What's everyone's favorite part of Christmas? Mine is definitely the music, which is probably why this is my favorite episode yet! Don't forget to use the code ‘TASTINGHISTORY’ at curiositystream.com/tastinghistory

@TheLoneDragoon

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, I do that too (smell books old and new), I have a large collection of them. Great smell.

@stevenrose9818

3 жыл бұрын

You should look into what evil baker came up with fruit cake!!Or at least mixed it in with Christmas.Also love your videos I share them with my mom in hopes she'll make some for me.

@FelixWheatfield

3 жыл бұрын

I must admit I also love Christmas music DESPITE having worked in retail for a while. I blame it on the fact that I'm also a music major, ha

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

@@stevenrose9818 Good fruit cake is actually wonderful. Sadly, most of them are not good.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

@@FelixWheatfield Me too! When I worked at The Sharper Image, we had 1 CD that played on repeat.

Strong suspicion that Christmas is so associated with warmth because everyone was absolutely hammered

@DragonTigerBoss

3 жыл бұрын

Oh... Santa's rosy cheeks aren't from the cold after all.

@mortisCZ

3 жыл бұрын

At least parts of my family keep this tradition alive. :-D And how merry they are.

@insoserious

3 жыл бұрын

@@DragonTigerBoss neither was rudolph's red nose lol. a bunch of drunk drivers, they were!

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

And that’s okay 🤣

@violetskies14

3 жыл бұрын

Was? My Christmas cake full of brandy and all the other alcohol I'll be drinking this Christmas would like to contend most of us still are hammered on Christmas. At least in Britain we are.

"Her sauces are liquidy because there's a LOT of alcohol in them..." Guess that explains the etymology behind being "sauced."

@DarkPsychoMessiah

3 жыл бұрын

And hitting the sauce

@nenagravil

3 жыл бұрын

Back on the sauce.

@smvuy

3 жыл бұрын

And saucy; the dictionary explains it really well

@heru-deshet359

3 жыл бұрын

Or saucy wench.

@FlyingMonkies325

3 жыл бұрын

I can see them just chugging the sauce on it's own for the alcohol😂

I have actually eaten a 46 year old christmas pudding once. A family found it in their granny's house (it was apparently dated 1969) and brought it to the University where I worked to have it microbiologically tested and I got to try some. It was a bit dry but other than that pretty decent. The family also said not to microwave it cause their might be a silver sixpence in it ;)

@prapanthebachelorette6803

7 ай бұрын

I’m curious about the microbiology test results 😂😂😂

@ruthanneluvsvacuuming6653

5 ай бұрын

I was born October 4 1969

My mother used to make plum pudding. Being a child, I took no interest in how it was made or what went into it, but after Christmas dinner, she would carry it into the dining room with the lights dimmed, blue flames dancing all around it. After a minute or two, the brandy burned off and the pudding would be served with "hard sauce" which was white and quite firm. I knew that she considered it to be very special, but having a child's taste, I didn't like it all that much. Looking back, I wish I had appreciated it more.

@jrmckim

Жыл бұрын

I wonder if the flaming puddings to celebrate Jesus Christ's bday are the reason for candles on bday cakes 🤔

@katherinewilson1853

Жыл бұрын

My step-mother made plum pudding, I didn't like it much then either.

@flyaround312

Жыл бұрын

@@jrmckim No it's not 🤣

@Wkmor

11 ай бұрын

I would have thought hard sauce might mean it was alcoholic. We were a teetotal family who enjoyed either a “white” custard sauce or a “brown” brown sugar sauce. I loved both.

@hazelhatswell4268

4 ай бұрын

Delicious!!!!! In Scotland we have Clootie Dumpling ❤️ and my grandmother always made one for my birthday (Dec) and she’d dry its flour coating off by placing it in front of the fire! Not only scrumptious as it is or with custard but can also be sliced in the following days (if there’s any left!) and fried in bacon fat! Delicious 👍

I'm sorry, whenever I hear the line "should be buried with a stake of holly through his heart" all I can think of is that is a great way to prevent Christmas vampires.

@jayhom5385

3 жыл бұрын

I've never seen it as the title sounded so bad, but I thought of "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter." reading this.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

🤣

@scaper8

3 жыл бұрын

That is a story that needs to exist!

