Christmas is a time for indulgence, and you absolutely should enjoy yourself. But here's something worth thinking about: you can savour every single festive treat exactly the way our ancestors did a century ago, when Christmas tables groaned under the weight of real food, made with real ingredients, and people somehow managed to feast without feeling utterly wretched afterwards.
The secret? They used saturated fats instead of industrial seed oils, kept ingredient lists refreshingly short, and had never heard of a synthetic preservative or artificial flavouring. Every mince pie, every crispy roast potato, every rich gravy was made from scratch with ingredients you could actually pronounce.
The beauty of ancestral eating is that it doesn't mean sacrificing flavour or indulgence. If anything, you'll discover that the old ways taste infinitely better. Here are six simple swaps that will transform your Christmas table into something our great-grandparents would recognise and approve of.
1. Bone broth gravy instead of gravy granules
Those little pots of gravy granules might be convenient, but they're packed with maltodextrin, flavour enhancers, and seed oils. Real gravy, the kind that simmered on stoves for generations, is made from bones, time, and very little else.
The flavour difference is staggering. Rich, deep, and satisfying in a way that makes you realise what you've been missing. Plus, you're getting all the collagen and minerals from those bones, turning your gravy into something genuinely nourishing rather than just brown liquid. You can also use meat stock, left over from slow cooking a roosting joint of meat.
The recipe
- Start by roasting your bones in a hot oven for 20-30 minutes until they're deeply browned. This caramelisation is where the flavour lives.
- Transfer them to a large pot with roughly chopped onions, carrots, and celery.
- Cover with cold water and bring to a gentle simmer or use a slow cooker. Let it bubble away for at least 4 hours, preferably 8-12 if you have the time. The longer it goes, the richer it gets.
- Strain the broth through a fine sieve and let it cool completely. Once chilled, skim off the fat that's solidified on top and save it for roasting vegetables.
- Now for the gravy itself: heat your broth in a pan until it's steaming. Mix in a tablespoon of organic spelt flour. Pour this into your hot broth and start whisking.
- This is where patience comes in. Keep whisking steadily for a good 5-10 minutes. Your arm will get tired. The gravy will seem thin. Then, almost magically, it will start to thicken and turn glossy.
- Season generously with sea salt and black pepper.
That's it. Real gravy, the way Christmas dinners tasted before convenience took over.
2. Roast potatoes in animal fat instead of vegetable oil
There's a reason your grandmother's roast potatoes were legendary. It wasn't a secret technique or a special potato variety. It was the fat. Tallow, goose fat, or beef dripping creates a crisp, golden exterior that seed oils simply cannot replicate. The flavour is deeper, richer, more satisfying.
Our ancestors would have looked at you strangely if you'd suggested roasting potatoes in extracted seed oils. They used what they had: the rendered fat from the Sunday roast, precious and flavourful.
The recipe
- Peel your potatoes and cut them into generous chunks. Drop them into a pot of boiling salted water and boil for exactly 5 minutes. You want them par-boiled, not falling apart. Drain them thoroughly in a colander, then return them to the empty pot.
- Here's the crucial step: put the lid on and give the pot a good shake. You want to rough up those edges, creating a fluffy surface. These rough bits will turn into the crispiest, most delicious parts.
- While you're doing this, put your roasting tin in a screaming hot oven (around 220°C) with a generous amount of beef dripping, tallow, or goose fat. When the fat is properly hot and almost smoking, carefully add your roughed-up potatoes. They should sizzle immediately.
- Turn them once to coat in the fat, then roast for 45-60 minutes (lower the temp for cooking to 200°C) , turning once halfway through, until they're deeply golden and crispy.
- The result? Potatoes that shatter when you bite into them, with fluffy, steaming centres. Exactly as they should be.
3. Homemade yorkshire puddings instead of ready made
Shop-bought Yorkshire pudding batter is full of raising agents, emulsifiers, and stabilisers that exist purely to make the product shelf-stable and foolproof. Real Yorkshire pudding batter contains four ingredients: eggs, flour, milk, and salt. That's it.
The secret to perfect Yorkshires isn't in the ingredients but in the technique. Cold batter, smoking hot fat, and a reliable oven.
The recipe
- The night before, whisk together 140g plain flour into a bowl and beat in 4 eggs until smooth with a good pinch of salt.
- Gradually add 200ml of whole milk and mix until it is completely lump-free. Then put in the fridge overnight which is crucial, it allows the flour to fully hydrate and creates lighter, airier puddings.
- The next day, preheat your oven to its highest setting, usually around 200°C.
- Add a teaspoon of beef dripping or tallow to each section of a Yorkshire pudding tin and place it in the oven until the fat is smoking hot. This is non-negotiable. If the fat isn't properly hot, your puddings won't rise.
- Remove the tin, and quickly pour the cold batter into each hole, filling them about halfway. Return to the oven immediately and shut the door firmly. Do not, under any circumstances, open that door for at least 20 minutes. Just don't. The dramatic temperature drop will collapse your puddings.
- After 20-25 minutes (check through your oven window) you should have golden, puffed, crispy Yorkshire puddings that tower above the tin. Serve immediately, because these wait for no one.
