What The Heck Is Plum Pudding?

[John Thomas8]

[RTH10260]

and in my 70+ years I have rarely missed one out

well - maybe the couple of baby food years did not contain that item in its diet


While my Mom never made one from scratch, she usually received a homemade one from her British acquaintances circle. In later years (maybe the last forty) the factory made kind was the rule (of course UK origin), having the convenience of a short final cooking time. The original homemade ones would cook all morning before the great lunch.

[notorial dissent]

17^th, 18^th, and 19^th C fruit cake only a lot more work. The sweetened/flavored hot butter is a good accompaniment although the added brandy doesn't hurt either. I've had some very good ones and some equally bad ones. I do think they are a lot of work regardless. Traditionally done in a muslin cloth, pudding cloth, but there were also fancy molds that had sealing tops that would do the same thing and you didn't have to worry about breakout.

[RTH10260]

The hot butter was never served in our households. It's place was custard infused with a twig of vanilla. Our serving tradition called for the Christmas Pudding to come to the table showered in sugar and decorated with a twig of holly with red berries. Prior to serving pour a generous portion of whiskey over the hot putting and flambé, turning the sugar into caramel (in darkened room for show effect too spoon over the liquid as long as there is alcohol left to burn).

[Azastan]

We never had plum pudding. Too much work for me mum.

[RTH10260]

This years harvest, family size with its smaller cousin

20211210_143030.jpg (157.07 KiB) Viewed 1654 times

The maker

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What they make it from
Note: no longer suet, plain vegetarian, I bet the Brit farmers do not provide enough kidneys with associated fat

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And the local source of holly, otherwise found growing in the wild

The attachment 20211210_143030.jpg is no longer available

[notorial dissent]

The hot butter was never served in our households. It's place was custard infused with a twig of vanilla. Our serving tradition called for the Christmas Pudding to come to the table showered in sugar and decorated with a twig of holly with red berries. Prior to serving pour a generous portion of whiskey over the hot putting and flambé, turning the sugar into caramel (in darkened room for show effect too spoon over the liquid as long as there is alcohol left to burn).

Good whisky works well too, I always think it needs a good generous amount of some kind of spirits, but that's just me.

[humblescribe]

This years harvest, family size with its smaller cousin

20211210_143309.jpg

The maker

20211210_143201.jpg

What they make it from
Note: no longer suet, plain vegetarian, I bet the Brit farmers do not provide enough kidneys with associated fat

20211210_143129.jpg

And the local source of holly, otherwise found growing in the wild

20211210_143030.jpg

For those of us in the good ole U S of A: Sultanas are Britishspeak for Thompson Seedless grapes. You know, the ones that are green, ripen in August into September, and have been around for over 125 years?

[RTH10260]

a more recent creation

[Volkonski]

Growing up suet pudding was our holiday (Thanksgiving, Christmas) dessert. It was steamed in a tin like this.



When it was time to serve it my father would drench it in brandy and ignite it before bringing it to the table.

It was accompanied with slices of hard sauce which was mostly sugar and butter.

[RTH10260]

many recipes when looking up suet pudding https://www.google.com/search?q=suet+pudding


I am not sure if I could find plain suet at any butcher, surely not at the butcher counter of the great food chains here in Switzerland. The local butcher shop may be able to order some. What is available in the food store is processed suet, heated and molten down and clarified. Unsure if that is a proper replacement to the unprocessed fat.

[Foggy]

For those of us in the good ole U S of A: Sultanas are Britishspeak for Thompson Seedless grapes. You know, the ones that are green, ripen in August into September, and have been around for over 125 years?

'Course, now through the magic of refrigeration, you can find them in the supermarket year round. They keep the grapes at precisely 34° F. in the coldhouses in the central valley in California.

I eat them with vanilla yogurt. Yum.

[Azastan]

'Course, now through the magic of refrigeration, you can find them in the supermarket year round. They keep the grapes at precisely 34° F. in the coldhouses in the central valley in California.

I eat them with vanilla yogurt. Yum.

Sultanas are dehydrated Thompson Seedless grapes. 'Blonde' raisins.

[keith]

'Course, now through the magic of refrigeration, you can find them in the supermarket year round. They keep the grapes at precisely 34° F. in the coldhouses in the central valley in California.

I eat them with vanilla yogurt. Yum.

Sultanas are dehydrated Thompson Seedless grapes. 'Blonde' raisins.

This site should clear it up for you: What's the difference between a raisin and a sultana?

Personally, as a passport carrying American, any dried grape or currant is a raisin, but I've given up discussing it with SWMBO who, as a passport carrying Australian calls any dried grape a sultana. She calls dried currants raisins though. Also, Thompson Seedless grapes are called sultanas in Australia, dried or not. At one time (many years ago) the biggest selling wine in Australia was 'bag in the box' crap which was made from mostly sultana grapes with a bit of grenache mixed in to give it some flavor.

[Mr brolin]

I remember, on more than one occasion, when bringing delicious comestibles for the holiday season, back from the UK, having to explain to US Customs that the jars of mincemeat (for mince pie making) contained no meat....

Of course at the time I also was asked why I had so many, many sachets of English cat food in my case.....

"What are they!"
"Cat food sachets"
"Why..?"
"They're for my cats""
"Why do you mean...for your cats..!!!!"
"My cats don't like American cat food...they are not like dogs, any old crap down and they'll eat it"
"But.....but....why don't they like American cat food?"
"If they could talk and tell me....I'd be rich and not here"

I the end I had to sign a piece of paper stating

The food was for my cats (named)
Only for consumption by said named cats
Not for resale
Not for gifting to other humans or their feline overlords
Not to be donated
Not for consumption by humans

Of course thereafter, for some years, whenever one cleared customs in JFK or Newark.....one would be pulled aside and be inspected for said items....It got to the point, I became something of a festive seasons jape for new guys.....It turned out in the data abyss of Customs I had/have, an annotation on my records....."cat food guy"....

