victoria enjoyed life, food, wine, and sex very much. When Albert died she went into extreme grief, and from what I understand from her diary she was never really happy again. She continued eating though! Lol
You can judge a book by it’s cover, when she was old, she was quite .. rotund !
As a foodie and a history lover, these are always my favorite videos! Adore everything you put out. Lovely job as always.
I remember a true mince pie from my childhood and I love it. What we get today doesn't even come close to the spices of those old pies.
Totally. My English grandmother made a fabulous mince pie from a recipe her foremothers had used. So many vibrant spices! I remember she used suet for the pastry rather than vegetable shortening. Raisins, sultanas, currents, dried sour cherries all went into the fruit filling. I think she used molasses rather than treacle because treacle wasn't easily available here back then. It was a heavy and tasty slice!
This is better than a White House Christmas party!
Be Best
Because the pork is on the menu rather than at the table?
Dang, you Troll everywhere!
It better be better, for the riches came from colonized India😏
Listen up, people. You all would not decline an invitation to such a feast. So quit your bitchin'! Granted, some of the items sound a bit over the top, but I'm sure nobody gorged themselves on everything. It reminds me of our family holiday feasts; you have a bit of this, a nibble of that, and so on. I am sure this meal was planned and produced to be shared with many folks and staff. Stop being a Grinch and be thankful for what you have to share. Lindsay, you did a great job describing this event and providing us all with vicarious enjoyment!
❤👍🏻🎄
Victoria Didn't "Nibble" on Anything!! She ate the Whole Damn Thing. She was a 'Gluttonous Swine"!! Poor Albert!!
Last time I was this early Queen Victoria was still alive.
And had an Asian heir ninjastream.to/watch/e9BZaEg1gZwXx/queen-victoria-asian-descendant
I was quite late. This late that I was still dealing with the Confederacy.
@@erikascencen tf lol
Lol 👍👏👏👏❤
Well makes you a lot older than me. I'm 73 and all I can remember was QEII's coronation on TV. But I do have an old George VI coin.
All of this reminds me that while Queen Victoria and her family/friends mindlessly enjoyed these luxurious feasts, the working classes starved practically to death and lived under horrendous living conditions.
Oh hush
How the TUDORS celebrated Christmas, please.
The was a lot of food
@@thegodofimagination Ah... thank you. We no longer need or want a video now.
@@jessegaspard your welcome even though I can smell the sarcasm from here much like the Cockatrice served in the tutor court as it was a pig front stitched to back end of chicken or the beautiful cheese from Italy and the Papal state and sausages that came from the Holy Roman Empire (chuncky Germany) as well as the Polish and Lithuanian commonwealth and huge lashing of meat from many estates under domain of Henry ranging from goose to wild boar and even whale meat (the whale wore often caught at sea not really part of his domain but the rest was) oh and the alcohol plenty of wine and port but no vegetables or even potatoes they commaner food and then more meat. But yeah sarcasm smells a little like that
Catherine of Aragon is in the comments im sure she can answer some questions
@@AbrahamLincoln4 well your also here so I have a question for you do you remember me lol
There are programmes on the BBC where it shows modern day confectionery professionals making Christmas candies from the tudor period to modern day. Its very interesting. Watching "hidden killers" also shows sweet meats and its just sugar molded into a shaped and coloured
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍
I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?
Omg I’m so glad we’re getting more into the Victorian era!!!!
I’m first generation American of German heritage. My parents also used a bell to call us to the Christmas celebration after dinner on Christmas Eve.
When I was very young Der Weinachtsman also brought the Christmas tree.
I'm not really a holiday person, but I do love the aesthetic of a Victorian Christmas.
qUiRkY aEsThEtIc. The aesthetic was people having barely any food and being extremely poor
@@Dylan-kq9nv no shit, Sherlock. God forbid I can enjoy one single thing in my entire fucking miserable life like vintage postcards or candles. Do you enjoy making people feel like shit or is a just a side effect of being an asshole?
I'm right there with you. Will you have it this year?
@@Dylan-kq9nv Reread it please. They said the aesthetic - the look - not the time period or anything pertaining to reality, the AESTHETIC.
@@Dylan-kq9nvpull the stick out your a$$
Foie gras production is so cruel: ducks and geese are force-fed by grain being crammed down their throats. Their livers swell and the birds become incapacitated; their livers are harvested later.
With a menu like that, it's no wonder that Queen Victoria was a bit on the heavier side in her later years. So much meat, which horrifies me a bit as a vegetarian. And the mock turtle soup makes me think of the poor sad Mock Turtle form "Alice in Wonderland" - "Soup of the evening, beautiful soup..." It's amazing though that we have so many of our current Christmas traditions thanks to Victoria and her family and their mixing of old English and German traditions. She, along with Dickens and some others of the same time, really did make Christmas popular again as a cozy, family centred holiday, which I think most of us are very thankful for!
