Australia offers two clear choices when it comes to Christmas lunch: a traditional meal with turkey (and potentially other roast meats), or a seafood spread with prawns (and other fruits de mer if that’s your thing). What will you be plumping for this Thursday?
I’m a traditionalist: I want ham on toast for breakfast, I want turkey for lunch, and I don’t want to queue all morning on Christmas Eve at a seafood market. But you might differ. So tell us:
Prawns picture from Shutterstock
Comments
75 responses to “The Big Question: Turkey Or Prawns?”
How about both?
Yep – Christmas is all about gluttony. The word “or” should never be used in the context of Christmas food. It should always be “and”.
You win
Not to mention the correct answer to all “Would you like moar…?” queries is a mandatory “YES!”
“Want some more?”
“Oh god I’m going to explode, why would you ask me that? I can barely breathe for all the food pressing into my diaphragm…”
“So, that’s a… yes?”
“Duh. Geez.”
Wait, since when has Turkey EVER been an Australian thing, ever? I don’t know anybody who has turkey for Christmas, the choice is prawns or pork imo.
I don’t know anyone who does pork for christmas, you’re crazy 😛
We used to always have a turkey roll or two.
Christmas Ham. Totally a thing. Hot or cold!
Oh yeah, ham for sure! Nice big leg of the stuff, and always end up eating it for weeks afterwards because people only ever seem to have one little slice.
But not pork though 😛
But… Ham is pork. c.c
I guess you’re thinking of like… pork cutlets or roast pork or something.
I dunno. Pork is kind of whitish and tastes kinda meh, ham is red/pink and tastes yum.
Pork and Beef at the BJ Xmas Lunch. I agree – the “Prawn vs. Turkey” option must only be catering to the smallest of Australian seasonal culinary minorities.
We have both at the Claymore residence, and a spit lamb and glazed ham that I try to hide until boxing day test, then my brother and I sit there with about 3 loaves of white bread, a jar of cranberry sauce and an esky of beers and don’t move until the missus starts vacuuming crumbs off our bodies.
We have turkey, ham and prawns in my fam. So I guess it’s an Australian thing for my family.
I have to split my Christmas day between 3 separate family events, and each one consists of ham and turkey. Always has.
Since when hasn’t it? Every christmas lunch I’ve ever been to there has been turkey, including ones at restaurants etc.
In my near 30 years on Earth I have only seen turkey start to even appear around Christmas in the last 5-6 years.
I’m 24 and we also do ham and prawns etc. But I remember 20+ years of it ,especially from supermarkets flogging turkeys around xmas time.
Yep. Just need to go look at a local grocery store to see that ham, turkey and seafood dominates the christmas table. Naturally some people will have their own family traditions of pork or whatever else it is that their family eats, and assuming most people spend Christmas with their family year after year it’s likely thats what they remain exposed to for years if not decades.
For 27 year’s I’ve celebrated Christmas with Turkey and Ham since I’d eaten with the same circle of people who share the same traditions. For the first time this year I ate dinner with another family (my partners) and ham and turkey didn’t feature at all. Was a wealth of other things from pork, seafood and the like.
This. I’ve only seen Turkey become a thing in the last decade, and assumed it was an American influence thing. When I was a kid (30 years ago) it was roast pork with crackling and prawn cocktails for entrees. Some families I knew had ham or beef but mostly it was pork.
We did turkey and pork at the family Christmas this weekend. Will have turkey on Christmas day.
I go some rum ham! Better than both!
RUM HAM!
Exactly!
Turducken!
(always prawns)
Growing up it was always ham for me (and other cold meats, salad stuff. Sometimes prawns… I think.) This year though, totally going to end up having McDonalds.
Oysters motherfucker.
eeeeewwwwwww
Prawns with lobster & a duck stuffed in turkey.
HAM
Not a seafood fan. My family Christmas is usually roast pork, beef and chicken.
Mmm… Maccas though! I think my mum would neck me if I went home and got maccas after there being so much food at Christmas lunch.
You know… Maccas delivers, now.
https://mcdonalds.com.au/mcdelivery
Oh… I did not need to know that! There goes my attempts to lose weight :/
Yes. I, too, am considering taking advantage of this new and wonderful exercise in potential gluttony.
(By which I mean… I am so sorry.)
Turkey is always dry. Always. I don’t care if you are Jamie Ramsey Delia-Lawson. Your turkey is gonna be dry. Prawns by default.
If you get the turkey breast roll thing it won’t be dry, I’ve never had a bad one of those.
Our pork this year though, so dry, so sad, so embarassing
Traditionally my family has always gone the old turkey and ham route. This year my wife and I are hosting and everybody’s sick of that stuff. So we’re doing prawns and oysters for starters, followed by roast duck.
Meat. Just not turkey. Cos turkey is dry and horrible.
Turkey shouldn’t be dry and horrible.
