Originally Posted by LapLap

I wouldn't be so sure about that.

Next Friday is the Christmas lunch/party at my daughter's nursery. We've all been asked to bring in something representative of our child's culture/ethnic background - as well as a few English dishes there'll be home cooked dishes from California, Estonia, France, Portugal, Spain, Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Japan.

Substitute latkes for samosas, tamales for spring rolls, add some guacamole and taramasalata along with the hot sauce, hummus and herbed cheese and you've pretty much described the party menu at half the households in Britain at the end of the year festivities.
http://www.marksandspencer.com/Finge...e/b/1673638031

I bet wealthy families from a century or so ago were patting themselves on the back with regards to the supremely varied (and oh so expensive) international flavours on their Christmas tables. The food miles involved in creating a "typical" Christmas plum pudding alone seem incredible enough now, let alone then. And what could conjure up a taste of the Americas more than turkey and potatoes? My Spanish mother still thinks of Dutch orange carrots as a modern innovation as she grew up with the purple kind.