The History of Christmas Food and Feasts

This mouth-watering book celebrates classic Christmas stories and their food and feasts. Each chapter covers a different era and the important foodie tales of the time, including Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, Jane Austen's festive celebrations and Christmas with Dickens. The food author, Claire Hopley rediscovers the joys of literary Christmases and the meals enjoyed by classic characters, including Harry Potter's Christmas at Hogwarts with its impressive display of food, his first ever feast after years of being neglected, and the Grinch's failed attempt to ruin Christmas by stealing the Who-pudding in Dr Seuss' children's tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Claire also reveals food enjoyed by the great writers themselves, such as the lemon mincemeat which was traditional in Jane Austen's family whilst Charles Dickens enjoyed cod in oyster sauce in a pre-Christmas supper that also included roast beef, roast duck and mince pies.

With 40 must-try Christmas recipes including a pork pie inspired by the one Pip gave to Magwitch in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations, a Christmas Pudding recipe like those described in Charles Dickens' The Christmas Carol, Anthony Trollope's Orley Farm and Agatha Christie's The Adventure of the Christmas Pudding as well as a turkey curry based on Helen Fielding's Bridget Jones's Diary, this book is the perfect gift for people who love Christmas, its traditions and its foods, as well as the must-buy book for foodie booklovers who want to know more about Christmas feasts in ttheir favourite tales.

Gawain's Christmas Eve feast was fish whilst King Arthur waited until others had dined

Claire Hopley is the author of The History of Tea (also published by Remember When) which celebrates the role of tea and tea-time in literature. The food author and journalist has written for many publications including The Guardian, The Washington Times, The Boston Globe and British Heritage. Claire was raised in Chester and now lives between there and Massachusetts where she researched the food and heritage for her book, New England Cooking: Season and Celebrations. Claire was a guest speaker at the 2009 Chester Literary Festival where she launched The History of Christmas Food and Feasts.