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 A Sunday roast consisting ofroast beef served withYorkshire puddings and roast potatoes and parsnips | |
| Course | Main course |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | United Kingdom |
| Region or state | Western Europe |
| Main ingredients | Roast meat |
ASunday roast orroast dinner is aBritish dish traditionally eaten on Sunday. It consists ofroast meat,roast or mashed potatoes, and accompaniments such asYorkshire pudding,gravy andstuffing, and may include condiments such asapple sauce,mint sauce,redcurrant sauce,mustard,cranberry sauce orhorseradish sauce. A range of vegetables can be served, such asbroccoli,Brussels sprouts,cabbage,carrots,cauliflower,parsnips orpeas, which can be boiled, steamed or roasted alongside the meat and potatoes.
The Sunday roast's prominence inBritish culture is such that in a poll of Britons in 2012 it was ranked second in a list of things people love about Britain.[1] Other names for this meal includeSunday lunch,Sunday dinner,roast dinner andfull roast. The meal is often described as a less grand version of a traditionalChristmas dinner.
Besides being served in its original homeland, the tradition of a Sunday roast lunch or dinner has been a major influence on food cultures in theEnglish-speaking world, particularly in Australia, Ireland, Canada, South Africa, and New Zealand. A South African Sunday roast normally comprises roast pork, beef, lamb or chicken, roast potatoes ormashed potato, and various vegetables such ascauliflower cheese,creamed spinach,green beans, carrots, peas,beetroot andsweet potato. It is also fairly common to serve rice and gravy or pap and tomato gravy in South Africa instead of Yorkshire pudding.
The Sunday roast originated inBritain, particularlyYorkshire, as a meal to be eaten after thechurch service onSunday.[2] Eating a large meal following church services is common to most of Europe, but the Sunday roast variant developed as unique to Britain. On Sundays all types of meat and dairy produce are allowed to be eaten; this is unlike Fridays, where many Christians of theRoman Catholic,Anglican andMethodist denominations traditionallyabstain from eating meats and instead eat fish.[3][4] Likewise, it is traditional for Anglicans and English Catholicsto fast before Sunday services, with a larger meal to break the fast afterwards. These Christian religious rules created several traditional dishes in the United Kingdom.
There are two historical points on the origins of the modern Sunday roast.
Typical meats used for a Sunday roast arechicken,lamb,pork orroast beef, although seasonallyduck,goose,gammon,turkey or (rarely) othergame birds may be used.[5]
Sunday roasts can be served with a range of boiled, steamed and/or roast vegetables. The vegetables served vary seasonally and regionally, but will usually includeroast potatoes, roasted in meatdripping orvegetable oil, and alsogravy made from juices released by the roasting meat, perhaps supplemented by one or morestock cubes,gravy browning/thickening,roux orcornflour.
The potatoes can be cooked around the meat itself, absorbing the juices and fat directly (as in a traditional Cornish under-roast).[6] However, many cooks prefer to cook the potatoes and the Yorkshire pudding in a hotter oven than that used for the joint and so remove the meat beforehand to rest and "settle" in a warm place.[7]
Other vegetables served with roast dinner can include mashedswede orturnips, roastparsnips, boiled or steamedcabbage,broccoli,green beans, and boiledcarrots andpeas. It is also not uncommon for vegetable dishes such ascauliflower cheese and stewedred cabbage to be served alongside the more usual assortment of plainly-cooked seasonal vegetables.
Common traditional accompaniments include:
Days of Fasting or Abstinence All the Fridays in the Year, except Christmas-Day
Media related toSunday roast at Wikimedia Commons
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