The Story Behind Britain’s Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Evolution of Christmas Pudding: From Beef and Mutton to Dried Fruit and Spices
The original Christmas pudding was a savory dish called "pottage" made with meat, vegetables, grains, and fruits cooked slowly over a fire, and had little resemblance to the sweet dessert we know today.
In the 17th century, Christmas pudding often included meat, such as beef or mutton, along with fruits and spices, which was typical of the culinary style of the era, combining sweet and savory flavors.
The term "plum" in "plum pudding" was originally synonymous with raisins, currants, and other dried fruits, and not the fruit we know today, and was used to describe a runny porridge made with a mixture of meats, dried fruits, and spices.
The invention of the pudding cloth in the mid-1600s revolutionized the making of Christmas pudding, making it less reliant on animal products, although suet (a type of fat from around beef and mutton kidneys) remained a key ingredient until the 19th century.
What else is in this post?
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Evolution of Christmas Pudding: From Beef and Mutton to Dried Fruit and Spices
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Patriotic "Empire Pudding How the British Women's League Promoted Christmas Pudding as a Symbol of the Empire
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - Plum Pudding and the British Monarchy: Royal Connections and Christmas Traditions
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Contentious Role of Christmas Pudding in the Crimean War
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - Rebranding Plum Pudding as "Christmas Pudding The Culinary Influence of Eliza Acton
- The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Enduring Debate: Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with its Iconic Dessert
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Patriotic "Empire Pudding How the British Women's League Promoted Christmas Pudding as a Symbol of the Empire
In the 1920s, the British Women's Patriotic League launched a global marketing campaign to promote Christmas pudding as the "Empire Pudding." They urged cooks to use ingredients sourced from Britain's colonies and possessions, such as dried fruits from Australia and South Africa, cinnamon from Ceylon, and spices from India.
The use of Jamaican rum in the pudding was seen as a symbol of the British Empire, replacing traditional French brandy.
This was part of the league's efforts to position the Christmas pudding as an emblem of imperial unity and patriotism.
Scientific analysis has shown that the dense, heavy texture of traditional Christmas pudding was an intentional design choice.
The high concentration of dried fruits and nuts provided a sense of heft and substance, reflecting the weight and solidity of the British Empire.
Interestingly, the Christmas pudding recipe promoted by the Women's Patriotic League actually borrowed heavily from earlier recipes, with the "Empire" branding being more of a marketing tactic than a substantive change to the dish itself.
Despite the league's efforts, the "Empire Pudding" campaign had limited long-term success.
As the British Empire declined in the mid-20th century, the Christmas pudding gradually lost its overt imperial symbolism, becoming more of a cherished British culinary tradition than a nationalistic statement.
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - Plum Pudding and the British Monarchy: Royal Connections and Christmas Traditions
The origins of plum pudding can be traced back to the 14th century, when it was a savory porridge called "frumenty" made with beef, mutton, raisins, currants, prunes, wines, and spices.
It slowly evolved into a sweet, boiled dessert known as "plum pudding" over the centuries.
Plum pudding was banned by Oliver Cromwell and the Puritans in the 1640s, as they believed the ritual of flaming the pudding harked back to pagan celebrations of the winter solstice, making it inappropriate for a Christian celebration.
King George I, nicknamed the "Pudding King," re-established the tradition of serving plum pudding as part of the royal Christmas feast when he celebrated his first Christmas in England after arriving from Hanover in 1714.
Queen Victoria was instrumental in popularizing many of the Christmas traditions we associate with the British monarchy today, including the Christmas tree, Christmas cards, and the serving of plum pudding as the grand finale of the Christmas feast.
The Royal Family continues the tradition of serving plum pudding at their Christmas celebrations.
The Queen's official Christmas pudding recipe includes ingredients like suet, raisins, currants, and brandy.
In 2022, Buckingham Palace invited the public to invent a new "Platinum Pudding" recipe to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee, highlighting the enduring connection between the British monarchy and this traditional Christmas dessert.
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Contentious Role of Christmas Pudding in the Crimean War
Christmas pudding played a crucial role in boosting morale among British troops fighting in the Crimean War.
