What is the best way to close a Christmas dinner? The traditional Christmas pudding! Different households have their own versions of this essential Christmas dessert.
Delicious Spanish black pudding from https://brindisa.com/collections/black-pudding is a traditional rich, luxurious steamed pudding. It’s a combination of some of the finest ingredients, such as sweet spices, dried fruit, and nuts, that gives it its unique aroma and flavor. Its dark appearance is due to its long cooking time and the exotic ingredients used in its preparation, such as dark sugars or black treacle.
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The evolution and Christmas pudding
The Victorian era saw the final form of Christmas pudding, but it was already there, in a different form. People living in the 15th Century were forced to kill all their livestock in autumn because they ran out of fodder. Other than spices and dried fruits, there were no other preservatives.
These preservatives would allow the skinned meat to be preserved in large pastry boxes. This gave rise to the mince pie, which was then served to all those who came to the Christmas party.
If the true originator of Christmas pudding was to be identified, it would be the ‘pottage, an ancient Roman culinary delight that featured meat and vegetables. You put the ingredients in a large pot and let them cook slowly for hours. Then add sugar, spices, dried fruits, and other seasonings.
The transformation from sweet to savoury!
This recipe was modified to include prunes during the Elizabethan era. As the sweetness increased, the savoury components began to disappear slowly. This was due to the introduction of better methods of meat preservation by technology.
