British Pudding Day – November 9, 2024

History of British Pudding Day

British pudding traces its origins to 1305 where the word ‘pudding’ was derived from the Middle English word ‘poding,’ which meant a ‘meat-filled animal stomach.’ The British usage of the word ‘pudding,’ however, is closer to the Latin word ‘botellus,’ which means sausage. The word ‘botellus’ gave rise to the word ‘boudin’ which then came to mean pudding. Thus, the British pudding is often viewed as a descendant of the Roman sausage.

Many average households in the 16th century featured little ovens in the kitchen. These ovens did not reach a high temperature. These ovens were useful because they allowed them to bake a white pudding mixture in pastry over a low heat for a long time. Baked puddings were born as a result of this.

English puddings in the 17th century were either savory (meat-based) or sweet (flour, nuts, and sugar). Both flavors became popular among the English. Traditionally, the puddings were boiled in special pudding bags. Most traditional British puddings did not contain meat by the end of the 18th century.

In the 19th century, Bakewell puddings became popular in Britain. These puddings were descendants of the Ancient Roman Flan. Unlike other British puddings, the Bakewell pudding had almonds in it. The Bakewell pudding, unlike other British puddings, had almonds. Initially, they just used a few drops of almond essence in the sweet concoction, but over time, they began to add bigger quantities of ground almonds, resulting in a change in the consistency of the topping. Bakewell, a town in Derbyshire, is the source of the pudding’s name.