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NEWS, NIBBLES OF KNOWLEDGE AND GOOD THINGS TO DO RIGHT NOW

WORDS: PHOEBE STONE, RACHEL WALKER, SOPHIA MILLER, SUSAN LOW, KAREN BARNES, KIANO MOJU. PHOTOGRAPHS: ISTOCK, PATRICIA NIVEN. *CHRISTMAS TIMINGS SOURCE: LONDON EVENING STANDARD

FEEDING THE FOUNDLINGS

Forget Oliver Twist and his gruel. Children who grew up at London’s Foundling Hospital drank coffee and beer, and ate well at tables laid with china and linen – but they did so in silence and sat in height order.

The Feeding the 400 exhibition at the Foundling Museum in Bloomsbury explores the impact of food on these abandoned children between 1740 and 1950. In the 18th century, as a show of respect to their benefactors, the children would be observed eating Sunday lunch by members of well-to-do society, and paraded holding oranges at the governor’s banquet. Christmas provided cause for something of a spectacle, too, as the staged 1950s image (above) of the children preparing a Christmas pudding shows. £10.25 adults; £7.50 concessions; children free; until 8 January 2017;foundlingmuseum.org.uk

THE ALTERNATIVE CHRISTMAS TIME PLAN

Everyone has their own traditions for the big day, but there are small rituals we’re all familiar with. How do you rate compared to these timings?* Let us know at facebook.com/deliciousmagazineuk

NEW ON OUR PODCAST

In the latest episode, we talk to Pierre Koffmann, one of the godfathers of the fine-dining scene, discover what the Canadian Thanksgiving can teach us for our own Christmas celebrations, hear what it’s like to be a judge at the World Cheese Awards and learn about fruity, British cassis.