h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Can people help me determine which foodstuffs can officially be categorized as pudding? The american is confused (again). *sigh*

Loosely pudding is dessert - or 'afters' (as opposed to 'starters'). Can also be shortened to 'pud'.

There are some puddings that are savoury, such as Steak and Kidney pudding. This basically means that it is made with a suet pastry, put in a pudding basin and covered with a cloth and steamed.
A sweet puddings made in this fashion - Figgy pudding and other fruit puddings.
Then you have sponge puddings, which again are made in a pudding basin and steamed.
The traditional accompaniments to these is custard.
Christmas pudding, which is a dried fruit pudding containing suet, brown sugar, bread crumbs, brown beer or stout and brandy - again put in a pudding basin and steamed. Served with brandy butter, brandy custard or whipped cream.

An exception to these is rice pudding, but there are others as well - Queen Anne's pudding comes to mind, but I'd have to attack the recipe books to find out how they are made and it's a bit late in the day for that!

Black pudding is not nice with custard - but that shouldn't trouble a vegetarian. (Black pudding itself does trouble vegetarians, of course.)

Didn't remember that one! Though hubby likes it with bacon, eggs and tomatoes.
I'm sure there must be others, but the brain is not even in first at the moment!

However - 'Would you like some pud?' usually means 'Do you want dessert?' - in our house anyway, on the odd occasion when it's offered.

Besides black pudding there is also white pudding, fruit pudding and pease pudding none of which are ideal for dessert
Is Queen Anne Pudding the same as Queen of Puddings?

ok, so it seems that the important distinction is that the food is steam cooked. what about yorkshire pudding?

Black pudding and custard actually sounds like it would be really nice. Hmmmm, maybe it is just me then I think I will try it this weekend Until later....
BCNU - Crescent

Yorkshire pudding is basically a batter that is roasted in little tins and served with roast beef and gravy.

The batter mix is the same as the stuff used for making Toad in the Hole.

So pudding can be roasted as well?

Toad in the wha?

Yes, and you don't have to steam a sponge pudding you can bake them in the oven.

The hole.

Sausages surrounded in batter and then roasted in the oven.

Toad in the hole is just yorkshire pudding mix with a sausage or two thrown into it.

And yorkshires don't have to be small, you can get giant ones that fill a whole plate and can having an 'normal' meal placed inside them.


Geggs

But they go soggy if you do that. They're much nicer if you can keep them out of the gravy and then use them to mop up the last dregs of the meal with them.

I actually prefer the larger ones. The first one I ever had was filled with onion gravy, and was beautiful. It was a complete revelatin at the time.


Geggs

Basically Yorkshire pudding batter is similar to pancake batter, but has double the quantity of egg and one must use plain flour, and let the mixture rest before cooking. It can be cooked in a large tin to make one large one, but I also tend to cook it in a muffin tin to get a dozen little ones. Traditionally it was cooked under the roast meat to catch the drippings and eaten first.

Toad in the hole is sausages cooked in the oven in a large tin with Yorkshire pudding batter poured in for the last 20 minutes. The sausages being the 'toad' which then rest in 'holes' where the batter has risen around them. One of my recipe books says that originally the 'toad' was rump steak.