Suet pudding

Pudding made with wheat flour and suet

Suet puddingType| Pudding

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Place of origin| United Kingdom
Main ingredients| Wheat flour and Suet
Variations| Spotted dick, Christmas pudding, Treacle pudding, Clootie dumpling, Jam Roly-Poly, Paignton, Sussex pond pudding

A suet pudding is a boiled, steamed or baked pudding made with wheat flour and suet (raw, hard fat of beef or mutton found around the kidneys), often with breadcrumb, dried fruits such as raisins, other preserved fruits, and spices. The British term pudding usually refers to a dessert or sweet course, but suet puddings may be savoury.

Many variations are strongly associated with British cuisine. Recipes vary greatly and can be desserts or savoury courses. They are typically boiled or steamed, though some baked variations and recipes adapted for microwave ovens exist. Modern recipes may substitute butter or vegetable shortening for the eponymous suet.

Examples include spotted dick, Christmas pudding,[1] treacle pudding, clootie dumpling, jam roly-poly and many others. Savoury versions include rabbit, chicken, game and steak and kidney pudding.

The Sussex pond pudding and the Paignton pudding are local variations of suet puddings.

## History

[edit]

Christmas pudding

The suet pudding dates back to at least the start of the 18th century. Mary Kettilby's 1714 A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery gives a recipe for "An excellent Plumb-Pudding", which calls for "one pound of Suet, shred very small and sifted" along with raisins, flour, sugar, eggs, and a little salt; these were to be boiled for "four hours at least".[2][3]

Christmas pudding developed from a meat dish. The ancestor of the suet pudding was pottage, a meat and vegetable stew originating in Roman times. This was prepared in a large cauldron, the ingredients being slow cooked, with dried fruits, sugar and spices added. In the 15th century, plum pottage was a mixture of meat, vegetables and fruit served at the beginning of a meal.[4]

The name suet pudding refers to the fat mixed with the flour; it is the fat from around the kidneys of mammals. Pudding is a British term often used for steamed dishes, both sweet and savoury, but also for Yorkshire Pudding (a batter dish) and Bread and Butter Pudding (a custard dessert).[5]

## Advantages

[edit]

Suet has a melting point of between 45 and 50 °C (113 and 122 °F). Butter, by comparison, melts between 32 and 35 °C (90 and 95 °F). As a result, suet fat is less likely to melt into the flour when making the pastry. When the pudding is cooked, the suet melts after the pastry has had a chance to set, leaving behind holes. This structure allows the pastry to better stand up to wet fillings and gives a lighter, fluffier texture.[6]

## Cultural references

[edit]

George Orwell wrote of the position of suet in English society. He stated in his 1947 essay "Such, Such Were the Joys,"  that in the late Victorian era, St Cyprian's School, his preparatory school, had reportedly saved money by starting off boarders' dinners

"...with a slab of unsweetened suet pudding, which, it was frankly said, ‘broke the boys appetites.’"[7]

In his 1941 essay "England Your England" Orwell recounted,

"In left-wing circles it is always felt that there is something slightly disgraceful in being an Englishman and that it is a duty to snigger at every English institution, from horse racing to suet puddings."[8]

## See also

[edit]

* English cuisine
* List of steamed foods

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Davis, Jean (December 1996). "Nuts, Puddings and Crackers: Coping with an English Christmas". The Contemporary Review. 269 (1571). United Kingdom: 319. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
2. ^ Lehmann, Gilly (2003). The British Housewife. Totnes: Prospect Books. pp. 83, 198–199.
3. ^ Kettilby, Mary (1714). A Collection of above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery; For the Use of all Good Wives, Tender Mothers, and Careful Nurses. Richard Wilkin.
4. ^ Mason, Laura (December 15, 2009). "The History of 'Plumb Porridge' at Christmas: The Ancient, and to the Modern palate bizarre recipe for a Traditional Christmas stew demonstrates how tastes have changed from the Middle Ages to the Modern Day". TheGuardian.com. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
5. ^ "Suet pudding". Merriam-Webster. 2013. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
6. ^ "Suet". Cook's Info. 2020. Retrieved October 31, 2020.
7. ^ Orwell, George (2008). Books v Cigarettes. London: Penguin Books. p. 90\. ISBN 978-0-141-03661-8.
8. ^ In: The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism And The English Genius, Part I, England Your England, george-orwell.org

