Besides the presents and quality time spent with friends and family, one of the best things about Christmas Day has to be the delicious feast of food served up for everyone to enjoy.
Each family has its own traditions, not to mention culinary tastes in Australia have changed significantly in recent decades, with families now opting to enjoy a good old Aussie barbecue for their festive meal as people flock to their local beaches and parks to spend the day outdoors.
In recent years the likes of prawns have surpassed more traditional dishes as the meat of choice, but anyone who grew up in the 1950s or ’60s will remember the delicious fun to be had searching for the hidden coins inside a rich and fruity Christmas pudding – or the pain of sweating through dinner as your mum piled generous helpings of roast beef, potatoes and hot gravy onto your plate.
So, as families across the country get ready to tuck into their lunch this arvo, we’ve taken a look back at some of the most popular Christmas foods that Baby Boomers enjoyed as kids.
Read more: Roast pork shoulder with more-ish crackling.
Perhaps the most iconic food associated with Christmas is a good roast joint of meat, with many families over the years opting for a succulent joint of pork with deliciously crisp and salty crackling on the side.
Another firm favourite was a leg of ham, which reader Lillian Wallace told us was a real luxury when she was growing up in the ’50s. Families like Lillian’s would tuck into succulent slices of roast ham, accompanied with popular side dishes such as roast vegetables and pineapple fritters.
While many Poms would still dish up their favourite roast beef or turkey with Yorkshire puddings, swimming in hot gravy made with the juices from the succulent meat. Side dishes would include golden roasted potatoes, salted roast parsnips and a generous helping of stuffing.
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A handful of Starts at 60 readers also shared their favourite festive dishes with us, with many of them reminiscing about the sweet treats they enjoyed around Christmastime rather than the savoury dishes.
The dishes favoured by reader Pamela Webster are perhaps a little more unconventional than most as she told us how she loved nothing more than tucking into macaroni cheese on Christmas Day, along with pineapple surprise, throughout her childhood. While Dorothy Hoare fondly remembers the delicious roasted vegetables and cream puffs for dessert.
Read more: Remembering the lovely Christmas pudding traditions of years past.
Nowadays the most common dessert eaten by Aussies on December 25 could well be a fruit pavlova topped with fresh fruit, but the most traditional of all Christmas desserts is a fruit pudding.
Traditionally made with dried fruit, such as cranberries, cherries and dates, the pudding is dense and rich thanks to the generous helping of brandy included in the recipe. In decades gone by it was also tradition to douse the cooked dessert in liqueur and set it on fire as it was brought to the table, impressing the guests waiting for a helping.
Once the pudding had cooled down and been served up though it was time to get hunting as each pudding would traditionally have one or more silver coins hidden inside. If you were the lucky diner who found the sixpence it was said to bring you luck.
Read more: Make the perfect Christmas trifle with these tips.
Trifles are another after-dinner favourite, with celebrity chef Jamie Oliver even sharing one of his mum’s “retro” family recipes for the dessert in his new Christmas cookbook. Sharing a photo of his mum Sally holding the impressive-looking dish on Instagram, Oliver revealed his recipe uses only store cupboard ingredients as it was first enjoyed by his ancestors following the war.
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