sunday roast

This evening, I had the pleasure of being invited to have a Sunday roast dinner! A couple of weeks ago at a volunteering event, I had made friends with two other students named Karen and Paul. Paul was talking about how he had learned how to cook different types of British food during his stay with a host family, including Sunday roast. Never having a proper Sunday roast before (the one I had at a bar doesn't really count), Karen and I joked about him having us over one day for a meal. Well, turns out he was serious!

If you aren't familiar with what a Sunday roast is, it's pretty much exactly what it sounds like. But according to Wikipedia:

The Sunday roast is a traditional British and Irish main meal that is traditionally served on Sundays but can be eaten on any day of the week, consisting of roasted meat, roast potato or mashed potato, with accompaniments such as Yorkshire pudding, stuffing, vegetables and gravy.

Paul also said it would be a 4 course meal with an appetizer, the main course, dessert, and tea. We were first poured glasses of wine, which was a nice surprise. But Karen and I both don't drink, so we ended up having good ol' lemonade instead. The first course was chopped up carrots and cucumbers, with an egg and shrimp salad on top.

For the main course, we had roasted chicken, Yorkshire pudding, and roasted vegetables all smothered in a homemade gravy. The chicken was so flavorful and juicy. Can you believe Paul marinated it over night? What dedication!

And guess what: we actually had this meal IN THE DARK. I'm not sure if this is what all British people do, but Paul's host family would light candles and turn off the lights when eating the main course. Apparently Sunday roast doesn't look that appetizing, and turning off the lights distracts you from looking at the food and just the enjoying the flavors more. It was a very interesting experience.

I was really full after the roast that I could barely eat the dessert. But we were served with an assortment of fruits and sweets!

Thank you so much to Paul for giving us such a fantastic meal! I'm now stuffed and really sleepy.