#13 Colchester Pudding

Take a glass dish, put into it a thick layer of jam or stewed fruit, put 1 pint of milk on the fire.  Shred into it the rind of 1 lemon paring it finely.  Bring the milk to a boil then strain out the rind & sprinkle in 2 oz. large tapioca.  Simmer this very slowly in the milk till it is soft & thick & creamy.  Keep the lid on it but stir often then sweeten with about two tablespoons of castor sugar & a few drops of vanilla.  Pour it over the fruit or jam – it should be just thick enough to flow over smoothly.  If too thick add a little more milk let this get cold.  Pour over a good boiled custard, lastly beat the whites of two eggs to a stiff froth Sweeten with two tablespoonsful of castor sugar & add a little vanilla.  Color the fruit a pale pink with cochineal.  Heap over the top of the custard, serve immediately

Cochineal – This is a very interesting ingredient in a surprising number of different things; from food items to fabric color dyeing.  It gives you a brilliant red color and can be shaded from a light pink to the deepest, darkest blood red.  The use of it goes far back into history of South American Cultures and after the discovery of the New World in 1492, it replaced the less vibrant kermes colorant and is still used today as a colorant in many things.  Hold onto your hat, it is a bug.  Yes, an insect found in the cactus plant prickly pear, that when dried, crushed and ground up gives you the glorious red dye used in everything from food to lipstick.   (Look for natural carmine, E120 or Natural Red 4 dye in the ingredients list)  

In the 15th century (14oo’s) it was used to dye fabrics, and soon became a very important export during the Colonial time periods.  In modern day with the increase of health concerns regarding artificial and chemical ingredients; it has had a resurgence of popularity as a colorant.  Most of it is produced in South America and Mexico, it also can be found in the southern United States, where ever the host cacti can be found. 

Take a look at all the other recipes from this book.

https://kitchenrecipetreasures.com/?s=Britain+puddings

I really like unusual sounding recipes, especially those that have a sense of humor with them.  These stuck out to me in this book from Highbridge, Somerset in the UK during 1898 through 1911.  It is the first recipe in this book, “Old Lady Biscuits”, that just sets the whole thing as a fun read, with lots of interesting history and recipes. 

Old Lady Biscuits recipe for sale in my ebay store

https://www.ebay.com/itm/254913192389?hash=item3b5a02a1c5:g:07wAAOSwFiZgWU6W

From this cookbook we get a trip around the United Kingdom through the pudding recipes.  There are all kinds of them listed; 37 different puddings in this book; I will list the once a month so you can enjoy trying them one at a time.   In England a “Pudding” is not always what we in the US would call a “Pudding”.  Today if I say pudding, we think of things like the Jell-O pudding cups you can get in the store or the powdered stuff you can get in boxes.  In Great Britain, it is often whatever is for dessert that day, in their media shows you will quite often hear someone asking “What is for Pudding today?” meaning what are they having for dessert.   

But we also get the lovely and famous “Christmas Plumb Pudding”; that is only a small part in the family of “Puddings”.  They go back into history, it would be difficult to pinpoint where they originally came from, the boiled pudding can be seen in all kinds of cook books going back to the Romans and all throughout the history of Great Britain and Europe. 

Puddings can be sweet or savory and made from just about anything you can think of; meats, fruits, nuts, grains, spices and quite often they involve some sort of alcohol.  Even the famous Scottish Traditional Dish of a Haggis, which is a blend of grains, oatmeal, organ meats and sometimes fruits, then cooked in the stomach of a sheep can be considered a “Pudding”. 

