Christmas Pudding.
December 5, 2004 9:30 AM   Subscribe

The Scarlet Whore of Babylon must've been a culinary genius. After all, the Quakers credited her with the invention of the Christmas pudding. Being American, I grew up thinking that the world of pudding began and ended here. Boy, was I wrong! This traditional dessert has made its mark on everything -- from great literature and film to atomic modeling. While Stir-up Sunday has been and gone, I think that as long as Christmas hasn't arrived, it's never too late to make your own. (And once you've eaten your fill, try your hand at the game!)
posted by fricative (16 comments total)
 
From the Jell-O link:
JELL-O Pudding snacks contain real JELL-O pudding, skim milk and no preservatives, so it's a treat you can feel good about giving to your family.
Mmm. I always feel good about giving my family cow hoof extract, sugar and milk with all the useful nutrients removed.

(Seriously. "Real Jell-O pudding"? WTF?)
posted by bwerdmuller at 9:53 AM on December 5, 2004


I believe the dreaded fruitcake derived from this...

Personally I love a good fruitcake but plum pudding is incredible.

I haven't made this for years, thanks for the links fricative!

::goes off to search for a non-vegetarian recipe::
posted by kamylyon at 9:56 AM on December 5, 2004


Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
Now bring us some figgy pudding,
And bring some right here!


I've just doomed you for the rest of the day.
posted by Faint of Butt at 10:05 AM on December 5, 2004


Thanks FoB (Like I wasn't already) ;)
posted by kamylyon at 10:06 AM on December 5, 2004


My mother used to make some variation on this--more of a cake with brandy and currants--for New Years every year. Alas, the recipe appears lost. I especially loved the Hard Sauce. Brandy butter--yum!

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good store-bought plum pudding? Froogle appears to have a few, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of plum pudding review sites out there. I will be traveling, but would love to send one to my hosts ahead of time. Anyone know of a yummy internet-purchasable plum pudding that is in a grad student's price range?
posted by allan at 10:26 AM on December 5, 2004


can somebody please tell me why beef should go in a dessert?

I know that it can but i need help with the should.
posted by Kololo at 10:49 AM on December 5, 2004


Smoking Bishop
posted by clavdivs at 11:17 AM on December 5, 2004


No Christmas Pudding, but Alton Brown recently did a show about pudding. Instant chocolate pudding recipe sans gelatin included.
posted by ontic at 11:17 AM on December 5, 2004


can somebody please tell me why beef should go in a dessert?

Because fat makes everything tasty, Kololo. Why is it any stranger than putting fruit in your meat?
posted by QIbHom at 11:59 AM on December 5, 2004


What I don't understand is how the solid Christmas pudding (or Yorkshire pudding or blood pudding) became the gelatinous semi-liquid Jello pudding. Wikipedia doesn't help.
posted by SoftRain at 12:53 PM on December 5, 2004


Metafilter: the scarlet whore of babylon.
posted by Pink Fuzzy Bunny at 1:18 PM on December 5, 2004


American ingenuity, softrain...
posted by kamylyon at 1:35 PM on December 5, 2004


SoftRain, although Christmas pudding has evolved from a stew-like dinner meat dish to a rich plummy dessert thingy (and into a fruitcake?), I believe that Jello "pudding" probably evolved from a generic cooked and sweetened milk concoction, to be found in many cultures...

(Mmm... khir...)
posted by Specklet at 2:08 PM on December 5, 2004


can somebody please tell me why beef should go in a dessert?

My family has an old recipe for suet pudding, one we've made for a least 4 generations. It's absolutely fantastic. We've tried to adapt it using shortening or butter so that diabetics and vegetarians could enjoy it too, but neither of these worked.

Has anyone found a vegetarian recipe that is any good?
posted by gesamtkunstwerk at 2:18 PM on December 5, 2004


gesamtkunstwerk, you can get vegetable suet. Since it's probably made with a lot of palm oil, it's likely to be little better for you than beef suet.
posted by scruss at 2:35 PM on December 5, 2004


Mincemeat is another example of mixing meat, fruit spices and sugar and getting something absurdly wonderful out of it.

My aunt in Vermont still makes venison mincemeat and it beats the hell out of the stuff you can buy in a jar (which is still awesome, imho)

I'm not sure if the meat and suet is used as filler for the fruit, or the other way around, but whichever it is, it's all good.

mmm mincemeat oatmeal cookies...
::runs off to the kitchen::
posted by kamylyon at 11:06 PM on December 5, 2004


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