The article shares a heartfelt account of a perfect Sunday lunch, illustrating its significance in British culture. The author reflects on the history of Sunday meals, tracing them back to medieval times when serfs were rewarded with feasts for their hard labor. His personal experience involves restoring ancient woodland with volunteers, which he likens to a communal church. After their labor, the gratifying feast they enjoy, including traditional dishes like roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, highlights the notion that hard work should be rewarded with sustenance and joy.
I have just had the meal of meals—a Sunday lunch of such perfection that my next move should have been to lie down.
Sunday lunch is such a British institution it's hard to know when it started. Possibly in medieval times, but that's between the 5th and the 15th century.
Historically, village serfs worked six days for the squire and were rewarded on Sundays with feasts of roasted oxen after church.
My wife, Debbie, and I restore ancient woodland on Sundays with volunteers, clearing land around venerable trees, creating our own version of a shared feast.
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