The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

Y ou can take the Englishman out of England, but… well, you know the rest. For the English, a proper Sunday dinner is, at this point, almost a genetic trait. I still love it and miss my mother’s Sunday dinners and my Nans too. Sunday din ner, or “Sunday roast” as it’s called across the pond dates back to before WWII. Friday was payday and take away night—fish and chips for everyone! Saturday was shop ping day, so dinner was often cold sliced meats and salad. Sunday was a roast. It might be a rolled shoulder of lamb, a bone in prime rib of beef, chicken, or a leg of pork. Anything left over was used the rest of the week, beef reappearing as Cottage Pie and potatoes and cabbage reheated in beef drippings to make Bubble & Squeak. Chicken got pulled off the bone to make an English curry. My mother and father both came from large families. Seven heads in each. And my Nan loved to cook and was good at it. As the years passed and her children grew and left, my Nan would still cook a four pound chicken every Sunday. Often she would still be eating it come Thursday. When I asked her about it, she explained, “I have always cooked a Sunday roast. When your mum and her brothers and sister left home I told them that no matter where they were, on Sunday there would always be a chicken on the table and they would always be welcome.” It was a tradition she continued without fail, until she could no longer. They say food smells bring back memories. I remember my Nan and her generosity every time I have a chicken roasting in the oven. While my own children have grown up in the States and our mealtimes are sometimes squashed (or downright flattened) between sports, music lessons and schoolwork, I do insist that once a week they act like proper English children and sit down to dinner with their parents over a lovely roast and actual conversation. They all know that at Mom and Dad’s, there will always be a proper Sunday dinner on the table with plenty for everyone. No need to call ahead! A PROPER SUNDAY DINNER

FALL · A PROPER SUNDAY DINNER

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