Without this brilliant German chemist, your Christmas tree wouldn’t have been the same

Were it not for Baron Justus von Liebig, Christmas might look and taste quite different. Yet despite his contribution to everything from the stock cubes used in your gravy to the mirrors in your home, it is unlikely you have heard of him.

For much of the 19th century, Liebig was a giant of the scientific establishment, with fingers in many pies. He worked out the core nutritional needs of plants and then went on to develop the first fertiliser – for which he is known in scientific circles as the “father of fertilisation”. This work removed the dependency on animal dung to feed crops and paved the way for industrial agriculture – including piles of Brussels sprouts.

The German chemist’s interests also stretched to human nutrition. He became convinced the juices that flowed out of cooked meat contained valuable nutritional compounds and encouraged cooks to sear the meat to seal in the juices. This turned out to be complete bunkum, but 150 years later his advice is still followed by Christmas dinner chefs across the land.

The obsession with meat juices also led him to create beef extracts in an attempt to provide a nutritious meat substitute. The extract turned out to be a rather poor, and not particularly nutritious, alternative to meat…

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