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A pudding with history

From frumenty to ‘the invention of the scarlet whore of Babylon’

"Now bring us some figgy pudding and bring it right here; we won’t go until we get some..."

I always thought this Christmas carol was too demanding in tone and emphasis. It’s a pretty rude request to make of a host/ess. What is figgy pudding anyway?

Plum pudding, also called Christmas pudding, is what the lyrics refer to. Not so much a tradition in North America but a holiday necessity in Britain, Christmas pudding is steeped (no pun intended) in history and symbolism.

Modern Christmas pudding is very different from the original dish it started out as. Pagan ritual during the winter solstice was celebrated with an unusual excess of food for people longing for spring and its promised abundance. The blood of a sacrificed animal was boiled with spices in an open cauldron to make a thin gruel, called frumenty. By the 14th century this porridge-like mixture had evolved to include beef, mutton, raisins, currants, prunes and wine. In preparation for Christmas festivities it was eaten as a fasting dish.

Frumenty became closer to plum pudding around 1595 when it was thickened with breadcrumbs, eggs and dried fruit and made more flavourful with the addition of ale, spirits, milk and cream. It was a very rich dish made even more so by the giant silver and gold tureens it was presented in at the tables of the great houses. Celebrations of this sort were banned by Cromwell in 1664; indulging in the pagan, lewd custom was sinful for the Puritans and the rich ingredients were described as unfit for God-fearing people.

In 1714, plum pudding was restored to its rightful place at the table but instead of a porridge it was substantially solidified. This change probably came about following the Christmas tradition of preparing haggis, a sheep’s stomach lining stuffed with a mixture of animal organs, onion, suet and oatmeal, and boiled for 24 hours (now six) before being eaten. A lazy cook who had not begun preparations early enough would be dragged around the market place for all to see.

The resurrection of Christmas pudding continued to be objected to by Quakers at this time, referring to the dessert as "the invention of the scarlet whore of Babylon". This may be the reason why plum pudding was not adopted as the Christmas dessert in the New World.

In imitation of boiling a sheep’s stomach lining, the ingredients of plum pudding were tied up in a "pudding cloth", several layers of muslin, tied off and either boiled in water or steamed above it. The tied pudding, when unwrapped, revealed the characteristic rounded shape of the puddings we associate with Victorian Christmas. Ingredients, even in Victorian times, varied from household to household. Not surprisingly, wealthier households produced puddings with more dried fruit, spices and wine than poorer households that turned out puddings with more flour and cereal. Ale was always added as most people brewed their own at home. Modern day puddings are usually made in bowls or moulds with a variety of dried fruits, spices and spirits.

There are several religious associations paired with the making of traditional Christmas pudding. Puddings should be made by the 25th Sunday after Trinity and prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and His Disciples. The pudding should be stirred with a wooden spoon from east to west, in honour of the Three Kings. Setting the pudding alight with brandy just before serving is a symbol of Christ’s passion and a decorative sprig of holly is a representation of His Crown of Thorns.

Superstition dictates that all members of the household should take a turn stirring the pudding and make a wish while doing so. Since Victorian times little silver coins or charms were baked into the dish to forecast the coming year to whoever discovers them when served. A silver coin is said to bring health, wealth and happiness, a thimble or button predicts that finders will remain spinsters or bachelors, and rings mean marriage within the year.

So why is it called plum pudding? The Latin word for plum is pruna which in Germanic languages was changed to pluma. The terms were interchangeable in the 16th and 17th centuries and since the pudding historically contained prunes, the plum name stuck.

Suet is a necessary ingredient if one wants to make an authentic plum pudding. Suet is the fat taken from around beef kidneys. This particular fat, unlike other beef fat, is crumbly and pearl-like. It dissolves late in the cooking process, after the starch in the batter has begun to set, leaving behind little tiny spaces in the pudding which makes the texture soft and fine grained. The easiest way to chop the suet for the pudding is to freeze it and then grate it using a cheese grater or chop it with a sharp knife. If it is allowed to melt or become soft the pudding will be heavy and greasy. Alternatively, grinding the suet in a food processor also works well.

Any heat-proof bowl can be used to steam a pudding but it must have a rim to be able to fasten a string around the top without it slipping off. Ceramic or glass bowls will have less problems with sticking than metal bowls when it comes to unmoulding them. Find a pot large enough to hold the bowl comfortably. Set a trivet or rack or other such item that the water may circulate around, on the bottom of the pot. Puddings need to be steamed partially submerged in simmering water, not above the water. Place pudding on the trivet and pour boiling water to reach half way to two thirds up the side of the bowl. Cover the pot and steam for the required amount of time, checking every half hour to maintain the water level in the pot. Add boiling water when the level needs to be topped up.

Delia Smith, the Queen of UK cooking (Nigella being the Goddess), has an excellent Web site. Her traditional Christmas pudding can be found and beautifully printed out – even with a colour photo if you have a colour printer – at www.deliasmith.com/recipes. There is also a recipe for a lighter pudding and several recipes for hard sauce and brandy butters.

Adele, my mother in law, always has a store of Christmas puddings hidden away in the chest freezer – like wine, the longer they are stored after the initial steaming the better they become. She serves her pudding with brandy butter and the texture is toothsome, the mouthful warm and the taste decidedly Christmas. Her recipe is her mother’s from 1922, except Adele uses a food processor to help cut down on the preparation time. In the 1930s making this pudding took the better part of the day as everything had to be hand chopped. She puts this three litre pudding together in under half an hour.

Adele’s Christmas pudding

6 oz muscatel raisins

6 oz sultanas

8 oz currants

4 oz mixed peel

4 oz almonds, skins removed

8 oz bread crumbs

6 oz shredded suet

8 oz brown sugar

4 oz flour

spices (about half a teaspoon each of cloves, cinnamon, mace, allspice and nutmeg)

salt

one and a half apples

half a lemon

4 eggs

whiskey — about 1 tablespoon

1. Shred the suet first (see column). Thoroughly mix the dry ingredients all together. Use a food processor to chop breadcrumbs, then apples, the whole half lemon, setting the fruit aside each time. In the food processor whiz the eggs, spices and whiskey all together and add this to the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Next add all the chopped fruit and raisins and currants. The mixture will be very stiff.

2. For the bowl or smaller bowls, grease it with butter or margarine and then coat that loosely with demerara sugar. Push the pudding dough into the bowl leaving a space at the top of about 1" so the pudding can expand. Top with about 4 layers of waxed paper, greased and tied down. So you need a bowl with a rim.

3. Steam the pudding for six hours, checking the level of water in the pot often and topping with boiled water. Carefully remove the pudding from the pot and cool completely, letting the paper dry (overnight). When removing the pudding be careful not to punch the paper as it is brittle. Cover with a layer of aluminum foil and store in a cool dark place or freeze it. The pudding will need to be steamed a further two hours before serving. Pour brandy over the hot pudding and carefully set alight just before serving. Serves 8-12 people.