30 Who knew a pudding could be so
important? And who knew a pudding could be banned? Well, not just the pudding but Christmas itself! Under Oliver Cromwell, that Bah! Humbug! of all time! Christmas was declared illegal, banning the eating of Christmas pudding along with all festive merriment from carols to carousing. In an attempt to combat festive gluttony and restore Christmas to its religious roots, it was suggested that instead of a feast day, Christmas should be a fast day. What a difference an ‘e’ can make! Happily, when Charles II came into power, Christmas was reinstated. Recipes for old plum pudding have
Spices and
dried fruit were both expensive, exotic
existed in some form or another since the 17th century, yet the recipe for Christmas pudding has never in fact included plums. The word refers to dried fruit of any variety whether dates, prunes, sultanas or currants. It all started in the Middle Ages with Frumenty, a thick porridge (pottage) like substance consisting of meat broth, spices, dried fruit and breadcrumbs – hence the word mincemeat, although thankfully this has been meatless for many years. Spices and dried fruit were both expensive, exotic ingredients introduced to Britain by the Crusaders
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ingredients introduced to Britain by the Crusaders returning from the
returning from the Mediterranean, their use restricted to special occasion dishes. Combining the meat with dried fruit would enable it to keep for longer. Through time, the pottage mixture became thicker and thicker until it needed to be wrapped in a pudding cloth and boiled for several hours. More recently, the dish evolved to include eggs, then beers or spirits to prolong its shelf life or help the flavour mature, as you prefer! What a lot to think about when all you
want is a portion of pud...! Hopefully we will have the chance
Mediterranean
to share our Christmas puddings with family and friends this year, albeit perhaps in limited numbers, but should all the customs and traditions have encouraged you to ‘go the home made route’, fingers crossed you remembered about Stir-Up Sunday!
The Collect for the Day from the 1549 Book of
Common Prayer for the last Sunday before Advent begins …”Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people”. So it is not hard to see how that became a timely
reminder to cooks to use that day for making the Christmas puddings allowing several weeks for maturing, ready for reheating on Christmas Day! And, by association, the significance of the day was reinforced as the time to start preparations for the Advent season. Because the dating of Advent varies a little from
year to year, Stir-Up Sunday can fall anytime between November 20th and 26th 22nd
(this year, Sunday November ) but whether you use Grandma’s time honoured
recipe or browse the shelves of your local shops for something different….from all of us at South Devon Magazines:
‘We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year. Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Now, bring us some figgy pudding, Now, bring us some
figgy pudding, and bring it out here! Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For we all like figgy pudding, For we all like figgy pudding, so bring it out here! Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. And we won’t go until we got some, and we won’t go
until we got some, and we won’t go until we got some, so bring some out here! Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.’
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