Roast Dinner Day is on November 4 in the United Kingdom
Every year in early November, as part of National School Meals Week, the national charity “Food for Life” and its communities come together to enjoy a roast meal.
Roast Dinner Day honours the importance of bringing people together over lunch to encourage students to eat school meals. It’s also a great way to encourage youngsters to consume nutritious, hot lunches.
The day can be held in various settings, including schools, nursing homes, community groups, and even your own house.
The History of Roast Dinner Day
The Sunday Roast originated in the United Kingdom, namely in Yorkshire.
Traditionally, the roast is a supper that is consumed after a Sunday church service and almost every home throughout the Industrial Age would prepare a roast before attending church on Sunday.
100 years ago, the Sunday roast consisted of boiled beef, broad beans, and cabbage. In 1485, during Henry VII’s reign, the Sunday roast was extremely popular, and the British used to eat a lot more meat back then.
Because of the Yeomen of the Guard’s fondness for roast beef, the royal bodyguards have been lovingly nicknamed ‘Beefeaters’ since the 15th century.
Fast forward to the 19th century and a 6.6 pound of beef intake was the ‘recommended’ weekly intake for an English person!
Since the 1920’s, Yorkshire puddings, meat and roast potatoes have been a staple of the English classic. Recently, vegetarian, and vegan choices have increased in popularity.
Source: https://nationaltoday.com/
Five Roast Dinner Facts…
1. Horseradish and beef
Although it wasn’t originally a sauce, horseradish has been served with beef in England for almost 400 years.
2. Mutant purple carrots
Orange carrots did not exist until Dutch farmers isolated mutant purple carrots.
3. Yorkshire appetisers
Originally, Yorkshire puddings with gravy were appetizers.
4. Dripping pudding
Yorkshire pudding used to be known as ‘dripping pudding’ in roast dinners.
5. Roast potatoes are traditional
Roast potatoes are a traditional side dish for roast dinners.