What's sad is people aren't aware of the pagans roots where "Christmas" began
Any Christmas tradition is pagan and not Queen Victoria's, just these foods.
Had luxurious provide dished for celebrating Royal 👑 members Christmas 🌲 & new years,so interested served.
I'll just take the carrot soup, thank you. 😂
And the salmon
And the chestnuts, oooh I love those!!!
Me too...and thanks :-)
Yes but without the ham in it please lol
same
it’s totally beyond my imagination how anyone could possibly consume that amount of food in one sitting.my mind boggles was
It easy you just have to befriend the host dog so when don't want eat the rest of a dish you can pat your knees and boom dog bin shows up lol
Very small portions were served over a period of hours. The French court of Versailles was on a lavish scale every night.
@@hazelpearson7807 oh yeah it was great thanks for the nostalgia
@@thegodofimagination Somehow, I think the Queen's dogs were not under the table in the State Dining Room. But you never what may have happened on less formal occasions. She did love her animal companions.
@@timhazeltine3256 you never know
HOW THE TUDORS CELEBRATED CHISTMAS PLEASEE 💛💛💛💛💛
over the top I imagine. All things in excess..
Lucy Worsley. 12 days of Tudor Christmas video.
@@stardresser1 oh yes I love her videos! Very informative.
A friend of mine is from Britain and hosts a traditional British Christmas dinner each year, except for this one. For the first time I had figgy pudding, flame and all. Very, very good and rich!
Wow that was amazing, as I just set my Christmas table to live stream on Facebook. It doesn’t have any food served on it, it’s just my collection of China crystal and silver. I can’t imagine how long that dinner would take to serve and I have no idea how anyone could eat all that. It’s really over the top extravagance in true Victorian style. I personally would be really picky at that meal as a lot of those organ and brain meats sound awful.
Narrator: *lists endless amounts of food served to Victoria*
23 minutes later: “So what does your Christmas feast look like?”
Ooof I felt my bank account hurt
A ham is a staple on Finnish christmas table. With it we'll eat rutabaga casserole and carrot casserole. Some might make potato casserole. There will also be some smoked salmon. My kids won't eat anything except the ham, so I'll make some pasta for them. For dessert, I'll make some pastries or plum mousse. For the christmas morning I'll make rice porridge with plum soup. That's about it for our christmas meals.
Very interesting! My Dad's family came from Finland in the 1890s. My great grandma always made rice pudding and fruit soup for Christmas! 🎄
Queen Victoria is my favorite historical figure. I love the fashions she introduced, especially the dresses. Her dresses were so beautiful. Merry Christmas to Her Majesty.
After Prince Albert died I believe she wore only black until she died, must have been a challenge for her dressmakers
Jesus is the Majesty.
Watching this gave me a stomach ache! Great job on research, Lindsay. Would you consider doing a video on Queen Marie of Romania? She really influenced how Romania was treated after WWI.
This sounds like the greatest feast of all time. I would love to be there
yes this feast sounds like the biggest feast in all kingdoms
I probably should have eaten before watching this
Same... i'm gonna go make some lame eggs now.
Heh heh heh. So very true. Heh heh heh.
Christmas was wonderful at our house..decorating, mom with her Turkey dinner and everything. Considering everything mom did a great job cooking, dad got the tree going. The 5siblings decorated the tree. Lots of presents..ha..fun, excitement. They left a good legacy for the rest of us siblings..so to this day..I have to have the tree, lights outside..light in the darkness..beautiful. I can leave the Christmas tree on and just peaceful, joyful,nostalgia. I miss that time but I have good memories. Ciao.
In Germany Goose and Fish are the traditional christmas fare (or were. not terribly certain about that one nowadays.) and to be honest I'd pick waterfowl over turkey any day. the amount of fat and dark meat on them makes them incredibly moist and flavorful.
It’s funny to see people have big fancy dinners on Christmas, as my family always had our fancy dinner on Christmas Eve and leftovers for Christmas.
Today there is normally no meat in mince pies. They are still a popular Christmas tradition in the UK. We usually buy these little spiced pies pre-made but some people make their own. Either way, they are best warm from the oven and served with a little cream. Have you tried them Lindsay? I wondered about the roast beef and the yorkshire puddings, did she really not have gravy with both?! Scandalous!! :D
My Christmas only menu: pudding, fish, fruits, nuts, and vegetables. On my table is a twig of a traditional Christmas tree, and icons of Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist.
Queen Victoria's Christmas feast is great.
Please never stop posting. Also could you upload a video about Börte, Chinggis Khan’s Queen?
The orange custard looks really good!
Am I the only one who gets mesmerized like a child during these videos? I think I'm going to just pour a Glühwein, sit back, relax by the fire....and get mesmerized all over again. ❤️
Heh heh heh. No....
