Christmas Dinner, Deconstructed Quiz

The link between the bowling term "turkey" and the bird that appears on your table at Christmas (or Thanksgiving) is quite a close one according to one of the main etymological theories seeking to explain the use of the word "turkey" to describe three consecutive strikes (XXX). According to this particular explanation, bowling tournaments held around the Thanksgiving period in the USA would reward bowlers with a turkey should they achieve the impressive feat of delivering three successive strikes.

The Brussels sprout is a cruciferous vegetable that shares a part of its name with the Belgian capital city of Brussels. This infamously divisive cabbage cultivar is native to the Mediterranean but the Belgians and Dutch took a keen interest in the vegetable and began finding methods of cultivating it in the colder climes of Northern Europe.

I like to eat most things but I just cannot get on with Brussels sprouts, even cooked beautifully with pancetta and chestnuts!

Cockney rhyming slang is the famous vernacular of working-class Londoners in the "East End" that is believed to have originated in the mid-19th century. Its basic premise is to take a multiple-word phrase or term where the last word rhymes with the concept or object it is describing.

In this festive example, "mince pies" rhymes with "eyes"; from there the speaker will either use the whole phrase ("look me in the mince pies") or shorten it ("my minces have bags under them").

Bugs Bunny - strongly associated with the voice of Mel Blanc - is the iconic animated leporid that is not only the face of the successful 'Looney Tunes' franchise but also the official mascot for Warner Bros. Bugs Bunny is known for frequently uttering the catchphrase, "What's up, Doc?", and is often seen chomping on a raw carrot as he does so.

Solanum tuberosum is the scientific name for the potato plant, the tubers of which form the wide range of starchy, edible cultivars that are incredibly versatile owing to their largely neutral flavour profile. This versatility is evident in a traditional British Christmas lunch where the tuber can be served in many ways, whether it be boiled, mashed or - as in this case - roasted.

Yorkshire pudding is a baked batter that is traditionally served alongside roast beef but this side dish is so moreish that it has escaped its bovine shackles to feature alongside pretty much any roast meat, including turkey at Christmas. The pudding shares its name with a large historic county of England and the term "Yorkshire pudding" has been seen listed in recipe books penned as far back as the mid-1700s, including the historic 'The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy' by Hannah Glasse.

Pigs in blankets - sausages wrapped in bacon - are one of the items that differentiate Christmas dinner from a standard Sunday roast (though there is nothing stopping anybody enjoying these meaty parcels of joy all year around). This British side dish is not to be confused with the American offering of pigs in a blanket, which is an appetiser that consists of a sausage wrapped in pastry.

A sweeter variant of pigs in blankets is devils on horseback, a tasty morsel formed of a date wrapped in bacon or prosciutto.

If two people are very similar in outlook, appearance or worldview they can be said to be like "two peas in a pod". This expression has a fairly straightforward origin in the fact that peas lined up in a pod all look very similar. An early example of its usage - though a variant - is to be found in the 1580 novel 'Euphues and his England' by John Lyly: "as lyke as one pease is to an other".

'Cranberry Sauce' was penned by the musician Joan Baez in 2025 and is stated to be a reflection on pacifism. The poem is politically charged with a reference towards the end of the piece of individuals being "face down in the cranberry sauce...". Perhaps the author was unintentionally exploring the difficulties faced by modern liberalism.

Cranberry sauce is quintessentially American and is a Thanksgiving mainstay. The condiment has also become a regular feature of Christmas dinner tables across the UK.

One can't help but think of the extremely well-observed character, Hyacinth Bucket, from the British comedy 'Keeping Up Appearances' whenever I see a canapé ("sofa" in French; the topping sits on a base), amuse-bouche or hors d'oeuvres as they are somewhat associated with pretentiousness in British culture.

One classic - perhaps tragic - example of a British canapé (in the days where we were just finding our feet with such appetisers) was a cube of cheese and a pickled onion pierced by a cocktail stick. Things have moved on since then and you now see canapés such as the one pictured - smoked salmon, cream cheese and chive on cracker. If you can't be pretentious and have a canapé before your Christmas dinner, when can you?

The cheesy Brassica in question is cauliflower cheese, an indulgent - quite heavy - side dish consisting of florets of cauliflower baked in a cheese sauce. This dish dates back to Victorian Britain and is a good way of bringing the somewhat plain-tasting cauliflower to life. If you are not a fan of cauliflower, then it can be replaced by broccoli. A recipe for this dish is seen in 'Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management', first published in 1861.

Brassica is a genus of plants in the cabbage family.

It wouldn't be Christmas without a bit of fizz. Whether it be Buck's fizz (sparkling wine and orange juice) or a generous glass of Champagne, a bubbly drink alongside a mince pie or helping of Christmas pudding is a perfect way to end a meal and to start at least three hours of napping on the sofa.

Some of the best known Champagne (capital "C" indicating it's from the Champagne region of France) is produced by the Bollinger and Dom Pérignon houses. The former was founded in 1829 and was a favourite of Patsy and Edina in the British comedy, 'Absolutely Fabulous'; the latter, Dom Pérignon, was first introduced in 1921 and takes its name from that of a Benedictine monk.