filled with dried fruits and occasionally spirits - and it was banned by the Puritans.

The tradition of getting everyone in the household to stir the pudding is a pagan tradition meant to honour the harvest god in hope of a good crop the next year.

In the Middle Ages, mince pies were made from unused cuts of meat.

In Elizabethan times, mince pies were called shrid pies because they contained shredded meat and suet. It was traditional to add three spices -cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg - to symbolise the three gifts given to Jesus by the Wise Men.

It is believed that it's lucky to eat a mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas. You have to scoff it in a different house each time to bring good fortune to the household and the eater for the next 12 months.

You would have stuffed your turkey with 'farce' in the Middle Ages - that was the name given to stuffing.

Turkeys became popular in the 19th Century - but only the white breast meat was felt suitable for guests. The dark meat would have been given to the servants, or eaten in private.

The world's largest turkey weighed 39.09 kg (86lb), was reared in Cambridgeshire, England, and was called Tyson.

The Yule Log, now a favourite sweet, was a Scandinavian custom. The log was gathered and covered with ribbons and dragged home with pride. It was then burnt for the 12 days of Christmas, and it was a rule that no squinting person or any flatfooted or barefooted woman could enter the room where the log burned.

Diet experts have worked out that an average Christmas dinner, a little wine and some pudding will put four to six pounds in weight on you.

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