I am frantically trying to get my Christmas shopping done since we are going to be in Europe for Christmas this year. I saw an online shop that sells Traditional Christmas Pudding and since I’m from the South (of the USA) I thought it was one thing and it turned out to be another! My first thought was that it might be just the thing to send to my soon-to-be new German shirt-tail relatives. A nice traditional Southern American something might be a unique gift for them. Instead, after looking at the website, I decided it might be just the thing to get for my American relatives.
I like to learn about different cultural traditions. In the South Christmas dinner is turkey and dressing (Southern dressing is very different than what people in other areas think of as dressing!), ham, various vegetables, sweet potatoes prepared in a variety of ways, all kinds of gelled salads that are more like desserts than salads and desserts! Traditionally you absolutely must have pumpkin pies and pecan pies. There are other items, of course, but those are the basics for a Christmas dinner.
This year I may add the British traditional Christmas pudding. It looks wonderful. When Europeans say traditional they mean traditional. Apparently, its similar to what we call a fruit cake. We probably brought the recipe with us when we took off across the pond to populate the new world. Over generations we undoubtedly gradually changed the recipe to be what we have now. On the other hand, the English continue to use the recipes that have been used since it was called ‘plum pudding’ in the middle ages. The history of the pudding goes back 700 years and the Matthew Walker store has been making and selling the pudding since 1899. And just think, now its available for all of us to buy online.