Food & Drink 

Advertisement

Christmas pudding

It's time to get all stirred up - by making a deliciously rich and spicy Christmas pudding

Dark and rich, strong and spicy, this dried fruit concoction evokes as many memories for us as it contains ingredients. And as with most great British traditions, the Christmas pudding originates from medieval times.

Ancestors of the Christmas pudding or 'plum pottage' can be traced to the early 1400s and weren't actually associated with Christmas at all. They contained meat, root vegetables, dried fruit and spices and were served at the beginning of the meal. As new kinds of dried fruit became available the pudding evolved and meat was slowly phased out and replaced by suet - a hard fat that surrounds the kidneys in cows and sheep. By the Victorian era the recipe we know today was well established.

However, the process of evolution never rests and today there are many variations on the theme, giving the pudding maker flexibility to satisfy different tastes or traditions within the family.

One aspect that hasn't changed is the method of cooking and maturing. As in centuries past, the pudding is boiled or steamed for hours, left to mature, then re-steamed before serving. Cooked and stored properly a pudding can last up to one year, though a couple of months will suffice, as the dried fruit, sugar and alcohol act as preservatives. Leave to cool and store in a cool, dark place. You can 'feed' your Christmas pudding by poking skewer holes into the top and drizzling over a small amount of spirits, usually rum or brandy to soak in. This keeps it from drying out, as well as adding to its preserving qualities and flavour. Just don't get too overzealous with the booze or your pudding will become too moist and not hold together! And if you intend on setting the pudding alight for presentation, it may provide more of a 'flambe' than you bargained for.

Cooking a Christmas pudding is much easier than you think. And the real joy is that no gadgets are needed - just big bowl, a wooden spoon and time. So set aside a rainy autumn afternoon and tick the Christmas pudding off the list.

Delicious     Digg     reddit     Facebook     StumbleUpon

  Get the latest iVillage news on your desktop    Sign up for more iVillage RSS feeds

© iVillage Limited 2000-2008. All rights reserved. | © iVillage inc. 1995-2008. All rights reserved.
iVillage Ltd is a UK company registered in England & Wales (3837269) at 80-110 New Oxford Street, London WC1 1HB