Goose for X-mas

[indiandreami]

If goose is a traditional christmas meal, why do so many people eat turkey - when did this change?

thanks, Pam x

[Lonnie]

As a youngster. on the 50s, Chicken was the traditional Christmas dish, before that, I believe it was Goose.

[Lonnie]

Sorry, I never read your post properly.

[shaneystar2]

The turkey was imported from the USA to Europe, reaching the UK in the 1520s. Once there it soon took over the traditional English Christmas dinner. It was imported into East Anglia where there are still large turkey farms .


In America, turkey (wild and plentiful) was a natural choice for the Christmas feast. In England this switch was slow to come because these "exotic" birds were the privilege of the wealthy. Many working-class English Victorian families, like the Cratchits in Charles Dickens' Christmas Carol, still belonged to Goose Clubs which they saved for all year but it was still cheaper than turkey..

Goose if far nicer than turkey and you get all the lovely fat for roasting the spuds ...but now, where once it was cheap it is now much more expensive than dry old turkey !
Also I don't think ..in this country at least ....it is farmed as intensively as turkey.
You get all these awful ready to roast turkey type things but you never see goose offered in the same fashion !