Anyone who knows the classic holiday carol “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” well enough to know more than one verse is familiar with the call for “figgy pudding.”
While many Americans may have heard of the traditional dessert, there’s a good chance many don’t know just what figgy pudding is, and what they think they know based on its name is wrong.
“Just defining a ‘pudding’ in itself is difficult,” said Jay Paulus, general manager of Brigham & Cook — The British Store, a shop in Freeport that sells imported goods from the United Kingdom. “In America, a ‘pudding’ is a dessert, but not always in England.”
Dishes defined as “pudding” in the United Kingdom, Paulus said, have such a long history, they were often first created before the emergence of the confectionery industry.
“They were made a long, long time ago of beef and mutton, raisins and had currents and spices, it was quite an array of things,” Paulus said, adding that, as fruits and other sweet ingredients became more widely available, puddings became more of a dessert dish.
“Slowly the puddings shifted from savory to sweet, hence where the real confusion comes, so figgy pudding is one of them,” he said.
In truth, Paulus said, figgy pudding has more in common with bread pudding than anything that comes in chocolate or vanilla flavoring with whipped cream on top. Typically, he said, figgy pudding involves a cake or similar baked item that is soaked in some sort of confectionary syrup.
But a more detailed description is hard to come by, Paulus said. Since most recipes for figgy pudding come from familial tradition, there is no “standard” list of ingredients. It can include (or not) everything from raisins to chopped nuts to minced fruit such as figs, hence the name.
Even the cooking methods vary. Paulus said some prefer to bake it, like the cake it is based on. Others prefer to boil it, while still others, like those making the related plum pudding, will bake it in a casserole dish with a rounded bottom.
The latter is inverted and removed from the dessert while serving, requiring people to break through an outer shell to get to the dish’s contents. It really comes down to personal preference.
For example, Paulus said, his family has roots in Wales, and he remembered as a child how his grandparents made figgy pudding from an old family recipe at holiday gatherings. Their recipe, he recalled, included whiskey or cognac, which children are less likely to appreciate, and flambéed.
“I have to say, my memories of it, not loving it, but it was a tradition,” he said.
Given its long history, Paulus said people must remember that it was not sophisticated fare in its day.
“It all started off with poverty,” he said. “It was a poor man’s food.”
Nevertheless, figgy pudding and related desserts are enjoyed by families of all financial backgrounds today.
“It is a tradition,” he said. “Most people are doing them because their grandparents did it, or their family members did it, and it just carries through,” he said.