Merry Christmas and have a Happy Festive Season from Australia 🇦🇺
Same to you from the United States 🇺🇸
F Christmas
Now I'm hungry.. Salmon sounds good.. They make it like they did many years ago..
I just went on a road trip and re-listened to all of your Victoria videos...twice! So this is PERFECT timing ❤️
Plus my birthday is Christmas so this was especially interesting!
I've made mince pies , Yorkshire pudding, and shortbread cookies.
I've poured brandy over the Christmas pudding and lit it and we all marveled at the blue flame encasing the luscious dessert, usually accompanied with custard.
I love the British Christmas traditions. Like pulling crackers and wearing the silly paper hats found inside and finding a joke on a piece of paper, and a cheap prize.
Watching the Queen's Christmas message on tv.
Yes, I love the traditions of Christmas that my family enjoy.
Thanks for the video, I recognise a lot of that food.
Happy New year Lindsay, all the best.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Good luck 2024
Oh my goodness! I am legit tempted to make these dishes for christmas and dress everyone up in victorian clothes for some christmas in the future XD My family would be all in too. It's really interesting to find out that I had most of these dishes and they are as deliscious as described including beef tongue and chicken comb soup ;) Its so interesting to see and hear about my family connections since I was born in and grew up in the Austrian-Hungarian Regions.
Lasagna and garlic bread for dinner. Pies, cake, and/or ice cream for dessert. Make your lasagna-filled pans the night before and reheat on Christmas day for dinner. Baked Italian style pasta dishes are always better the second day.
I love Christmas pudding for dessert with a brandy sauce or even a custard sauce. Also it wouldn’t be Christmas without a Turkey with a savoury stuffing. Although not mentioned, it is also tradition to have Christmas Crackers during the meal and Sausage Rolls for appetizers.
I'm willing to try any of these. The only thing still missing is a castle fully staffed.
As a Pagan I don't do Christmas but I do do Yule and have a proper feast of venison and pheasant with seasonal vegetables and wine. And yes, we certainly do need a "Happy New Year".
Great Job, Lindsay! I hope you make more food videos. I really loved the Titanic meal video.
Our Christmas delight is roast duck with roast potatoes, broccoli and carrots. We do not have 'Plum Pudding' but fruit and ice cream. For drinks: sherry to start, red wine with and a choice of liqueurs with coffee - then 'Go to sleep'
I made the mistake to watch this before I’ve had lunch.
Excellent research of all these Christmas traditions & dishes. Merry Christmas to all!
I absolutely adore your voice and the way you read :) very soothing. Your research is great too
My family has Royal receipts, bills of sale, from the Crown from her reign when she purchased our family’s apples from our family farm for her Christmas feasts. Pretty cool!
This video made me hungry and I can't watch it again unless I want to be hungry.
Christmas Eve "feast" at my house is usually along the lines of a small fish filet in "whatever" sauce, colcannon, fruit compote, and meatless mince pie, all washed down with vanilla black tea. After dinner I decorate the door to the house with a wreath or holiday wrap, and then open the front curtains a bit and plug in the lights on my tabletop tree (which stays there, decorated, all year) so passersby can see the winking colors. This year, though, I did not have time, energy, or money to drive an hour to pick up the mince pie and an hour to drive back home, and the "feast" came from what was in the pantry. I served canned roasted-vegetable chili under a popover dome (secret recipe!), and the holiday drink of the evening was Chinotto. No room for dessert!
Love this. So many old family favorites and other recipes from travel and friends.
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍
I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?💭
Wonderful presentation! So glad many traditions live on in one way or another! BTW, Mel Torme who was Jewish as was Jesus aka "'Yeshua" composed his classic song "Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire" and "I'm Dreaming of a "White Christmas" was composed and written by the late great American song composer Irving Berlin who was also Jewish and wrote around 1000 songs, many still popular to this day like "God Bless America"! Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2024!
Mmmm! I wanna try ALL those festive foods if I can. In fact, I eat head cheese all the time--it's a favorite of mine! Merry Christmas, Lindsey Holiday! 🎄🎅🍗✨
My family used to have turkey a lot for Christmas growing up, but now we usually have roast beef, so funnily enough it sounds like we're going back to the classic dish, haha!
God, that's a lot of food!!!!! After the second course - I would be done!! Thank you so much for such an entertaining and informative video.
True, but once the Queen finished eating her course, you were obliged to as well- and it is recorded Victoria was quite a fast eater, so you wouldn't have too long to eat the whole meal
Wow...the finest of fine dining....that era was outstanding and amazing.
This video was awesome!
My traditional Christmas feast growing up was pizza because my mother would always forget to plan for a meal 😂 I’ve spent many a holiday in a little Caesar’s lobby.