4. Dark chocolate dipped fruit and nuts instead of wrapped sweets
Those shiny foil-wrapped chocolates that appear at Christmas might seem harmless, but check the ingredients. Glucose syrup, vegetable oils, emulsifiers, flavourings, even shellac! dominate the list. Real chocolate is remarkably simple: cocoa, cocoa butter, and a sweetener.
Make your own chocolate-dipped treats and you'll never go back. They look impressive, taste incredible, and contain nothing but real ingredients.
The recipe
- Choose a high-quality dark chocolate with at least 70% cocoa solids and a short ingredient list. Cocoa mass, cocoa butter, and a bit of sugar is all you need. Avoid anything listing vegetable fats or soy lecithin if you can.
- Melt your chocolate gently in a bowl set over barely simmering water. Don't let the water touch the bowl, and don't let any steam or water droplets get into the chocolate or it will seize into a grainy mess.
- While the chocolate melts, prepare your dipping ingredients. Organic dried apricots, dates, figs, whole Macadamia (low PUFA), walnuts, or cashews all work beautifully.
- Once melted and smooth, remove the chocolate from the heat. Dip each piece of fruit or nut halfway into the chocolate, let the excess drip off, then place on a tray lined with baking paper. Work quickly, as chocolate starts to set quite fast.
- Once everything is dipped, you can sprinkle with a tiny pinch of flaky sea salt, some crushed freeze-dried raspberries, or leave them plain.
- Refrigerate until set, about 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container in a cool place. They'll keep for a week, though they rarely last that long.
5. Real cranberry sauce instead of shop bought
The cranberry sauce that comes in jars is essentially cranberry-flavoured sugar syrup, often thickened with modified starch and preserved with additives and seed oils. Real cranberry sauce takes about 15 minutes to make and tastes sharply bright, fruity, and actually balances the richness of your roast rather than just adding more sweetness.
The recipe
- Pour a bag of fresh cranberries (about 340g) into a saucepan.
- Add the zest and juice of one orange, a stick of cinnamon, and 3-4 tablespoons of honey or maple syrup. If you're feeling festive, add a small splash of brandy or port.
- Bring everything to a simmer over medium heat. The cranberries will start popping within a few minutes, releasing their sharp, tart juice. Keep cooking, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens to your liking, usually about 10-15 minutes.
- Taste and adjust. Cranberries are naturally very tart, so you might want a bit more sweetness. Remove the cinnamon stick and let it cool. The sauce will thicken further as it cools. Serve at room temperature.
The flavour is incomparable to anything from a jar: bright, complex, and actually tasting of fruit. It cuts through rich meats and fatty gravies like nothing else.
6. Homemade mince pies instead of shop bought
This is where the difference between ancestral and modern eating becomes most obvious. Shop-bought mince pies are an ingredient list nightmare: seed oils, palm oil, preservatives, emulsifiers, and glucose-fructose syrup. The mince pies our ancestors ate at Christmas contained butter, flour, dried fruit( free of seed oils) , spices, and not much else.
Making them yourself sounds daunting, but once you've done it, you'll realise how simple it actually is. And the taste? There's simply no comparison.
The filling
- Traditional mincemeat contains suet, but for a simpler version that still tastes authentically spiced and rich, combine currants (these are the key herring since raisins are preserved in seed oil and currants are not!), dried sour cherries, brown sugar and a finely diced fresh apple.
- Add mixed spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and allspice), a splash of apple juice to moisten everything, and a generous glug of brandy if you like.
- Put in a saucepan on low heat to let this all combine for a rich filling. The fresh apple adds moisture and brightness that shop-bought jars lack entirely.
The pastry
- Make a simple shortcrust pastry with organic spelt flour (to avoid fortification), cold butter, sugar and 1 egg to bring it together. Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the whisked egg until it forms a dough. Wrap and chill for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the pastry and cut circles to line your muffin tin. Spoon in the mincemeat, then top with smaller pastry circles or cut out festive shapes like stars.
- Brush with beaten egg if you want them glossy, or leave them plain for a more rustic look.
- Bake at 200°C for about 20 minutes until golden and crisp. Let them cool for a few minutes before removing from the tin. Serve them plain or with a dollop of thick cream.
These mince pies taste like Christmas used to, spiced, buttery, rich and made with ingredients you can actually identify.
These mince pies were made by Hannah from our team, beloved by customers for her kindness but now her baking too ;)
The point of it all
None of these swaps are about deprivation or virtue signalling about clean eating. They're about reclaiming flavour, quality, and the kind of food that actually nourishes rather than just filling you up and leaving you feeling sluggish.
Our ancestors ate richly at Christmas. They enjoyed butter, cream, meat, and all the festive treats. But they didn't eat inflammatory seed oils, laboratory-created emulsifiers, or ingredients designed to maximise shelf life at the expense of your health.
This Christmas, cook like they did. Use real fat, real ingredients, and a bit more time. Your body will thank you, your taste buds will thank you, and you might just start a new tradition that your own grandchildren will remember fondly in another hundred years.
Happy Christmas, and happy cooking.
