Why the Brits love their Sunday Roast (and how it’s made)

What do you think of when you hear "British food"? Maybe Sunday Roast? Alongside classics like Fish & Chips and a full English breakfast, the Sunday Roast is another flagship of British cuisine. Where does this tradition come from? Why is it always eaten on Sundays in the UK? And what is the recipe for a good Sunday Roast? We traveled to London and visited the Clapton Country Club to find out.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Intro
00:38 The restaurant
01:13 The meat
01:42 Yorkshire Pudding
02:38 The sides
02:58 The origins of Sunday Roast
03:38 Vegetarian and vegan options
04:09 Why Sunday?

CREDITS
Report: Jana Oertel
Camera: Peter Thorn, Matthew Marschner
Edit: Marcel Epple
Supervising editor: Ruben Kalus

#sundayroast #britishfood #uk
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[Roberta-glby]

I was born in the early fifties. Our family was not well-off, so we always looked forward to our roast dinner on Sunday (which my mother would slave over, while my Dad dug veg in the garden - ohhh, fresh veg, straight from the soil, nothing like it). The meat was different each week (lamb quite often, chicken rarely) and my Mum would concoct weekday meals out of the left-overs (supplementing them as necessary). Obviously, shepherd's pie. We were happy during the week, but Sunday was a physical expression of contentment. The four of us would sit round the table and listen to Round The Horne, or Family Favourites. It drew our family closer together. Then an afternoon walk. Baked potatoes under an open grate later, in winter, or salad from the garden in summer. Hmm. Feeling a little notalgic.

[Bille]

I genuinely love British cuisine. It's so wholesome and unpretentious! It gets such an undeserved bad reputation because it's not particularly flamboyant but there are a lot of dishes that are packed with flavour and nutritional value. You just have to enjoy it for what it is

[yehtoon]

This is as comfort food to brits as fried chicken, mashed potatoes and collard greens for us Americans. Just simply wholesome.

[Kratos-]

It’s not just a meal for Brits, it’s traditional and woven into British society. Sunday roast at home with the family. It’s how our country was built.

[hoilst]

We inherited this in Australia, but lamb's more traditional than beef. Also, people may mock British food, but Britain was so renowned for its roasting chefs that the French kings used to hire them...

[pplesandoranges]

Everyone bangs on about the spuds and yorkies, but for me, a good parsnip makes the roast.

[kid_simple]

“Sunday is just around the corner” - slogan of my life

[waynemanning]

Mom’s standing rib roast, mashed potatoes, peas, carrots and lots of Yorkshire puddings all smothered in endless amounts of gravy with a big dollop of extra hot horseradish! Then we watched The Wonderful World of Disney, what a perfect Sunday dinner! Miss you mom!

[lansvale]

I love a Sunday roast after a nice long walk with friends, hopefully with crisp weather. Build up a famish and thirst and head to a local pub for a roast and pint. Great way to see the UK.

[jholly]

I’m Canadian and my family would have Sunday rose quite often. When I discover Yorkshire pudding, it was a game changer. My recipe for Yorkshire pudding was straight out of a British cookbook and it always said to use the drippings from the roast. I couldn’t do that because we saved the drippings to make the gravy, so we just use vegetable oil in the bottom of the pan instead.
This video is making me wish I was having Sunday roast tomorrow.

[petermercury]

You got to mention the following day's bubble and squeak, if you've cooked it at home. All the leftovers in mashed potato pan fried, heavenly.

[danielcrafter]

Yorkshire Pudding with beef
Stuffing with chicken
Apple sauce with pork
Mint sauce with lamb

[TheSoberBear]

I'm glad the narrator pronounced Yorkshire properly.

[Beanboiwolf]

Britain may not be the country of the most spices but we are the country of many herbs

[MyScubasteve]

The bakers in olden days did not bake bread on a sunday but the ovens would still be warm or hot from baking the night before. So familys used to put a tray of meat and veg into the ovens and go to church.

[od]

Sunday roast is absolutely crucial to our entire culture. We're not a very touchy feely people and this gives us a non-embarrassing excuse to get together each week, and it's delicious. Don't skimp on the gravy though.

[brauzeuge]

Even we here in Germany adopted the Roast. Well, we had our "Sonntagsbraten", which is a literally translation, but we added the Yorkies here for us. Our Sonntagsbraten was more often pork than beef. Last sunday i made a turkey-version.

[papps]

Tourists love to eat this food when they come to UK, it's usually one of their trip highlights. The gravy is the keystone that makes a great roast not brown tasteless water which some places dish out.

[strangecobra]

I grew up having a prime rib roast with Yorkshire pudding at Christmas with my family, and my mum loves a Sunday roast chicken. I finally went to the UK this spring and got a Sunday roast at a gorgeous pub in Hampstead Village - absolutely delicious and weirdly I think my favourite parts were the cabbage and the cauliflower cheese. I do love Yorkies but they're never as good at a restaurant as they are at home.

[hape]

This is also a tradition here in Germany. We call it "Sonntagsbraten" (literally: Sunday roast). But there are different types of roast and other side dishes like dumplings (no Yorkshire pudding though).