A Dessert With a Past
Fruitcake might be a bad joke at Christmas in America, but for most Britons, rich, fruity Christmas pudding, steamed for long hours on the holiday stove, still taps into something visceral in the national psyche. The problem here is that the sense of pleasure rarely makes the leap from the English psyche to the English palate these days — it’s a long story, and one that Americans should appreciate.
Pudding is an ancient British food, originating way back in the medieval period as plum pottage. It joined with mince pies to warm the heart and stomach in manorial halls flecked with candlelight in which diners sat in hierarchical order stretching away from the high table.… Seguir leyendo »