Christmas traditions: The story of Santa Claus, and why we eat mince pies and hang up stockings

Christmas traditions: The story of Santa Claus, and why we eat mince pies and hang up stockings

Why do we eat turkey on Christmas Day?

Goose, boar and peacock have all been popular Christmas meats over the centuries, but nowadays, turkey reigns supreme as the traditional Christmas Day meal in the UK.

Legend has it King Henry VIII was the first English monarch to eat turkey on Christmas Day, popularising it among the upper classes after the bird was imported from America. The introduction of refrigerators in the 1950s brought the dish into the mainstream and onto dining tables around the country.

However turkey, stuffing and pigs in blankets are not the norm for the rest of the world; most countries have different classic Christmas meals. The Swedes often eat pickled herring and meatballs, in Mexico they eat tamales and in Southern Italy they favour fried eel.

Why do we eat mince pies?

Mince pies were known as Christmas pies, or crib pies, as their oblong shape was meant to resemble Jesus' cradle. The pies were initially made of meat, usually mutton, and influenced by crusaders who came back from the Middle East with spices.

Samuel Pepys wrote about them, but in his time they were much more savoury than we are used to now. In the 18th century the pies became sweeter, with the