The Sunday roast

What it is

The meat may be beef, lamb, pork or chicken. Each has its partner. Beef comes with horseradish and with Yorkshire pudding, a puffed batter baked in hot fat. Lamb comes with mint sauce. Pork comes with apple sauce and crackling, the crisp roasted skin. Chicken comes with bread sauce or stuffing. Roast potatoes are required, and people judge a roast by them. Vegetables are usually carrots, cabbage, peas, parsnips or cauliflower in cheese sauce. A meat-free nut roast is now common.

Where it comes from

Roast beef has been a symbol of England for centuries. The link with Sunday is usually explained by church. A joint could be put in the oven before the morning service and be ready on the family's return, and for people without ovens the local baker would roast it for a small fee. Sunday was also the one day of rest. Leftover meat fed the household on Monday, cold or minced into a pie.

How it works

At home the meal is served between one and three, and the meat is carved at the table or in the kitchen. Dishes of vegetables and a jug of gravy are passed round. In pubs, Sunday is the busiest day for food and booking is wise. Some pubs run a carvery, where you queue at a counter, a cook carves the meat for you, and you help yourself to vegetables. A hot pudding with custard often follows.

How to do it

1. Book a pub table for Sunday between noon and three.
2. Choose your meat. Ask what comes with it.
3. Pour gravy over the meat and potatoes, not the whole plate at once.
4. Add the matching sauce: horseradish, mint or apple.
5. Leave room for pudding.

Good manners

• At a home table, wait until everyone is served before you start.
• Pass dishes round the table instead of reaching across.
• Offer to help clear. The cook has been at it all morning.

What is eaten

Roast beefBeef roasted whole and sliced, served hot or cold as a main dish or sandwich fillingYorkshire puddingA baked British pudding made from a simple batter, often served with roast meatsStuffingA seasoned mixture used to fill meat, poultry, seafood, or vegetables before cookingApple sauceSmooth cooked apples, sometimes sweetened or spiced, eaten as a side or dessertBread sauceA British sauce of milk thickened with breadcrumbs, served with roast poultry

Also part of it, and being written: Gravy, Cauliflower cheese, Mint sauce, Nut roast.

Sources and further reading

• Sunday roast on Wikipedia
• VisitBritain: Food and drink