Boiled and Steamed Puddings

Early puddings are, as I explained, sausage-type dishes, which were usually boiled, then often smoked, or roasted. They were either made with meat, blood or entirely from rice, spelt or other grains stuffed into some kind of intestine or cloth bag. These puddings were always flavoured in one way or another, either using herbs or spices. Later, candied fruits, fortified wines and liqueurs were added and the puddings nearly all lost their meat content. Steaming them in a basin or mould became the favoured method over boiling, when the technique was developed. Today’s steamed puddings are usually made of a sponge cake batter, or a rich fruitcake batter and are made either in large pudding moulds, or small individual ones. Savoury versions still exist under the name haggis, blood pudding and white pudding. Dumplings are also puddings.