Sunday, February 12, 2012

February 12: Plum Pudding Day

Well, here's yet another food I haven't had.  At first, I thought plum pudding was pudding that was plum-flavored.  As is the case with most foods I haven't had, I was completely wrong in my guess of what plum pudding was.  Plum pudding, also known as Christmas pudding, doesn't even have plums!  That makes me feel a little misled. 

Plum pudding is a steamed or boiled pudding containing raisins.  According to Epicurious, a "superb" English plum pudding takes at least four days, but it's best to take a whole year to make it.  And here I thought the cinnamon roll recipe that takes 24 hours was time-consuming!  A whole year? Yikes.  Although, in looking at recipes, the shortest recipe takes three and a half hours. 

I am delighted by this plum pudding recipe from 1860.  I love how it starts out - "stone carefully." It amuses me for some reason.  One day, I hope to write a recipe that has directions like the ones in that recipe.  This 1847 recipe is adorable, too.  (Yes, I sometimes use "adorable"  to describe recipes.  I also use "cute" to describe snakes, which just completely weirds out my parents.)

One thing I couldn't figure out: if plum pudding is associated with Christmas, why is February 12 Plum Pudding Day?  Maybe it is because today would be the day to make it so it can soak in brandy until Christmas?

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