OLD-FASHIONED FEASTS

Evening Post, Issue 88, 12 April 1924, Page 16

OLD-FASHIONED FEASTS

FIRST INTRODUCTION OF THE '■!'•-TURKEY.." . ',

Before the sixteenth ' ..century the Christmas as we know it was-non-existent (writes Ethelline Hewson in the "Daily Mirror"). " It was turkey : less, pu'ddingless, potatoless! To-day Christmas stands for .turkey, and turkey for Christmas! - But had you lived on the' further-side of. that marvellous sixteenth century, neither'the Christmas turkey, nor any other-time turkey, for that matter, would have been seen- on your, table! . Sebastian Cabot—blessings ■■ on his adventurous ■ soul—brought the bird.from America to Europe, wherej. it.made' it first appearance, not at a Christmas ' dinnerj but at the wedding feast, of-a king! The Eoyal party ate heartily,'' not. to say greedily, of - the novelty. ; The' success of the dish was assured-instantly, everybody had indigestion, . and ' Charles IX. forthwith -decided to breed the bird for himself! It soems an incredible thing: that- there was a time when ,we contrived to' exist without the homely, indispensable potato— that it used to.be cultivated as a curiosity ! For hundreds of years there were practically, no vegetables in these islands, mo green salad stuffs, no edible roots, no carrots, turnips, potatoes—nothing but beef and beer, and, for winter consumption, pickled.b'eof and,pork. Queen Elizabeth and her maids of honour used to breakfast on 'beefsteaks and beer! Valiant fare for .fragile women! Pudding, like the turkey, is also a .comparatively modern .institution. ;Pudding was unthoug'ht of for many centuries, and, when they did think of "it, they couldn't find anythingVbetter' to boil it' in than broth 1 ■ i ■ ■