Pigs in Blankets. The Culture War
Pigs in Blankets, sausage wrapped in bacon, proliferate as Christmas food, either to go with the turkey or as a party food. There are many variants including vegan for those wishing to avoid meat and foot long versions for those who seek pigs in blankets as a phallic symbol.
In December 2022 The Observer (18th December) published an article noting much of the above and suggested that pigs in blankets in their current supermarket format owe their origin to Delia Smith’s 1990 Christmas recipes book.
Several people on twitter suggested that they had eaten home produced pigs in blankets long before this.
Terence Ranger and Eric Hobsbawm argued that all traditions are in fact invented but clearly in this case Delia Smith reinvented the tradition for commercial purposes which is not quite the same thing.
I can report the latest on Pigs in Blankets Culture Wars. The Sainsbury’s truffle pigs were tasty in my view, and Aldi’s chorizo pigs are always good. I’m not sure about their Ultimate No Pigs in Blankets.
The Sunday Times (24th December) having discovered that Aldi is selling pigs in blankets icecream has declared a Culture War. Pigs in Blankets according to an Editorial must ONLY be eaten on Christmas Day
Best use for them I’ve found, is to put them in a brioche bun and eat for breakfast!