All trough out the cookbooks I have from the 1800’s and the early 1900’s, there are pudding recipes of all kinds.  I think they have become a forgotten food that today we consider an “Old-fashioned” something that Grandma made.  Better left to the past, than try something that is actually a pretty good tasting food.  Yes, they take a bit of preparation and cooking time, but we made one in the slow cooker last Christmas that was very easy, and we didn’t have to watch it the whole time it was boiling.  It was very good and remarkably fun to make.  You do not even have to use a pudding mold; (although I have a few of them as part of my collection of cooking utensils and tools) we used a simple glass bowl covered with foil and tied with a string to make a pudding in the crock pot.  Online there are all kinds of instructions to use the crock pot as a tool in making them, just google “Crock pot Puddings” and they will come up. 

There are several different handwriting types in this book, at least four of them.  This book could have been handed down through several generations of a family, not many names are included and I will list them as they come up; I got it from someone in Highbridge, Somerset, this may not be where it originated so I cannot trace the names exactly to this area.  There are only two dates that I have found in it; 1898 and 1911; so, it could date to the mid 1800’s and into the early 1900’s, there are two War cake recipes in it, which could put it into the 1940’s.   The only full name in the book is Nancy Baines or Barnes. 

There are no baking temperatures listed in these recipes; during this time, it was assumed you would know how to put together a recipe without directions and what temperature to cook or bake them at.  You gauged your oven temps through experience of working in the kitchen next to your mother and other relatives throughout your childhood and youth.  You learned methods, techniques and timing so you never needed to have it written down in the cook books or diaries passed through each generation of the family. 

Oven temperatures are seldom given in the old books and recipes; most times the only say something like a slow oven or quick oven.  These are the equlivent to today’s oven temperatures;

A very slow oven equals 250 to 275 degrees.

A slow oven equals 300 to 325 degrees.

A moderate oven equals 350 to 375 degrees.

A hot or quick oven equals 375 to 400 degrees.

A very hot oven equals 400 to 450 degrees. 

Suet is going to be a common ingredient in these puddings, there is a difference between suet and lard; best to not substitute one for the other.   Breadcrumbs are also a common ingredient, the pudding was a common way to use up old dry or stale bread; the phrase “Waste not, want not” was taken very seriously, food was expensive and none was wasted if at all possible.   During the years of the World Wars, one and two, again food was expensive and rationed; you used everything you had and made due without things you could not get; such as butter, meat, eggs, sugar and others. 

Suet – It is the hard, raw fat from beef or mutton found around the kidneys and loins.  The high smoke point and fast melting temperature makes it perfect for deep frying and pastry making.  After rendering into tallow, it is used in cooking and baking such things as the traditional English Christmas pudding.  The long process of rendering it down to tallow, involves melting and simmering several times, cooling it down all to refine the suet to a usable state.  Suet requires refrigeration if it to be stored for any length of time. 

Do not confuse suet with all fat from the animals it can only be found around the heart and kidneys of cattle and sheep.  Nor should it be confused with drippings, which is the melted fats in the pan when cooking the meat. 

Pre-packaged suet that can be found today in the markets is mixed with flour and dehydrated to make it stable at room temperature. Some care is needed to use this for the old recipes, the proportions of flour to fat will alter the stated recipe.  Fresh suet can be bought in markets and must be coarsely grated to use; then must be refrigerated prior to use and used within a few days of buying it. 

Lard – Is a semi-solid white fat from pigs used as a cooking fat or a shortening.  It is prized for its properties of making pastries light and flaky, replacing butter in the recipes.  The leaf lard is from the “flare” visceral fat surrounding the kidneys and inside the loin.  With very little pork flavor it is perfect for use in baked goods; and since the early 1990 when trans-fats in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils became a concern for your health, it has had a resurgence of popularity as a “Natural” food. 

As well as baked goods It has been used in culinary recipes for centuries, often for game meats to add fat in the cooking process to very low-fat meats such as venison; by “Larding” a roast you insert the lard into the meat so it doesn’t dry out during cooking. 

Visit my ebay store to find some great kitchen utensils and collectables to go along with these vintage and antique recipes.

https://www.ebay.com/str/ozziesattic720?_trksid=p2047675.l2563