A platter of figgy pudding. Photo: One30outerspace, Flickr
For something that the vast majority of Christmas carolers know nothing about, we sure get do get demanding about figgy pudding. Sheesh. Have you ever thought about how weird it is to demand some kind of gross-sounding pudding at least nine times in one song ... in which you're supposedly wishing someone a merry Christmas? What exactly is this fabled figgy pudding?
In short, figgy pudding is pretty much exactly what it sounds like -- a pudding/cake type thing with figs in it. The reason that it's in such high demand, however, has to do with some of its (inedible) ingredients.
Coins, rings and other trinkets were often hidden in the bowls of Christmas pudding and each supposedly predicted their recipient's fortune for the coming year. For example, if you found a coin, you would become wealthy. If you found a ring, you'd get married ... and so on. Think of it like an Old English fortune cookie.
Mike,12-14-2010, 12:33PM
Generally speaking it's best to learn something about a subject before writing an article on it. Figgy pudding is NOT Christmas pudding (a/k/a plum pudding), with which the writer has it confused. It's plum pudding, not figgy pudding, that traditionally conceals objects, typically a sixpence (an old coin no longer minted). There are no plums in plum pudding, only dried fruits such as raisins, which swell up during cooking and thus give the dish its name. No one today eats figgy pudding, and I would be wary of the authenticity of anything presented under that name. By the way, in British parlance, any dessert -- cake, ice cream, pie, what-have-you -- is a "pudding." A few things which are not desserts are also called puddings, e.g., Yorkshire pudding.
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LES,12-14-2010, 12:53PM
Mike, you ars so right. My Grama (God rest her soul) use to make Plum pudding or Johnny Bull pudding every Christmas. She used suet and a double boiler cooking it for hours. She made a vanilla and a rum white sauce to put over it. It was very heavy, rich, and included some walnuts. It was delicious. Incidently she was French. She was an incredible person and a true Godsend!!!
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