2
puddings using 16 cm 6¼ inch /No. 36) basins (moulds)Medium
Published 2016
Probably the most loved and internationally famed pudding of all is the plum pudding, or Christmas pudding. It has its roots in the ancient Roman and haggis-type puddings, but along the way it lost the meat and became a sweet dish. Originally boiled in skins, then in a cloth and later, when it became the fashion, in moulds, it has changed surprisingly little over the past 300 years.
There are a lot of legends and claims made about the origins of the plum pudding. Some say it evolved from plum porridge, a thick soup with similar ingredients, but I believe these are two separate dishes that coexisted with each other.
According to tradition, plum pudding should be made on ‘Stir-up Sunday’. It is a custom that is believed to date back to the 1549 Book of Common Prayer; where a reading states ‘stir up, we beseech thee’. The words would be read in church on the last Sunday before Advent and so the good people knew it was time to start on their favourite Christmas treat.
It was a family affair: everyone would gather to stir the pudding mixture from east to west, in honour of the Three Kings who came from the east. Sometimes coins or trinkets would be hidden in the dough; finding them on Christmas Day would bring luck and good fortune.
Some say it was King
The first written record of a recipe for plum pudding as we know it today can be found in
A Plum-pudding: Shred a Pound and a half of Suet very fine, and sift it; add a Pound and a half of Raisins of the Sun ston’d, six spoonful of Flour, and as many of Sugar, the Yolks of eight Eggs, and the Whites of five, beat the Eggs with a little Salt, tye it up close in a Cloth and boil it for four or five Hours.
There is, however, no suggestion that the pudding is associated with George I, the practice of Stir-up Sunday, or the Christmas feast.
An earlier reference in the diary of
Around that same time, another man, on another ship, also writes about the celebration of Christmas, though his circumstances are rather grim compared to
On Christmas the near-empty barrels of flour – and whatever else they had – were scraped clean to make a plum pudding from the last of their store. It is an extraordinary account of a group of people living in fear that they might die on that ship, but still in the midst of all that despair they go to the trouble to create a plum pudding, which the diarist for the first time in history names ‘Christmas Pudding’.
Many sorrowful days and nights we spun out in this manner, tille the blessed feast of Christmas came upon us, which we began with a very melancholy solemnity; and yet, to make some distinction of times, the scrapings of the meal-tubs were all amassed together to compose a pudding. Malaga sack, sea water, with fruit and spice, all well fryed in oyl, were the ingredients of this regale, which raised some envy in the spectators; but allowing some privilege to the captain’s mess, we met no obstruction, but did peaceably enjoy our Christmas pudding. ‘
A Voyage to Virginia ’, byColonel Norwood , fromA Collection of Voyages and Travels byAwnsham Churchill andJohn Churchill , Vol 6, 1745
This Christmas pudding must have been savoured by the passengers meant for America, on the quest for a new life after the civil war in England. It might have created a nostalgic moment, when they lingered on the memory of a sweet Christmas feast, safe and warm at home, before they had left on this terrible fatal journey that would kill most of them after Christmas.
In this era, plum puddings were a common companion to beef on festive days; they were eaten before or along with the meat, not after the meal topped with plenty of cream as we know it today. A plum pudding would often be sliced up and arranged under the dripping of a roasting joint of meat in front of the fire.
The ‘Hack’ or ‘Hackin’ pudding, a relative of the haggis and plum pudding from the north of England, was eaten in the same fashion. In 1732
It is possible that the tradition of eating a plum pudding with roast beef on festive occasions evolved to it becoming the highlight of the Christmas feast, inspired by customs in the north of England.
The Victorians’ Love of Christmas
By the Victorian era the Christmas pudding was well and truly the symbol of Christmas, although the Christmas tree would soon take its place. Printing methods improved and it became possible to print in various colours so Christmas cards became popular. Many of these depicted puddings as centrepieces on the festive table and cards featured puddings dressed up like little men. The pudding would also continue to grace satirical cards in which political feuds were addressed, as in A Learned Dissertation on Dumpling nearly a century before.
But What About the Pudding King?
It was not George I but his namesake
In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the British Empire had grown vast and during the First World War many of the member countries had suffered great losses. On Empire Day 1917, King
The Christmas pudding now became the Empire pudding, promoted by the Empire Marketing Board. Posters depicted Britannia holding a flaming plum pudding, sporting a Union Jack flag and the recipe to make the pudding.
In 1926 a propaganda film was made by
Plum pudding indeed became the symbol of patriotism as much as eating roast beef and plum pudding had done in the mid-eighteenth century when the French threatened British shores and plum puddings appeared in political cartoons.
During the First World War, women who worked in refugee camps in France and Belgium created the now sought-after ‘WWI Silks’ to show support for the troops fighting for their freedom. These postcards were made by framing the embroideries the women created and the themes were, of course, usually patriotic scenes with Belgian, French and British flags surrounded by garlands of flowers or … a plum pudding bristling with flags.
The recipe for Empire pudding promoted later by
Clockwise from top left: WWI Silk postcard; Puddings, by Mrs
Leyel ; late Georgian Christmas card; Atora shredded suet recipe booklet, 1929; Atmore’s Mince Meat trade cards (early business cards); a Victorian Christmas card; another trade card from Atmore’s; plum pudding illustration from Warne’s Model Cookery, 1868;James Gillray ’s 1805 illustration, ‘The Plumb-pudding in danger’ depictsWilliam Pitt , wearing a regimental uniform and hat, sitting at a table withNapoleon ; two more Victorian Christmas cards.
Although nothing suggests that the day on which the Empire pudding had to be made was indeed Stir-up Sunday, I think when this tradition became common, this was the moment when preparing the pudding became a family affair and a celebration. To this day, most British families will enjoy their Christmas pudding and prepare it well in advance to soak it in rich booze until Christmas Day.
For this plum pudding, I started with one of the earliest recipes and it has evolved in my kitchen over the past few years. It is a favourite with my friends and family and I will often make several, either to give as gifts or keep for a few months, or even until the next Christmas, as the pudding only gets better and better.