Brits pledge to cook ‘best ever’ Christmas dinner to make up for 2020

A recent poll reveals that Brits are planning on cooking their ‘best ever’ Christmas dinner by adding luxury ingredients like pure, Canadian maple syrup to help add a little extra joy to the day, in the hope to make up for a gloomy 2020.

Almost half want to make it spectacular

We commissioned a survey of 2,000 adults, which found that 44% of Brits want to make their festive dinner ‘spectacular’ while over half (51%) are aiming to make their best roast ever this Christmas.

Pushing the boat out with Christmas cooking

It also emerged that an impressive 70% are planning on pushing the boat out in the kitchen on December 25^th to make at least one part of 2020 enjoyable.

To help make the highly anticipated Christmas dinner stand out from previous years, one in five intend to experiment with new tastes and textures with a fifth adding pure, Canadian maple syrup to their sprouts, a quarter of cooks will spice up their veg by adding chilli flakes to cabbage or other greens while 30% will roast their potatoes in goose fat.

Barbecuing the bird

Not only are people planning on experimenting with more flavours this year – they are also switching up the way they are cooking their turkey with a quarter of Londoners planning to BBQ their turkey this year.

Sam and Shauna, BBQ restauranteurs from Hang Fire Southern Kitchen and two of our UK chef ambassadors, explained: “It’s great to see some of the weird and wonderful ways people are going to try and up their game this year with the festive meal.

“There are many different methods of cooking a turkey but without a doubt our favourite way is on the BBQ. Not only do you save precious space in the oven but cooking a turkey this way adds so much flavour and brings so much fun to the Christmas dinner table. Our maple bacon weave turkey breast recipe is the perfect for those looking to barbecue the Christmas bird this year.”

Desperate for a Christmas dinner with a bit of normality

While 2020 has been far from our usual life, many are desperate to keep Christmas dinner traditions the same for at least a glimmer of normality for one special day. Over half of people (51%) are planning on pulling Christmas crackers and wearing paper hats around the dinner table, 43% are still set on playing Christmas music and 25% are still planning on using their usual Christmas crockery and cutlery.

Experimenting with new flavours this Christmas

The research also found that 34% of adults are planning on adding maple syrups to carrots, 29% of people opting to add bacon to sprouts and 26% glazing their turkey with maple syrup.

More than half of those polled via OnePoll will add a twist to their festive feast because they like to experiment – but a fifth just want to show off on social media.

It also emerged that Brits are most likely to jazz up the potatoes in their roast, with sprouts and gravy also popular choices for experimentation.

Hang Fire’s Shauna added: “The great thing about a big Christmas dinner is that there are so many different areas to experiment with.

“You can do all sorts with roast potatoes, carrots, sprouts, cabbage and the myriad other veg on the plate.

“Maple syrup is such a versatile ingredient that compliments many Christmas flavours, from turkey to sprouts to pudding.

“We encourage Brits to dig into their cupboards and spice racks this Christmas and see if they can find a new taste – that may well become a beloved family tradition.”