* v
* t
* e

English cuisine

Roman times|

| Dishes|

* Sausages

|

Middle Ages
to 15th century|

| Exemplars|

* Utilis Coquinario (c. 1300)
* The Forme of Cury (c. 1390)

|

Dishes|

* Apple pie
* Bacon
* Banbury cake
* Cheesecake
* Custard
* Game pie
* Gingerbread
* Kippers
* Mince pie
* Mortis
* Pasty
* Pease pudding
* Pie
* Pottage

16th century|

| Exemplars|

* Richard Pynson (The Boke of Cokery, 1500)
* Thomas Dawson (The Good Huswifes Jewell, 1585)

|

Dishes|

* Black pudding
* Fruit fool
* Pancake
* Scones
* Syllabub
* Trifle (without jelly)

17th century|

| Exemplars|

* Elinor Fettiplace (Receipt Book, 1604)
* Gervase Markham (The English Huswife, 1615)
* Robert May (The Accomplisht Cook, 1660)
* Hannah Woolley (The Queen-like Closet or Rich Cabinet 1670)
* John Evelyn (Acetaria: A Discourse of Sallets 1699)
* Kenelm Digby (The Closet Opened 1699)

|

Dishes|

* Battalia pie
* Currant bun
* Queen of Puddings
* Sponge cake
* Sussex pond pudding
* Sweet and sour
* Tea

18th century|

| Exemplars|

* Mary Kettilby (A Collection of Above Three Hundred Receipts in Cookery, Physick and Surgery 1714)
* Mary Eales (Mrs Mary Eales's Receipts 1718)
* John Nott (The Cooks and Confectioners Dictionary, 1723)
* Eliza Smith (The Compleat Housewife 1727)
* Hannah Glasse (The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy 1747)
* Ann Cook (Professed Cookery, 1754)
* Martha Bradley (The British Housewife 1758)
* Primitive Cookery (1767)
* Elizabeth Raffald (The Experienced English Housekeeper 1769)
* Richard Briggs (The English Art of Cookery 1788)
* William Augustus Henderson (The Housekeeper's Instructor 1791)

|

Dishes|

* Bread and butter pudding
* Christmas pudding
* Chutney
* Curry
* In UK
* Cottage or Shepherd's pie
* Cumberland rum nicky
* Eccles cake
* Jellied eels
* Jugged hare
* Ketchup
* Marmalade
* Parkin
* Piccalilli
* Pork pie
* Roast beef
* Sandwich
* Scouse
* Suet pudding
* Toad in the hole
* Trifle (with jelly)
* Welsh rarebit
* Yorkshire pudding

19th century|

| Exemplars|

* Maria Rundell (A New System of Domestic Cookery 1806)
* Eliza Acton (Modern Cookery for Private Families 1845)
* Charles Elmé Francatelli (The Modern Cook 1846)
* Isabella Beeton (Mrs. Beeton's Book of Household Management 1861)

|

Dishes|

* Bubble and squeak
* Cauliflower cheese
* Cobbler
* Devilled kidneys
* Faggots
* Fish and chips
* Full English breakfast
* HP Sauce
* Ice cream cone
* Lancashire hotpot
* Potted shrimps
* Sausage roll
* Steak and kidney pudding
* Battenberg cake
* Eton mess
* Eve's pudding
* Jam roly-poly
* Lardy cake
* Madeira cake
* Summer pudding
* Windsor soup
* Worcestershire sauce

20th century|

| Exemplars|

* Florence Petty
* Elizabeth David (A Book of Mediterranean Food 1950)
* Dorothy Hartley (Food in England 1954)
* Constance Spry
* Fanny Cradock
* Marguerite Patten
* Jane Grigson
* Delia Smith
* Rick Stein
* Nigel Slater
* Keith Floyd
* Marco Pierre White
* Nigella Lawson
* Jamie Oliver
* Fergus Henderson (The Whole Beast 1999)
* Gordon Ramsay
* Gary Rhodes
* Mary Berry

|

Dishes|

* Bakewell tart
* Beef Wellington
* Carrot cake
* Chicken tikka masala
* Coronation chicken
* Crumble
* Knickerbocker glory
* Ploughman's lunch
* Salad cream
* Sticky toffee pudding

21st century|

| Exemplars|

* Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck)
* Lizzie Collingham
* Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall (River Cottage)
* Rachel Khoo
* Michel Roux Jr. (Le Gavroche)
* Antony Worrall Thompson
* Clarissa Dickson Wright (A History of English Food 2011)

|

Dishes|

* Coronation quiche
* Platinum Pudding

Related|

* List of English dishes
* List of English cheeses
* List of savoury puddings
* List of sweet puddings
* Rationing in the United Kingdom

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