The Forme of Cury, published circa 1390, is among England’s oldest cookbooks. In it is a recipe for figgy pudding’s ancestor, fygey. Along with figs and raisins, it calls for “almande blanched [and] grynde . . . water and wyne, powdour gyngur and hony clarified” to be boiled, salted, and then served. Offered at the end of a meal or at teatime, the dense steamed pudding is a true British classic, here
