Sunday roast

ASunday roastorroast dinneris aBritish dish, traditionally consumed onSunday. It consists ofroastedmeat,roasted potatoes or mashed potatoes, and accompaniments such asYorkshire pudding,stuffing,gravy, and may include condiments such asapple sauce,mint sauce, redcurrant sauce, mustard, cranberry orHorseradish sauce.A range of vegetables can be served, such asbroccoli,Brussels sprouts,cabbage,carrots,cauliflower,parsnips, orpeas, which can be boiled, steamed, or roasted alongside the meat and potatoes.
The Sunday roast's prominence inBritish cultureis such that in a UK poll in 2012 it was ranked second in a list of things people love about Britain.Other names for this meal includeSunday lunch,Sunday dinner,roast dinner,andfull roast. The meal is often described as a less grand version of a traditionalChristmas dinner.
Besides being served in its original homelands, the tradition of a Sunday roast lunch or dinner has been a major influence on food cultures in theEnglish-speaking world, particularly in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United States, and New Zealand. A South African Sunday roast normally comprises roast pork, beef, lamb or chicken, roast potatoes or mashed potatoes,  and various vegetables like cauliflower-broccoli cheese,creamed spinach, green beans, carrots, peas, beetroot, and sweet potato. It is also fairly common to serve rice and gravy or pap and tomato gravy in South Africa instead of Yorkshire pudding.
The Sunday roast originated in the British Isles, particularlyYorkshire, as a meal to be eaten after thechurch serviceonSunday.Eating a large meal following church services is common to most of Europe, but the Sunday roast variant developed unique to the British Isles. On Sundays, all types of meat and dairy produce are allowed to be eaten; this is unlike Fridays, where many Christians of the Roman Catholic, Anglican and Methodist denominations traditionallyabstain from eating meatsand instead eat fish.Likewise, it is traditional for Anglicans and English Catholicsto fast before Sunday services, with a larger meal to break the fast afterwards. These Christian religious rules created several traditional dishes in the United Kingdom.
There are two historical points on the origins of the modern Sunday roast.
Typical meats used for a Sunday roast arechicken,lamb,pork, orroast beef, although seasonallyduck,goose,gammon,turkey, or (rarely) othergame birdsmay be used.
Sunday roasts can be served with a range of boiled, steamed and/or roasted vegetables. The vegetables served vary seasonally and regionally, but will usually includeroast potatoes, roasted in meatdrippingorvegetable oil, and alsogravymade from juices released by the roasting meat, perhaps supplemented by one or morestock cubes,gravy browning/thickening,rouxorcorn flour.
The potatoes can be cooked around the meat itself, absorbing the juices and fat directly (as in a traditional Cornish under-roast).However, many cooks prefer to cook the potatoes and the Yorkshire pudding in a hotter oven than that used for the joint and so remove the meat beforehand to rest and "settle" in a warm place.
Other vegetables served with roast dinner can include mashedswedeorturnips, roastparsnips, boiled or steamedcabbage,broccoli,green beans, and boiledcarrotsandpeas. It is also not uncommon for vegetable dishes—such ascauliflower cheeseand stewedred cabbageto be served alongside the more usual assortment of plainly-cooked seasonal vegetables.
Common traditional accompaniments include: