Now bring us some some figgy pudding

This is the first blog I have written that has made my mouth water! I didn't like Christmas pudding as a child but I always loved the brandy sauce.  Now I love it so much, I always make extra sauce and hide myself a helping of pudding for the end of the day (don't worry this isn't a secret my family knows already)!


There is some confusion about figgy pudding, as it is slightly different than the dense Christmas pudding that we eat that resembles moist fruit cake. 


The Christmas pudding we recognize today is a Victorian dish made from suet, dried fruit, candied peel, breadcrumbs, spices, egg, grated carrots and apples. The Victorians shaped their puddings into a spherical shape and boiled them in a muslin cloth. ‘Stir up Sunday’ (the last Sunday before Advent) had become associated with the start of the pudding-making process, in order to allow it least a month to mature before being consumed on Christmas Day. At Christmas, the pudding is doused in brandy and set alight.

There are many traditions and superstitions surrounding the Christmas Pudding. Some traditions say to make the pudding by the 25th Sunday after Trinity, with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and his Disciples. Every member of the family is to take a turn stirring the pudding with a wooden spoon from east to west, in honor of the three kings. It is said that setting the brandy aflame represents Christ’s passion. A sprig of holly as garnish is a reminder of his ‘Crown of Thorns.’ Holly supposedly brought good luck and had special healing powers. 


In 1664, it was banned by the Puritans as a custom unfit for people who followed the ways of God.

In 1714, King George I re-established pudding as part of the Christmas feast even though the Quakers strongly objected. Meat was eliminated from the recipe in the 17th century in favor of more sweets, and people began sprinkling it with brandy and setting it aflame when serving it to their guests. The Christmas pudding was not a tradition in England until it was introduced to the Victorians by Prince Albert. By this time the pudding looked and tasted as it does today. The traditional cooking time takes about eight hours, with preparation taking even longer due to extensive marinating. The longer the fruit is marinated in brandy, cider, or both, the better it tastes and this could take weeks! 

Another tradition when I was growing up was to put a sixpence in the pudding before it was steamed. The person who found the coin was supposed to have luck that year. One of my favorite stores, Harvey Nichols, packages their pudding to look like a sixpence.

Here is a link to a recipe, but you will have to save it until next year!


christmaspudding recipe





Don't worry you can still go out and buy one!

merry merry!

Chestnuts Roasting on an open fire

This is the season when all sorts of great food memories come flooding back. I love the food during this time of the year, plus all the other traditions we have in England at Christmas. You will see a few of those before the year is over.

Roasted Chestnuts are the best! At this time of year you can get them from Street Vendors in England.They are roasted in their skins and served hot, and it is an amazing flavor with an indescribable smell. If you can't make it to Europe to buy them on the street, you can do it at home in your oven.

Chestnuts are shiny brown nuts whose thick casing has long, sharp, needle-like spikes (burrs). There are usually two to four nuts per casing. Unlike other nuts, chestnuts have a high starch and water content but low protein and fat levels. They've never been as popular in British kitchens as in Continental ones, but they're a versatile and flavorful pantry ingredient. Chestnuts are available fresh, ground, dried, puréed or vacuum-packed

Growing up we called them Conkers and would peel and eat them from the tree; they were so starchy though and weren't very good! They are much better roasted or baked.

Chestnuts are most popular in stuffing, but they add a great flavor to desserts too. The puree is similar to an almond paste, which of course I can't bring into our home :(

When my "nut allergy" daughter goes to college it will be safe to make some recipes with nuts again!

Roasted Chestnuts - recipe

A great way to roast your chestnuts is to place them, with the cut sides up, on a baking sheet or cookie sheet. Roast them in a hot oven (about 400 degrees F) until the chestnuts appear tender. This will take about 20 minutes. To test to see if they have been roasted enough, stick a fork through the cut in shell and test for tenderness.

Finally, wrap the hot chestnuts in an old towel (no matter which way you chose to roast them) and squeeze them hard. Squeezing the chestnuts will break and crush the skins which will make peeling them much easier to do. Let the crushed chestnuts rest inside the towel for about 5 minutes before unwrapping them.

Open up the towel and feast and enjoy!


You'll know when they are roasted to perfection by the fact that you can easily open the shell and find beautiful golden colored chestnut meat inside. It's sweet to the taste and a little crumbly in texture. Delicious!

thanks for reading I will be back soon with a british delicacy.....