Why do we eat turkey on Christmas day?
The festive period is filled with age-old traditions like eating turkey on Christmas Day. But how did this originate and why should we continue this tradition? It hasn’t always been traditional to eat turkey on Christmas Day. In fact, before turkey was introduced to Britain, geese, peacocks and even wild boar’s heads were eaten as Christmas presents. In 1526, William Strickland imported six turkeys from America and sold them for two pence each.
Birds were considered extremely tasty and a more practical alternative to other animals such as cows (which were more useful alive to produce milk) or chickens (which were more expensive than they are today). The popularity of turkeys has steadily increased and today in the UK we eat around 10 million turkeys every year.
Henry VIII was reputed to be the first person to eat turkey on Christmas Day, but it wasn’t until the mid-20th century that turkey surpassed goose as the most popular Christmas Day meal. Today, 87% of Britons believe that Christmas would not be Christmas without a traditional roast turkey. Turkeys have the advantage of being affordable, big enough to feed the entire extended family (with guaranteed leftovers!), and fresh—if you know where to buy them! They naturally hatch in the spring and typically take about seven months to mature into a healthy, full-size turkey.
If they are raised in the wild, they have room to roam, making sure their muscles and tissues are fully developed. If you want to ensure you have the most succulent and flavorful bird for your holiday celebrations, buy your free-range turkeys direct from the farm.
