The Sunday Roast

The Sunday roast is a traditional British main meal served on Sundays (usually in the early afternoon for lunch), consisting of roasted meat, roast potato together with accompaniments, such as Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and gravy.

It is popular throughout the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland. It is believed this tradition arose because bakers could not bake bread on a Sunday, so their ovens would be used to roast meat. The meal is often comparable to a less grand version of a traditional Christmas dinner in these cultures.

Sunday Roast dates back to when the squire would treat his serfs to a meal of roast oxen every Sunday to reward them for the week's work.

Technically, the term Sunday Dinner, does not mean necessarily that an actual roast has to take place. Such things as sausages, bacon and barbecued meat can be incorporated into a Sunday dinner. With the only rule being that the dinner in question is held on the day of Sunday.

Typical meats used for a Sunday roast are beef, chicken, lamb or pork, although seasonally duck, goose, gammon, turkey or (rarely) other game birds may be used

There are vegetarian alternatives such as a Nut roast and recently other proteins such as Quorn have also become available.

Sunday roasts can be served with a range of boiled and roasted vegetables. The vegetables served vary seasonally and regionally, but will usually include roast potatoes, roasted in meat dripping or (more recently, due to the unhealthy nature of saturated fats) vegetable oil, and also gravy made from juices released by the roasting meat, perhaps supplemented by one or more stock cubes, gravy browning/thickening, roux or corn flour. The potatoes can be cooked around the meat itself, absorbing the juices and fat directly (as in a traditional Cornish under-roast). However, many cooks prefer to cook the potatoes and the Yorkshire Pudding in a hotter oven than that used for the joint and so remove the meat beforehand to rest and "settle" in warm place.

Other vegetable dishes served with roast dinner can include mashed swede or turnip, roast parsnip, boiled or steamed cabbage, broccoli, green beans and boiled carrots and peas. It is also not uncommon for leftover composite vegetable dishes — such as cauliflower cheese and stewed red cabbage — to be served alongside the more usual assortment of plainly-cooked seasonal vegetables.

The Priory View Restaurant is set in an idyllic Location, which overlooks the adjoining Benedictine Priory and the Vale of Evesham. Traditional Sunday Carvery will be available every Sunday, with a choice of hand carved meats, fish and vegetarian options.

Traditional Sunday Lunch 3 Courses from Only £14.95

Submitted by The Reception team at The Abbey