Pudding is a type of food which can either be adessert served after the main meal or asavoury (salty or sweet and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal.
In theUnited States,pudding means a sweet, milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-basedcustards,instant custards or amousse, often commercially set usingcornstarch,gelatin or similar coagulating agent. The modern American meaning of pudding as dessert has evolved from the original almost exclusive use of the term to describe savoury dishes, specifically those created using a process similar to that used forsausages, in which meat and other ingredients in mostly liquid form are encased and then steamed or boiled to set the contents.
In theUnited Kingdom, Ireland and someCommonwealth countries, the wordpudding is used to describe sweet andsavoury dishes. Savoury puddings includeYorkshire pudding,black pudding,suet pudding andsteak and kidney pudding. Unless qualified, however, pudding usually means dessert and in the United Kingdom,pudding is used as asynonym for dessert.[1] Puddings made for dessert can be boiled and steamed puddings, baked puddings, bread puddings, batter puddings, milk puddings or even jellies.[2]
In some Commonwealth countries these puddings are known ascustards (or curds) if they are egg-thickened, asblancmange if starch-thickened, and asjelly ifgelatin-based. Pudding may also refer to other dishes such asbread pudding andrice pudding, although typically these names derive from their origin as British dishes.
The wordpudding is believed to come from the Frenchboudin, which may derive from the Latin botellus, meaning "small sausage", referring to encased meats used in medieval European puddings.[3][2] Another proposed etymology is from the West German 'pud' meaning 'to swell'.[2]
According to theOxford English Dictionary the wordpudding dates to the 13th century. It refers to the entrails or stomach of a sheep, pig or other animal stuffed with meat, offal, suet, oatmeal and seasonings.[4] By the 1500s the word was used to refer to the guts or entrails or the contents of other people's stomachs especially when pierced with a sword, as in battle.[5] TheOxford English Dictionary describes puddings also as 'a boiled, steamed or baked dish made with various sweet (or sometimes) savoury ingredients added to the mixture, typically including milk, eggs, and flour (or other starchy ingredients such as suet, rice, semolina, etc.), enclosed within a crust made from such a mixture'.[4]
The modern usage of the wordpudding to mean a dessert has evolved from the almost exclusive use of the term to describe a savoury dish, specifically those created using a process similar tosausages, where meat and other ingredients in a mostly liquid form are encased and then steamed or boiled to set the contents. The most famous examples still surviving areblack pudding andhaggis. Other savoury dishes includesuet pudding andsteak and kidney pudding. Boiled or steamed pudding was a common main course aboard ships in theRoyal Navy during the 18th and 19th centuries; pudding was used as the primary dish in which daily rations offlour andsuet were employed.
In the United States and some parts of Canada,pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-basedcustards,instant custards or amousse, often commercially set usingcornstarch,tapioca,gelatin, or similar coagulating agent such as theJell-O brand line of products. In Commonwealth countries (other than some Canadian regions), these foods are known ascustards (or curds) if they are egg-thickened,blancmange if starch-thickened, and jelly ifgelatin-based. Pudding may also refer to other dishes such asbread pudding andrice pudding in North America, although typically these names derive from their origin as British dishes.
Another early documented recipe for pudding is a reference toasida is found in a tenth century Arabic cookbook byIbn Sayyar al-Warraq calledKitab al-Ṭabīḫ (Arabic:كتاب الطبيخ,The Book of Dishes).[7][8] It was described as a thick pudding of dates cooked with clarified butter (samn).[9] A recipe for asida was also mentioned in an anonymousHispano-Muslim cookbook dating to the 13th century. In the 13th and 14th centuries, in the mountainous region of theRif along the Mediterranean coast of Morocco, flour made from lightly grilledbarley was used in place of wheat flour. A recipe for asida that addsargan seed oil was documented byLeo Africanus (c. 1465–1550), the Arab explorer known as Hasan al-Wazan in the Arab world.[9] According to the French scholarMaxime Rodinson, asida were typical foods among theBedouin of pre-Islamic and, probably, later times.[9]
In theUnited Kingdom and some of theCommonwealth countries, the wordpudding can be used to describe both sweet and savoury dishes. Unless qualified, however, the term in everyday usage typically denotes a dessert; in the United Kingdom,pudding is used as a synonym for a dessert course.[1]
Puddings had their 'real heyday...', according to food historian Annie Gray, '...from the seventeenth century onward'. It is argued that 'the future of the boiled suet pudding as one of England's national dishes was assured only when thepudding cloth came into use' and although puddings boiled in cloths may have been mentioned in the medieval era[10][2] one of the earliest mentions is in 1617 in a recipe forCambridge pudding, a pudding cloth is indicated; 'throw your pudding in, being tied in a fair cloth; when it is boiled enough, cut it in the midst, and so serve it in'.[3][11]
The pudding cloth is said, according to food historian C. Anne Wilson, to have revolutionised puddings. 'The invention of the pudding-cloth or bag finally severed the link between puddings and animal guts. Puddings could now be made at any time, and they became a regular part of the daily fare of almost all classes. Recipes for them proliferated.'[3]
The original pudding was formed by mixing various ingredients with agrain product or otherbinder such asbutter,flour,cereal,eggs, and/orsuet, resulting in a solid mass. These puddings arebaked,steamed, orboiled. Depending on its ingredients, such a pudding may be served as a part of themain course or as adessert.[12]
Steamed pies consisting of a filling completely enclosed bysuet pastry are also known as puddings. These may be sweet or savoury and include such dishes assteak and kidney pudding.
The second and newer type of pudding consists ofsugar,milk, and a thickening agent such ascornstarch,gelatin,eggs,rice ortapioca to create a sweet, creamy dessert. These puddings are made either bysimmering on top of the stove in asaucepan ordouble boiler or by baking in anoven, often in abain-marie. These puddings are easily scorched on the fire, which is why a double boiler is often used;microwave ovens are also now often used to avoid this problem and to reduce stirring.
Creamy puddings are typically served chilled, but a few, such aszabaglione andrice pudding, may be served warm.Instant puddings do not require boiling and can therefore be prepared more quickly.
This pudding terminology is common in North America and some European countries such as the Netherlands, whilst in Britain, egg-thickened puddings are consideredcustards and starch-thickened puddings calledblancmange.
Table cream is a dessert, similar to blancmange. The dessert was popularized by English manufacturerSymington's Ltd in the early 20th century. It is still produced under the Symington's brand name, but no longer made by the original company.[13]
The Magic Pudding is a classic Australian children's novel first published in 1918, written and illustrated by authorNorman Lindsay. It tells of a bad-tempered,anthropomorphic pudding named Albert who, no matter how often he is eaten, always reforms in order to be eaten again. He is owned by three companions who must defend him against Pudding Thieves who want Albert for themselves.[16]
Pink Floyd'sAnother Brick in the Wall, part 2 (1979) ends with the voice of a Scottish-accented schoolmaster, actorAlex McAvoy (1928–2005) shouting, "If you don't eat your meat, you can't have any pudding! How can you have any pudding if you don't eat your meat?!" over and over again.[17][18]
A website dedicated to the dessert, online since the mid-1990s and consisting only of a low-quality image of it, became famous inBrazil for its humorous and longstanding nature. In 2015, it was hacked by theIslamic State.[19][20]
^"Site Pudim.com.br é hackeado pelo Estado Islâmico" [The Pudim.com.br website is hacked by the Islamic State] (in Portuguese). R7 (Record). 9 April 2015.Na ativa desde 2000, site é um dos mais famosos da internet brasileira [Active since 2000, the website is one of the most famous in the internet in Brazil]"