Shipments of the rich, fruity dessert were sent from Britain to provide soldiers with a taste of home during the harsh winter campaigns.
The production of Christmas puddings for the troops became a patriotic endeavor, with women across Britain donating ingredients and labor to ensure the soldiers received this beloved holiday treat.
This created a sense of community support for the war effort.
The high sugar and fat content of Christmas pudding made it an ideal calorie-dense food for soldiers enduring the cold, damp conditions of the Crimean peninsula.
It provided much-needed nutrition and comfort.
However, the transport and storage of Christmas puddings proved challenging.
Many arrived spoiled or frozen, leading to disputes over their quality and distribution among the troops.
The association of Christmas pudding with British national identity and the holiday season fueled tensions with Russian forces, who viewed the dessert as a symbol of their enemy's cultural traditions.
This contributed to the ideological divide between the warring sides.
Scientifically, the long shelf-life of Christmas pudding, thanks to its high alcohol content and dense texture, allowed it to be transported over long distances without spoiling, making it a practical food for the troops.
After the war, the popularity of Christmas pudding surged in Britain, as the dessert became a representation of national resilience and the sacrifices made by soldiers during the Crimean conflict.
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - Rebranding Plum Pudding as "Christmas Pudding The Culinary Influence of Eliza Acton
The name "plum pudding" was misleading, as it originally contained no plums.
The term "plum" referred to any type of dried fruit used in the dish.
Eliza Acton, a leading 19th-century cookbook author, helped rebrand the traditional plum pudding as "Christmas pudding" in her influential 1845 book "Modern Cookery for Private Families."
Acton's recipe for "vegetable plum pudding" used potatoes and carrots as budget-friendly substitutes for more expensive ingredients, making the dish more accessible to the middle class.
The desire of British white colonists to replicate their cultural traditions led to the spread of Christmas pudding across the empire, with versions appearing in places like Australia's gold fields by the mid-19th century.
The inclusion of ingredients like candied citrus peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, and brandy in traditional Christmas pudding recipes can be traced back to the British Empire's access to spices and other luxuries from its colonial holdings.
The dense, heavy texture of modern Christmas pudding is a departure from its earlier, more porridge-like medieval ancestor, known as "fygey," which contained ground almonds, wine, figs, raisins, ginger, and honey.
The ritual of flaming the Christmas pudding with brandy, a popular Victorian-era practice, was likely inspired by an earlier method of preserving the dessert by dousing it in alcohol.
Despite the enduring popularity of Christmas pudding in Britain, the food writer Elizabeth David famously dismissed it as "a pretty awful concoction," highlighting the dish's polarizing nature among the British public.
The Story Behind Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with Christmas Pudding - The Enduring Debate: Britain's Love-Hate Relationship with its Iconic Dessert
Christmas pudding, also known as plum pudding, has its roots in medieval England, where it was a staple food for the poor, made with scraps of meat, bread, and vegetables.
The traditional Christmas pudding recipe was first published in 1747 by Hannah Glasse, a British cookbook author, and it included ingredients like beef suet, flour, and spices.
Christmas pudding was originally boiled in a cloth, which is where the term "plum pudding" comes from, as the cloth was often tied with a string to form a "plum" shape.
The tradition of making Christmas pudding on Stir-Up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent, dates back to the 17th century, when families would gather to prepare the pudding together.
Christmas pudding was a symbol of good luck and prosperity in Victorian England, with each family member taking a turn stirring the mixture to ensure their share of good fortune.
The traditional Christmas pudding is made with 13 ingredients, representing Jesus and his 12 apostles, and is often served with brandy butter, which is believed to have medicinal properties.
Christmas pudding was a staple of British naval cuisine in the 18th and 19th centuries, where it was served to sailors as a nutritious and energy-rich food.
The Christmas pudding's popularity declined in the mid-20th century, as it was seen as old-fashioned and heavy, but it has experienced a resurgence in recent years, with many British chefs and foodies championing its revival.
The world's largest Christmas pudding was made in 1992 in Leicester, England, weighing over 2 tons and serving over 10,000 people.