Cold Meat Platters for lunch, because its too damn hot to cook.
http://www.lifehacker.com.au/2014/12/pizza-hut-now-makes-pizzas-out-1-of-doritos-the-end-is-nigh/
All the things. Garlic prawns win the day for me, with ham and turkey an incredibly close second.
I have never been a huge fan of Prawns, i don’t mind them cooked on the bbq but i cannot stand them cold, Turkey on the other hand i have never had growing up, our Christmas’ were always cold meat, leg ham, chicken and roast pork and salads.
You know, I don’t think there are all that many people out there who eat raw prawns.
Pre-cooked then? i don’t know as i don’t eat them.
He said cold not raw
Ninja edits win the day.
I really really like prawns in Chinese food; my boyfriend’s family then took to assume that to mean that I love all seafood, and are very enthusiastic about me being at their elaborate seafood Christmas festivities.
I don’t like seafood, and I don’t like Christmas, oh no.
I’m the same – I don’t mind them in Chinese food (which is good because my wife is Chinese so whenever we have dinner with her family it’s usually Chinese food, which often means lots of prawns).
But other than that, I’m really not a seafood person. The one exception being salmon which I love cooking on the bbq. BBQ salmon with the crispy skin is awesome.
On what’s likely to be a 42 degree day, I’m gonna have to go with the option that doesn’t include leaving on a hot oven in the middle of my house for several hours.
A couple kilos of prawns, a lifetime’s supply of prosciutto, a quickly whipped up fresh aioli, some icy white wine and we’re set.
PRAWNS!!!! I could eat prawns all freaking year!
We usually have both, but I’ve gotta say I never really understood the excitement over prawns or lobster. I don’t especially dislike them and I’ll usually add a prawn or two to my Christmas dinner plate, but I don’t think I’d miss them if they weren’t there.
Bring in some scallops and blue swimmer crabs though and you’ll have my attention.
It’s always been Turkey and roast pork, maybe roast beef as well.
Although the years my Uncle comes down from Far North Queensland we have prawns, he fills an esky up with fresh caught that morning prawns and brings them down.
None of the above. Turkey is average at best and I’ve never understood the love for prawns personally. I enjoy a combination of roasted meats including lamb, beef and chicken on Christmas Day. This year I’ll be doing a Korean BBQ themed meal so I’ll be having beef, chicken and pork.
Ham.
I could pass on all three.
How about roast pork?
Our family’s always been traditional and gone the Turkey route. Nan usually overcooks it so we drown it in gravy and cranberry but still do it again every year.
In saying that, we always have prawn cocktail as an entree. But my wife’s allergic to prawns (+ all other crustaceans…) which almost makes me question the whole marriage because I’m now prohibited from eating my favourite foods.
Spare a thought for me when you’re eating your kilos of prawns and crays you pack of bastards.
I really love the cooked, glazed ham the best. Tend to do it on the Weber Q with a mustard, sugar and honey type of glaze. This is how I’m overweight… Prawns are ok but the times I’ve tried turkey its been average. Rather a chicken over Turkey to be honest.
Also trifle…
Don’t get me started on trifle…
I’ve never understood the appeal of Turkey or Prawns. Roast Pork = Christmas as far as i’m concerned.
I’d like to have prawns but their tendency to hospitalise me kind of makes me lean towards the meats.
Cold roast meats (port, beef, chicken) and sometimes prawns for us.
Who wants to eat hot food when it’s often 40 C on Xmas and Boxing Day? =P
Port is also acceptable on Christmas…
Goes rather well with the Christmas Pudding.
neither, each year my family has a massive pork roast with that epicly awesome pork crackling!
I really don’t get these “Big Question” articles. It’s always both with caveats to both with every article for me.
Ham, turkey, pork, AND prawns!
Ham and prawns are the staple Australian traditions…not saying the poll is wrong, but why include Turkey and not ham?
We’ve always had Turkey. Can’t handle prawns (or almost any Seafood), and I love love LOVE Turkey. We’re Hungarian, so Turkey is just one part of the lunch. Lots of Pork, Beef, Chicken, Duck and paprika with almost everything 🙂
Glorious honey glazed ham my uncle makes in the ol’ BBQ, among many other things to pig out on and regret later (BUT IT WAS SO DELICIOUS!) when you can’t move.
Christmas ham son.
Traditional Aussie Christmas? Roast Pork, Chicken, Turkey and Beef, BBQ Garlic Prawns and Honey-Glazed Ham (All in moderation). Don’t get me started on the sides though, that would take a while. Then there’s the Wine, Beers and Spirits. Damn is it Thursday yet I’m hungry.
I remember one year my mum cooked Duck A’Larange for christmas. But I think that was before we were a family of 5 kids. Then christmas lunch became a big buffet of cold sliced meats, cold seafood and lots of salads. Then a hot steamed pudding, set on fire 🙂
Both, also with ham, beef and oysters. We roll deep on Christmas.