How Christmas Pudding Tried to 'Save' the British Empire

By Free Republic | Created at 2024-12-25 05:43:49 | Updated at 2024-12-28 17:10:08 3 days ago

How Christmas Pudding Tried to 'Save' the British Empire
BBC ^ | 22 December 2023 | Gary Jones

Posted on 12/24/2024 9:04:49 PM PST by nickcarraway

Loved and hated in equal measure, Christmas pudding's cultural and political clout have extended far beyond the dining table.

It has been called a "gastronomic paradox" – the most British of all dishes largely made from non-British ingredients. Today, Christmas pudding, the dense, fruit-packed confection that is boiled for hours and served with brandy butter or steaming custard just once a year, is loved and hated in equal measure, like Brussels sprouts or Marmite. Its cultural and political clout, however, have extended far beyond the dining table.

Starting out as an affordable gruel enjoyed by the British working class, by the first half of the 20th century Christmas pudding had become a call to arms – a potent propaganda tool and a boastful symbol of British imperialism. Containing such exotic fare as candied orange peel from South Africa, raisins from Australia and spices from India and Zanzibar, the dish was sent into economic battle by the state and used to promote the empire’s family of nations with a simple message: just look at the wonders we can achieve when we all pull together.

While the origins of Christmas pudding extend back to the Middle Ages, modern business terms such as "globalisation", the "international supply chain" and "free trade between nations" were not tripping off the tongue of the average English peasant back then, when a working man's meal might include frumenty, a savoury oat porridge thickened with breadcrumbs and perhaps dotted with scraps of mutton or beef.

By the 16th Century, English merchants were active in the spice trade and importing exciting new foodstuffs from Africa, India and Southeast Asia, and this previously unappetising gruel might now include prunes, currants and raisins instead of gristle. Frumenty was the ancestor of plum pudding,

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...

TOPICS: Food
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1 posted on 12/24/2024 9:04:49 PM PST by nickcarraway

To: nickcarraway

Sound interesting.

Classic Christmas pudding
https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/classic-christmas-pudding

step 1
Get everything for the pudding prepared. Chop the almonds coarsely. Peel, core and chop the cooking apples. Sharpen your knife and chop the candied peel. (You can chop the almonds and apples in a food processor, but the peel must be done by hand.) Grate three quarters of the nutmeg (sounds a lot but it’s correct).

step 2
Mix the almonds, apples, candied peel, nutmeg, raisins, flour, breadcrumbs, light muscovado sugar, eggs and 2 tbsp brandy or cognac in a large bowl.

step 3
Holding the butter in its wrapper, grate a quarter of it into the bowl, then stir everything together. Repeat until all the butter is grated, then stir for 3-4 mins – the mixture is ready when it subsides slightly after each stir. Ask the family to stir too, and get everyone to make a wish.

step 4
Generously butter two 1.2 litre bowls and put a circle of baking parchment in the bottom of each. Pack in the pudding mixture. Cover with a double layer of baking parchment, pleating it to allow for expansion, then tie with string (keep the paper in place with a rubber band while tying). Trim off any excess paper.

step 5
Now stand each bowl on a large sheet of foil and bring the edges up over the top, then put another sheet of foil over the top and bring it down underneath to make a double package (this makes the puddings watertight). Tie with more string, and make a handle for easy lifting in and out of the pan. Watch our video to see how to tie up a pudding correctly.

step 6
Boil or oven steam the puddings for 8 hrs, topping up with water as necessary. Remove from the pans and leave to cool overnight. When cold, discard the messy wrappings and re-wrap in new baking parchment, foil and string. Store in a cool, dry place until Christmas.

step 7
To make the brandy butter, cream the butter with the orange zest and icing sugar. Gradually beat in the brandy or cognac and chopped stem ginger. Put in a small bowl, fork the top attractively and put in the fridge to set. The butter will keep for a week in the fridge, or it can be frozen for up to six weeks.

step 8
On Christmas Day, boil or oven steam for 1 hr. Unwrap and turn out. To flame, warm 3-4 tbsp brandy in a small pan, pour it over the pudding and set light to it.

2 posted on 12/24/2024 9:34:39 PM PST by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))

To: nickcarraway

English eat weird shiite.

Boiled meat, warm beer......
Blood pudding, eels.............

3 posted on 12/24/2024 9:37:32 PM PST by doorgunner69 (Your oath of enlistment has no expiration date)

To: ansel12

For everyone in Rio Linda, pudding is British for Dessert in general, not just what we know as pudding in the U.S.

4 posted on 12/24/2024 9:37:49 PM PST by nickcarraway

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