Issue of the day

Do you drink gravy from the jug?

CHRISTMAS dinner used to be a straightforward affair with turkey and all the trimmings, but you can now get a quirky array of alternatives and, speaking of which, a survey has found many Britons seem to have developed a few quirky festive table manners.

How so?

A survey has revealed some rather questionable habits Britons seem to have developed over the years as they tuck into their turkey – and sometimes their turkey alternatives.

Such as?

The Top 10 Quirky Xmas Dinner Habits survey found that one-quarter of us like to drink gravy out of the jug, while 12 per cent of us put ketchup and/or brown sauce on our Christmas dinner and 12% also put hot sauce on everything, including their Brussels sprouts. Another 20% said they are fastidious about their festive routine, eating in a specific order, such as vegetables first, then roast potatoes, then stuffing and then turkey.

What else are we getting up to?

Some of us forego Brussels sprouts for baked beans (5% of those surveyed), while another 8% said that in the morning, while many are busy unwrapping Santa’s deliveries and tidying up the resulting mess, they actually sit down to have their Christmas dinner. Another 12% confessed to biting the tops of their mince pies off and licking the filling out.

And what about the turkey alternatives?

The survey, conducted for Frankie &

Benny’s, found one-third of us opt for an alternative to turkey, with one in five saying they would opt for a pizza.

Speaking of which…

One restaurant has capitalised on this by offering diners the chance to have an entire Christmas dinner on a pizza. Christened Fairytale Of New York, the festive pizza from Bad Boy Pizza Society in London’s Seven Dials features a gravy base, with mozzarella, shredded garlic, Brussels spouts, pigs in blankets, crispy fried sage and cranberry sauce drizzle.

And if that wasn’t enough…?

Pigsty, a Bristol-based restaurant, has launched the UK’S first Christmas Dinner Trifle, described as a “unique sweet meets savoury” concoction, featuring chunks of brioche soaked in Cointreau-flavoured cranberry sauce, pigs in blankets and mash, topped off with a sprinkle of candied bacon pieces.

We seem to be taking Christmas dinner to the max?

Jon Knight, managing director of Frankie & Benny’s, said:

“The research we commissioned has certainly thrown up some surprises” but if you fancy festive pizza or turkey trifle, he advises diners to “be yourself and do your own thing.”