Revealed – Britain’s recipe for the perfect Christmas Day!
Revered and reviled but Christmas isn’t Christmas without them. Figures from Morrisons reveal that with 34% of the vote, it’s the humble sprout that tops the table of veg that will be joining traditional turkey and roasties on Christmas Day – probably the only one of the year that sees the entire nation peeling, chopping and mashing seasonal fresh ingredients.
After Christmas dinner it’s a helping of Trotters, Del and Rodney, that the nation craves. The figures reveal Only Fools and Horses is our favourite post-turkey telly.
To launch its new Christmas television ad - “I Love Christmas’ - starring Richard Hammond and premiering on Saturday’s X Factor, Morrisons has researched the ingredients for the perfect Christmas day. The ad sees Hammond pushing his trolley through traditional Christmas scenes. When people hear him describe his perfect fresh Christmas food, they drop what they’re doing and follow him to Morrisons who this year want ‘a fresh Christmas for everyone’.
The research revealed that while turkey is the most popular meat, more than half the nation (54%) opt for alternatives such as chicken (12%) or beef (8%) and for one in 100 (1%) curry and chips is dish of the day.
Must-haves include traditional roast potatoes (86%), gravy (44%) and Christmas cake (22%) as well as the less traditional Bombay Mix (3%).
A quarter (23%) of the nation will be sipping Champagne and while 15% of men choose whisky, 24% of women are sweet for Baileys. But they’ll be savouring every sip as three in five (60%) only indulge in their favourite tipple at Christmas.
Top festive rituals involve decking the house with Christmas lights (24%) – a tradition that sparks many a neighbourly rivalry.
Other favourites include crackers and hats (19%), carol singing (15%) and 7% will be singing along to a Christmas compilation CD – volume going up as the Champagne goes down.
Angus Maciver, Morrisons Group Marketing and Communications Director said: “Sprouts have become so popular that in Christmas week we sell tons of them – 700 tonnes of them! It takes an area equal to 120 football pitches to supply that many. It’s great too to see so much other fresh produce on the nation’s Christmas menus.”
“This year’s ad contains all the things we love about the festive season, which for us is about giving a fresh Christmas to everyone.”