[Azastan]

This site should clear it up for you: What's the difference between a raisin and a sultana?

Personally, as a passport carrying American, any dried grape or currant is a raisin, but I've given up discussing it with SWMBO who, as a passport carrying Australian calls any dried grape a sultana. She calls dried currants raisins though. Also, Thompson Seedless grapes are called sultanas in Australia, dried or not. At one time (many years ago) the biggest selling wine in Australia was 'bag in the box' crap which was made from mostly sultana grapes with a bit of grenache mixed in to give it some flavor.

I just go by what me mum told me. Me mum grew up the daughter and granddaughter of a greengrocer.

But the point I was making was that, at least in MY FAMILY, sultanas were DRIED Thompson Seedless grapes, not fresh/refrigerated.

Your family version may differ.

[bill_g]

:duncehat: I liked Carlos Sultana's music in the 70's.

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

[Azastan]

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

Based on me mum's cooking, I'd agree.

Oddly, though, when I've visited the rellies, I discovered that me mum was a terrible cook (salt? pepper? what are those?), not the rest of the family.

[RTH10260]

My families comvention on dried grapes (no - not sour grapes ) has been that sultanas were the dried white grape variety, while raisins were the dried red grapes. And the third variety that goes into proper English style Christmas puddings and cakes are korinthians, dried blue grapes, I am unsure if they are from a special strain of small growing blue grapes or when they get dried they are left until really dry and shrink to small size. The origin here in Europe is generally Greece and Turkey. The Turkish dried grapes are many times still layed out on sheets and dried in real sun shine, not factory dried.

for details please consult with 2 Korinthians


ETA. see also article below
Local Germanized English-speak for currants is korinthians...

[Mr brolin]

:duncehat: I liked Carlos Sultana's music in the 70's.

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

H'mm, plainly someone who hadn't actually eaten English cuisine anytime in the last 30'ish years.

USA.......population.....329 million......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....198... 1 per 1.66 million
UK........population......66 million.......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....184... 1 per 358 thousand

Worlds best restaurants, 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, from 2002 - 2021

UK total 8 awards
US total 6 awards

[RTH10260]

Greek Corinth Raisins (or currants)
October 20, 2015

Corinth raisins are tiny, black dried fruits, packed full of flavour and nutrition. Cultivated in the South of Greece, the name comes from the ancient city of “Corinth”. They are known as “Zante currants” in the States, Zante currants – Corinth raisins – Corinthian raisins or simply currants in the UK and Ireland.

There are three different types of dried grapes; currants, sultanas and raisins. Currants are dried, dark red, seedless grapes. Raisins are dried white grapes. Sultanas are dried white grapes from seedless cultivars.

All three are produced around the world; Corinth raisins (or currants) are only produced in Greece.

Zante/ Corinth raisins have always had a double use: dried or used fresh for winemaking. About 95% of the amount produced is exported around the world, mostly in the UK, Netherlands, France, Australia and Russia.

Known since ancient times, raisins have been produced intensively since the 14th century. Naturally sweet, dried fruits are one of the ancient world’s only sugar sources (easier to produce or collect compared to honey). They have always been extremely important product for the Greek economy; especially during the 19th century, their share was about 50-75% of exports.



https://oliveology.co.uk/greek-corinth- ... -currants/

[bill_g]

:duncehat: I liked Carlos Sultana's music in the 70's.

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

H'mm, plainly someone who hadn't actually eaten English cuisine anytime in the last 30'ish years.

USA.......population.....329 million......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....198... 1 per 1.66 million
UK........population......66 million.......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....184... 1 per 358 thousand

Worlds best restaurants, 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, from 2002 - 2021

UK total 8 awards
US total 6 awards

:duncehat: And what does a tire company have to do with food besides safe delivery?

[RTH10260]

:duncehat: I liked Carlos Sultana's music in the 70's.

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

H'mm, plainly someone who hadn't actually eaten English cuisine anytime in the last 30'ish years.

USA.......population.....329 million......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....198... 1 per 1.66 million
UK........population......66 million.......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....184... 1 per 358 thousand

Worlds best restaurants, 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, from 2002 - 2021

UK total 8 awards
US total 6 awards

:duncehat: And what does a tire company have to do with food besides safe delivery?

Stems back from the time of road motorization in Europe. Michelin began to print road maps and assemble restaurant culinary guides along the roads. The more people drove the more of their tires were sold.

[pipistrelle]

The hot butter was never served in our households. It's place was custard infused with a twig of vanilla. Our serving tradition called for the Christmas Pudding to come to the table showered in sugar and decorated with a twig of holly with red berries. Prior to serving pour a generous portion of whiskey over the hot putting and flambé, turning the sugar into caramel (in darkened room for show effect too spoon over the liquid as long as there is alcohol left to burn).

Good whisky works well too, I always think it needs a good generous amount of some kind of spirits, but that's just me.

Likewise, haggis needs plentiful spirits.

[sugar magnolia]

:duncehat: I liked Carlos Sultana's music in the 70's.

(and we won't discuss English cuisine. There is no such thing.)

H'mm, plainly someone who hadn't actually eaten English cuisine anytime in the last 30'ish years.

USA.......population.....329 million......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....198... 1 per 1.66 million
UK........population......66 million.......total Michelin 1, 2 and 3 star restaurants....184... 1 per 358 thousand

Worlds best restaurants, 1st, 2nd or 3rd place, from 2002 - 2021

UK total 8 awards
US total 6 awards

Restaurants in England do not necessarily equal English cuisine, just as restaurants in America do not necessarily equal American cuisine.