The Victorians are well known for the reinvention of Christmas, moving it from an unfashionably drunken knees-up to a (sometimes) more sedate family celebration. But while we can give the era a grateful nod for the Christmas tree, carols and crackers, let’s be honest - it’s really all about the food.

Most of the foods we think of as Christmas were, for a long time, simply seasonal feast foods. But over the course of the Victorian period, plum pudding became Christmas pudding, Twelfth cake lost out to Christmas cake, and turkey started to triumph. In this illustrated talk, Annie Gray will take us on a tour through the Christmas tables of the rich, the poor and the doing just fines, to show how the Christmas dinner we love (or hate) today came about. You may even pick up some take-home tips.

Annie Gray is a food historian and author, and a panellist on BBC Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet.

Get your signed copy of Annie Gray's The Greedy Queen: Eating with Victoria now for just £8.99.

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