Etiquette expert William Hanson has shared what he believes to be the proper way to cook and present a traditional roast dinner – and it comes with very specific instructions.
The 35-year-old claims that roast dinner lovers should take into consideration the way they pour their gravy, what they call the food items on their plate, and how they choose to cook their Yorkshire puddings.
Kicking things off, the expert says diners should stick to the full names of food items, such as; vegetables instead of veggies, Yorkshire puddings instead of yorkies, and roast potatoes instead of roasties.
He added: “Collectively, they are never referred to as trimmings. We are not a carvery, ‘the traditional accompaniments’ is fine, however.”
While he goes on to list the usual choices for meat as beef, pork and chicken, he claims traditionalists may frown upon the latter meat as “it used to not be seen as very exciting”.
For more specific times of the year, such as Easter and Christmas, William says turkey is fine over the festive period, while lamb is also OK to consume over Easter – but never cold.
In what he has also described as “the controversial territory” in his book Just Good Manners, William urges you to treat friends who order the wrong meat alongside Yorkshires with “extreme caution”.
He writes: “Yorkshire puddings are a staple when having roast beef, pork, lamb or indeed anything that isn’t beef, as has sadly become the common custom.
“Friends who order them in restaurants to go alongside the incorrect meat are to be treated with extreme caution. Yorkshire pudding must, of course, be homemade on the grounds of taste (in both senses of the word).”
For those who choose not to make their own Yorkshire puddings, the etiquette expert brands this choice as “cosmically lazy”.
Arguably non-negotiable on a roast, gravy, according to William, is where “many come unstuck”.
The Help, I Sexted My Boss podcast host says the sauce topping should be “ladled and never poured even if the gravy boat has a spout” when it comes to putting it on the meat.
“If your hand accidentally slips a bit, however, and some of it splashes onto the Yorkshire pudding, oh well,” he added.
Roast dinner around William’s house, anyone?
