A Sunday roast is almost ritual for many, the only chance for a group gathering during our hectic lives. Traditionally the males went to the pub for Sunday lunchtime ale and the womenfolk tended to the roast dinner. Now days this would sound almost chauvinistic that the man is in the pub, with the women at home, but god help any man who was not back at the desired time. Many a last laugh was had at the expense of the alpha male who decided to have that extra pint!If you were foolish enough to stay drinking there was a very good chance that the wife would march to the pub,and you would wear the dinner. That would be the unlucky version of events. If the wife was in reasonable spirits you might just be dragged out by an ear, at least with the latter you still managed to partake your dinner, by which time your humiliation might have subsided enough to sleep the rest of the afternoon in the armchair!
The Sunday roast not only has a history with traditional Sunday public house opening hours but also a meal that was eaten after church in the more traditional days.
In days gone by the Sunday roast provided a lot more than a meal for the family on Sunday, leftovers could be utilised for the following day. Shepard's pie being a dish that would be made with leftover lamb, bubble and squeak with leftover vegetables, possibly with the inclusion of a little dripping or fat that had been rendered from the cooked meat. Rendered fat being used as a cooking medium.
Dripping would be spread on bread for supper, and left over meat could be sliced for sandwiches for the children or the breadwinners lunch the following day. Even the dog normally gets lucky!
The roast is not only about the choice of meat but vegetables, gravy and accompaniments. Before the supermarkets held society to ransom with mass choice,our vegetables would be seasonal, with what you ate being governed by the harvest and what was available at the time . Accompaniments have always played a great part of the Sunday dinner. Accompaniments playing the part of making a marriage of flavours that might not be too welcome on there own. The classic Lamb with mint sauce, a sauce made from fresh mint, vinegar and sugar which provides an acidic note to cut through the fattiness of the lamb, or a nice white onion sauce to accompany roast lamb. Roast Beef with horseradish or mustard, just has to be a match made in heaven, that slight background of heat which somehow manages to bring all those wonderful tastes and flavours together! Roast pork with apple sauce and crackling, is another classic combination, made even more wonderful if made useing freshly picked apples.
Yorkshire puddings with the roast, although traditionally eaten as a starter, have eventually progressed to being eaten as part of the main roast Beef dinner. Now a lot of households will eat them with any roast, this is not to be condemned by the purist! It is a truly worthwhile part of the experience that i must confess to. Being of the persuasion that now views Yorkshires as a part of any roast! Suet crust pudding has lost appeal now days in our more health conscious society, but what a treat to eat with homemade gravy.
Gravy made from the pan juices, then thickened and poured over the dinner as an almost self contained sauce, helps to lift the roast to new heights and i almost forgot the tatties. Roast potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside are an absolute joy to eat. King Edward potatoes being my choice for roasting, preferably cooked in goose or duck fat, that incidentally is not as unhealthy as people assume!
A fond memory from my childhood, would be the Sundays spent at my aunts who cooked the roast whilst the men would go to the rugby club, a dinner would be cut out for a relative that lived alone, and then be delivered on foot, by whoever was old enough or available.
I was young then and like most children, had a dislike for vegetables but i would enjoy roast dinner cooked by my aunt.
Traditionally roasting was a method of cooking meats before the invention of the domestic oven, the meat would be cooked in front of an open fire using the spit roast method with a tray placed underneath to catch the juices, which could then be used to baste the meat. Basting being a method that is still in use today. The juices from the meat are spooned back over the meat to provide moisture, and stop the meat from drying out. Although sometimes fat from the animal or a fatty product such as streaky bacon is used to provide ready hands free method of basting.
In my opinion a roast dinner needs care and attention. An element of cooking skill is needed, maybe some flair and an understanding of basic techniques also. This is not a meal to be taken lightly- Done well a roast can be sublime, with the recipient experiencing all of the major taste sensations. Done badly a roast is nothing short of a minor catastrophe.
Sunday meats would normally be either Beef,Lamb,Pork or Chicken, this remains the same today in average households,with Seasonal game sometimes eaten by the more affluent family's or large estates. Rarely in normal circumstances, would this extravagance extend to the working class home. I feel that the soul of the roast dinner remains firmly with the mid to lower classes, but this was not always so. Many years ago when people were employed in the service of large households, meats were too expensive for the workers, or working class, so remained for a long time a food for the affluent.
Over the years society has changed with the advent of better wages, mass production of meat and poultry plus better and easier cooking methods. These changes are not necessarily for the better, years ago when the eating of this important meal became widespread and food was not wasted, we cared more for what was provided on our plates. The roast was viewed as a special meal to be enjoyed by the family, while not being cheap the cost of produce for this meal had to be justified with leftovers not going to waste, and the cost to the family eating and conversing together could be wholly justified and beneficial rather than the TV dinner that so often is a focal point of modern times. Modern times has produced a consumer society where excess is paramount, and society no longer cares for the old methods that we used through need and necessity, in modern times the housewife no longer has to worry about what is in the larder, what will be eaten Mondays, or if foods will spoil. Although times have changed, the roast is still a central part of British culture, and like most cultures the ritual of eating and bringing family and friends to the table remains central to ones identity.
