Toffee-Making, Torch Processions and Plygain Singing on Christmas Eve and Christmas Morning. At 3am on Christmas morning in the 18th and 19th centuries, Welsh churchgoers would leave their houses by torchlight or candlenight to go to Plygain, a service of carols sung a capella by solos, groups and choirs.
Traditional Christmas dinner features turkey with stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. Other types of poultry, roast beef, or ham, are also used. Pumpkin or apple pie, raisin pudding, Christmas pudding, or fruitcake are staples for dessert.
Y NADOLIG (Christmas):
The custom in many parts of Wales was to attend a very early church service known as “Plygain” (daybreak), between 3am.
Siôn Corn: Is literally translated as 'Chimneypot John', or the 'bloke that comes down the chimney' and is the Welsh Father Christmas or Santa Claus.
Beyond turkey, traditional British Christmas food usually consists of stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, roast potatoes, Brussels sprouts, carrots, and parsnips. What is this? Redcurrant jelly, Yorkshire pudding, pigs in blankets, and other sides and condiments figure in as well.
Overall the traditional Christmas dinner classic, the turkey, is far and away the winner for most popular festive food. The turkey category usually sees an increase in demand of 284.7% in December, compared to September to November sales.
For the traditional British Christmas dinner, the main part is the turkey and the trimmings would be foods like the sprouts, stuffing and roast potatoes.
The least popular Thanksgiving foods are candied yams and sweet potato pie. The least popular Christmas foods are persimmon pudding and fruitcake.
A Christmas feast
Most Aussies choose to swap the traditional roast turkey for a Christmas ham, and fresh seafood (specifically prawns) takes pride of place on many festive banquets. It makes sense that Australians opt for a light and refreshing dessert option to end their Christmas feast.
Wales has a national day called St David's Day, which is named after Wales' patron saint. St David's Day is celebrated on the 1st of March each year. People celebrate by wearing traditional Welsh costumes, eating traditional Welsh dishes such as Welsh cakes, and putting on parades.
The hunting of the Wren in Wales involves capturing and killing a wren. It gets placed in a box and then marched from door to door. When people open their doors, they would pay to see the wren's body inside the box. Then let the procession in for food and drinks.
English: Santa Claus / Father Christmas
In the UK, US and Canada, “Santa Claus” or “Father Christmas” is believed to travel around the world sporting a red suit on his sleigh, pulled by reindeer.
Brussels sprouts is officially the UK's favourite Christmas vegetable - if you don't include roasties. T he rivalries between those who love Brussels sprouts and those who don't have become a British cultural phenomenon.
Brits typically tuck into roast turkey or a nut roast with vegetables, stuffing, and pigs in blankets, followed by a portion of Christmas pudding with custard. Families who enjoy a bit of flamboyance will douse the pudding with brandy then set it alight before serving.
The Brits love their Sunday Roast dinners. This dish is made up of: roasted meat (beef, chicken, lamb or pork), roast potato, Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables (usually a selection of: roast parsnips, Brussels sprouts, peas, carrots, beans, broccoli and cauliflower, not necessarily all) and gravy.
This basic formula includes pork sausage, bacon, blood sausage, beans, a fried egg, and tomatoes, and then there are some distinctly Welsh additions. The full Welsh breakfast also includes extra bites like laverbread, cockles, and Glamorgan sausages.
Tradition and diversity
A typically traditional Welsh breakfast consists of bacon, eggs, laverbread and cockles. Welsh tea, traditionally a late afternoon ritual, would consist of bara brith, 'speckled bread', a sweet fruit bread and Welsh cakes. Welsh rarebit is a luscious traditional supper.
The cakes and scones can be eaten plain but most people prefer them warmed with spreads on them. Jam and Clotted Cream is traditonal and delightful. Jam and Butter is great too. Honey, peanut butter and Nutella are other options.