How do you forget Christmas? I do like pizza tho
@@starchild1198 now I’m realizing that my mom probably planned for pizza and faked the forgetting 😂
@K Kr beautiful memory!
I have at one time or another had every single one of these dishes, but I would never eat foie gras again as it is tortuous to the geese! Brawn sounds horrible but it is actually very juicy and flavourful. Turkey is the blandest of all these foods and requires sauces with it to make it palatable.
We no longer use real meat in our mince pies, but we do use suet fat.
Thank you Lindsay!💕
Love Christmas pudding
Happy Christmas Season, Everyone ;)❤️🎄💚
A happy one to you too, Emi! (* rings sleigh bells *)
And hopefully a happy new year
@@bingerz237 Thank You !
@@chelseaisweirdness Yep, This year was just full of bad luck for me lol
@@maiira3933 SAME
My brother's mother in law makes the best plum pudding that I have ever tasted bar none.. Every year I look forward to eating it on Christmas Day as one of many desserts on offer.. and yes.. it is set aflame dosed in brandy!
I love your channel and learning about the history of the Tudor era! Will you be making a video about Elizabeth of York? She’s my favorite queen and I would like to know more about her!❤️
Thanks so delicious memories! I live alone but will shopping because I cannot cook these delicacies! Thankyou for this happy memories. ❤😊 God bless you and yours 😊
I really enjoyed this short doc. on Victorian Christmas feast. Yes, I would gladly try any one of the delicacies that were offered by the Victorian Court!! I am a fan of headcheese. But what we get in the U.S., which is sold at the deli counter at the local grocery, pales dramatically to what was shown in your video. Now that headcheese looks like the real deal!!
Love your video! For our family Christmas meal: appetizers: dip and veggie tray, pretzel , crackers, cheese and meat tray, main course: turkey, ham, sweet potatoes mashed, sweet potato candied, regular mashed potatoes, green bean casserole with the little crunchy onions on top, stuffing, Brussel sprouts with bacon maple syrup and walnuts. And finally dessert, which is 100% my aunt : apple pie, pecan pie, oreo pudding, cherry pie and cookies - all the cookies! Almond balls, buckeyes, chocolate peanutbutter cookies, magic bars, cranberry shortbread, on and on with the cookies. She's an amazing baker and does a cookie exchange with her bunco ladies. Very nice of her to share! But really, just everyone being together is the best. So warm and lovely.
Yay, more Victoria
I have a special interest in medieval days and Renaissance. And I'm glad that you're on here. Giving some history and videos for us to see .
This Christmas 2023 I am making a medieval lamb pie. I will have some dried fruits in it as well and some red wine in it. Thank you for sharing
That was exquisite! ❤️🙏
Roast beef and yorkshire. Puddings
I would seriously try all of this food it looks delicious!!!
Thank you....very, very informative and fun 👍🏾
Great video, and it must've involved a ton of research. I wonder how much weight the guests gained after the holidays! I'd like to try the carrot soup for the first course. Forget about the soups with animal heads in them
That was soo much food! She was Queen! You have to impress your guest.
Happy Holidays to you too, dear!
Another beautiful presentation...
Very interesting and educational video, I learned a lot about how Queen Victoria and the aristocrats celebrated Christmas! However I do wonder if they were able to move afterwards, having had such a huge dinner!
👋i hope you're safe over there? I hope this year brings happiness prosperity love and peace 💞❤️🕊️🕊️ all over the world 🙏🌍
I'm originally from Canada currently living in California ☀️☀️☀️☀️and you where are you from if i may ask?💭
@@franklinstephen3268 , thanks for your reply! I live somewhere near the bottom of the Pacific Ocean, and also near Australia 🇦🇺
@@cassandraralph5906 Nice place you’re from, It’s nice meeting with you here. How’s everything over there?
Being British myself, I’m going to try actually this year after watching your video roast ribeye beef Yorkshire pudding pâté de fois gras I lovely dessert. Not sure what type is it I’m gonna go for but thank you you give me some really good ideas, especially the roast beef be more traditional and turkey. Love your video really well done. Thank you
Question / Suggestion: If QV and Albert brought over and popularized most of the Christmas food and or traditions we know today then, what was the Christmas feast and / or Christmas celebrations like before Victoria and Albert's influence?
More specifically in the era of the dreaded, "Kensington System" and prior what kind of Christmas celebrations if any would Victoria have enjoyed as a German child growing up in British England?
Lucy Worsley has a wonderful YT video about the christmas feasts of Henry VIIi's court at Christmas.
There was still Father Christmas,mistletoe hung up/wreaths and greenery brought into the house, carols,fairy lights,goose,presents,cards,stockings,etc.Alot of traditions/feasting in England from Pagan times.
i am not surprised she had a local fish as part of her Christmas Dinner