The Sunday roast not only has a history with traditional Sunday public house opening hours but also a meal that was eaten after church in the more traditional days.
In days gone by the Sunday roast provided a lot more than a meal for the family on Sunday, leftovers could be utilised for the following day. Shepard's pie being a dish that would be made with leftover lamb, bubble and squeak with leftover vegetables, possibly with the inclusion of a little dripping or fat that had been rendered from the cooked meat. Rendered fat being used as a cooking medium.
Dripping would be spread on bread for supper, and left over meat could be sliced for sandwiches for the children or the breadwinners lunch the following day. Even the dog normally gets lucky!
The roast is not only about the choice of meat but vegetables, gravy and accompaniments. Before the supermarkets held society to ransom with mass choice,our vegetables would be seasonal, with what you ate being governed by the harvest and what was available at the time . Accompaniments have always played a great part of the Sunday dinner. Accompaniments playing the part of making a marriage of flavours that might not be too welcome on there own. The classic Lamb with mint sauce, a sauce made from fresh mint, vinegar and sugar which provides an acidic note to cut through the fattiness of the lamb, or a nice white onion sauce to accompany roast lamb. Roast Beef with horseradish or mustard, just has to be a match made in heaven, that slight background of heat which somehow manages to bring all those wonderful tastes and flavours together! Roast pork with apple sauce and crackling, is another classic combination, made even more wonderful if made useing freshly picked apples.
Yorkshire puddings with the roast, although traditionally eaten as a starter, have eventually progressed to being eaten as part of the main roast Beef dinner. Now a lot of households will eat them with any roast, this is not to be condemned by the purist! It is a truly worthwhile part of the experience that i must confess to. Being of the persuasion that now views Yorkshires as a part of any roast! Suet crust pudding has lost appeal now days in our more health conscious society, but what a treat to eat with homemade gravy.
Gravy made from the pan juices, then thickened and poured over the dinner as an almost self contained sauce, helps to lift the roast to new heights and i almost forgot the tatties. Roast potatoes crispy on the outside and soft and moist inside are an absolute joy to eat. King Edward potatoes being my choice for roasting, preferably cooked in goose or duck fat, that incidentally is not as unhealthy as people assume!
A fond memory from my childhood, would be the Sundays spent at my aunts who cooked the roast whilst the men would go to the rugby club, a dinner would be cut out for a relative that lived alone, and then be delivered on foot, by whoever was old enough or available.
I was young then and like most children, had a dislike for vegetables but i would enjoy roast dinner cooked by my aunt.
Traditionally roasting was a method of cooking meats before the invention of the domestic oven, the meat would be cooked in front of an open fire using the spit roast method with a tray placed underneath to catch the juices, which could then be used to baste the meat. Basting being a method that is still in use today. The juices from the meat are spooned back over the meat to provide moisture, and stop the meat from drying out. Although sometimes fat from the animal or a fatty product such as streaky bacon is used to provide ready hands free method of basting.
In my opinion a roast dinner needs care and attention. An element of cooking skill is needed, maybe some flair and an understanding of basic techniques also. This is not a meal to be taken lightly- Done well a roast can be sublime, with the recipient experiencing all of the major taste sensations. Done badly a roast is nothing short of a minor catastrophe.
Sunday meats would normally be either Beef,Lamb,Pork or Chicken, this remains the same today in average households,with Seasonal game sometimes eaten by the more affluent family's or large estates. Rarely in normal circumstances, would this extravagance extend to the working class home. I feel that the soul of the roast dinner remains firmly with the mid to lower classes, but this was not always so. Many years ago when people were employed in the service of large households, meats were too expensive for the workers, or working class, so remained for a long time a food for the affluent.
Over the years society has changed with the advent of better wages, mass production of meat and poultry plus better and easier cooking methods. These changes are not necessarily for the better, years ago when the eating of this important meal became widespread and food was not wasted, we cared more for what was provided on our plates. The roast was viewed as a special meal to be enjoyed by the family, while not being cheap the cost of produce for this meal had to be justified with leftovers not going to waste, and the cost to the family eating and conversing together could be wholly justified and beneficial rather than the TV dinner that so often is a focal point of modern times. Modern times has produced a consumer society where excess is paramount, and society no longer cares for the old methods that we used through need and necessity, in modern times the housewife no longer has to worry about what is in the larder, what will be eaten Mondays, or if foods will spoil. Although times have changed, the roast is still a central part of British culture, and like most cultures the ritual of eating and bringing family and friends to the table remains central to ones identity.
No comments:
Post a Comment