Whatever you are planning for Christmas dinner, almost three quarters of you will be having roast potatoes.

The humble spud a staple of our diets for hundreds of years has top spot when it comes to Christmas dinner – roasted with a lovely golden crisp outer, and fluffy inside.

A survey by  NFU Mutual  asked what most people would be having on their Christmas dinner plate and roast potatoes came well in front.

Over a third of us will still be having turkey but how ‘traditional’ is it? Even celebrating Christmas Day in Scotland was not always the big event it has come to be. Older generations will be able to remember fathers having to work on Christmas Day with Hogmanay being the big get together for friends and family.

People have always gathered together to celebrate significant days of the year – the Winter Solstice was particularly important as it marked a pivotal time when our lives were guided by the seasons of the year. Then it would most likely have been spit roasted pork or beef.

What we have come to think of as a Traditional Christmas we owe to the writings of one journalist and writer – Charles Dickens. His story ‘A Christmas Carol’ (1843) has been made many times into films, cartoons and most memorably with The Muppets.

For wealthy families in Victorian Britain the centre of the table would be adorned with a roasted goose with the really wealthy having beef or turkey.

Turkey took over as the meat of choice in the 1920s and 30s. Remember these were options that only the upper and middle classes would have.

Today, mass production of turkeys has brought the price down and there will still be many to be had in supermarkets and large retailers. Times have been tough for smaller turkey producers, however, and ‘The Grocer’ reports that “Fewer British-reared turkeys are set to be available in independent retailers and butchers this Christmas due to smaller producers leaving the sector.“

We should also remember that many of us will be working on Christmas Day and over the whole festive period, our Emergency Services will unfortunately be busy.

Whatever you choose to have for your Christmas dinner, most likely those roast potatoes will make an appearance on your plate.

Fiona Grahame