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“Now bring us some figgy pudding”
“Hurrah for the fun, is the pudding done!”
“Georgy Porgy, pudding pie”
So many songs about pudding, you would think it is a central dish to holiday season. Which it was throughout history until mixed foods, associated with mixed immigrants, became verboten in the white-bread vanilla-paste backlash from the USA melting pot.
Pudding now-a-days is a single flavor not-liquid not-solid dessert – chocolate, rice, vanilla, etc. Banana pudding – with banana chunks, Nilla wafers, and whipped topping on top is closest to the concept of old puddings. A mix of everything. Christmas fruitcakes are close to the sweet puddings of Christmas – moist and full of all kinds of things.
The savory puddings have been removed by history. (But would be really cool to bring back in a science fiction or history fiction piece.) Meat puddings, vegetable puddings, bag puddings, etc.
Find out more about the history of this gastrological missing link by exploring the below posts and articles … maybe even experiment with a few dishes for Geeking Science.
Suggested reading in order of complication:
Veit, Helen Zoe. “A backlash against ‘mixed’ foods led to the demise of a classic American dish.” The Conversation. 2017 November 19. URL: https://theconversation.com/a-backlash-against-mixed-foods-led-to-the-demise-of-a-classic-american-dish-86293?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1542405362 (last viewed 3/29/2022)
Pudforallseasons.com.au. “Christmas Pudding: History and Traditions You Would Love to Know.” 2019 October 27. URL: https://www.pudforallseasons.com.au/blog/christmas-pudding-history-and-traditions/#:~:text=The%20very%20first%20version%20of,the%20time%20of%20Christmas%20preparation. (last viewed 3/29/2022)
Olver, Lynee. “Food Timeline FAQs: puddings, custards, & creams.” 2015 February 5. URL: https://www.foodtimeline.org/foodpuddings.html (last viewed 3/29/2022)