29


d d C


hristmas puddings are a quintessential Christmas tradition but a recent survey found two-thirds of British children


had never experienced the fun of measuring out ingredients and stirring the family’s own home-made Christmas pudding, such is the reliance on ready


made, shop bought varieties. So we thought it time to celebrate some of the traditions and customs surrounding a pudding which, in one form or another, has been part of the season of good cheer for centuries! Traditionally, families gather together in their kitchens to mix and steam their Christmas puddings with every member taking their turn to stir whilst making a wish for the coming year. Practically, stirring Christmas puddings can be hard work so the more you have to share the effort, the better but, few or many, you must always stir from East to West in honour of the Three Wise Men who visited Jesus in the Nativity story. Christmas puddings should, according to tradition,


contain 13 ingredients to represent the Disciples. In addition, charms would be hidden in the puddings intended to bestow a year of good fortune on the finder (hopefully, without breaking their teeth!). The time-honoured lucky charms were a silver coin for wealth, a wishbone for luck, a thimble for thrift, a ring for marriage, and an anchor for safe harbour. The customary garnish of holly is said to represent the Crown of Thorns but please remember - real


holly berries are very toxic, so take care to only use fake foliage to decorate the top! And flaming your puddings with brandy represents the Passion of Christ. But what are the origins of the Christmas pudding? Many of our current Christmas traditions originated


charms would be hidden in the Puddings intended to


bestow a year of good fortune on the finder


in Victorian times, with the popular version claiming Prince Albert introduced the Christmas pudding to Britain during his marriage to Queen Victoria. The sweetmeat became fashionable, quickly establishing itself as a seasonal staple. That authority on all things food-related, Mrs Beeton, included a recipe for and illustration of a Christmas plum pudding in her 1861 Book of Household Management which is clearly recognizable as the version we still enjoy today. And, of course, who can forget Charles


Dickens’ depiction of Mrs Cratchit, “Smiling proudly with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.” from A Christmas Carol! But, back then, it was also regarded as symbolic


in ways more political than religious … The spices, sweet meats, dried fruits and many other traditional ingredients of Christmas pudding were sourced from across the Commonwealth and the dish, in many ways, was considered to represent the British nation itself. In 1850, London Illustrated News even described the plum pudding as a “national symbol”, adding, “It does not represent class or caste, but the bulk of the English nation.”


N


y o


g w


n , p


r


b


i


i


u n g


u


s


s


o


i


me


f


g


g


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108