@scaper8

3 жыл бұрын

@@jayhom5385 Give the book a read. The movie is silly fun, but the book is great because the author took great pains to ensure that Lincoln and everyone else from history were in places at times that they were. He set out to treat the work as if it were our own history, this is just the parts we never knew about. He very much succeeded.

@FRRobyn

3 жыл бұрын

So is eggnog. Vampires hate eggnog.

The stomach of an animal... IT'S A CHRISTMAS HAGGIS!!!

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

Basically!

@clockworkkirlia7475

3 жыл бұрын

Any haggis can be a Christmas haggis if you're brave enough! Wonder if you could make it as a stuffing...

@mortisCZ

3 жыл бұрын

I'm all for a Christmas haggis.:-)

@jmcdhome

3 жыл бұрын

Not without sheep lung!

@juliebaker6969

3 жыл бұрын

@@jmcdhome it's not hard to get sheep lung. All you have to do is butcher your own sheep, then you can keep any bits you like. I like the heart personally, and my husband leans twords the liver.😉

I’m from Ireland and still make my Christmas pudding in a cloth.I think the flavour is better than one made in a bowl. I remember my mothers anxiety when she un wrapped the pudding, would it crack, did it smell right and most important was the skin intact. She didn’t have a receipt and when she died it took many years to perfect it. Thanks for showing people this custom

@kimberlyterasaki4843

Жыл бұрын

Are you willing to share the recipe with random strangers? If not, any advice for using the cloth method?

Just like RNGesus said: "You my child, you should be the one with all the figgy pudding"

You've probably noticed by now that the one constant in the entire history of Britain is alcohol

@kieranb1995

3 жыл бұрын

it's true we're a nation of pissheads

@ericcurtis8934

3 жыл бұрын

Is that why they're all so stiff? They're all blitzed?

@Lionstar16

3 жыл бұрын

As a Brit I can confirm that from our introduction of hops to our ale to make strong beer to the gin craze of the 18th century, yes we really REALLY love alcohol :)

@snazzypazzy

3 жыл бұрын

Alcohol and tea.

@liquidcocaine00

3 жыл бұрын

Got love them brits...always sauced

I suspect that the "smell of laundry" was more like cooking meat than like Downy. Laundry soaps for the peasantry was made from beef tallow.

@EMSpdx

3 жыл бұрын

Once you filter tallow and add the salts to make salts, you get a very mild and persistent oily scent- not like a griddle, but pretty close! It would have been seen as pleasant because up until 1870s or so soap, even homemade soap, was highly taxed.

@richardlane2651

3 жыл бұрын

Or the smell could have been from the pudding being boiled in the copper, which was the huge copper vessel used to boil laundry in.

@MyLifeInWonderland

3 жыл бұрын

could be this, though more likely it has to do with the vessel it was cooked in (the smell and laundry does in the quote have to do with the cloth) as it was common to boil the pud in the copper. The copper referring to the big drum kettle in the laundry :)

@lisakilmer2667

3 жыл бұрын

@James McDonald -- that's interesting! Explains the scent better than just the cloth.

@sonipitts

3 жыл бұрын

All of the above, I would imagine - tallow, boiling water, the copper kettle and the smell of hot boiled cloth and whatever wooden implement was used to fish it out with (taking the place of a wooden laundry stirrer).

One of Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories involves everyone in the house taking a turn to stir the Christmas pudding and make a wish, and the symbolism of all the “choking hazards” one might find in their slice come Christmas! Plus a murder, but that’s how it goes when you invite Poirot absolutely anywhere…

@melissasalasblair5273

Жыл бұрын

I LOVE when author's, director's share details like that ❣️ I cry when I hear "cake", or whatever it is, and then I'm left w/ questions because of deets lacking lol

@kimn7359

6 ай бұрын

Her Poirot story "Halloween Party" includes the snapdragon game, and yes, it was a children's game.

@richardperea9668

5 ай бұрын

Several little known facts for you: 1, Poirot and murder seemed to always go together. Other guests started complaining about the murders, and became increasingly afraid of accepting weekend invitations when they knew Hercule would be there. That is why the lower-aristocracy stopped inviting him for country weekends. 2. The decline in invitations is when his case load lighted up [hmmm.] and he eventually had to retire, moving to Orlando to invest in real estate just prior to the Disney acquisitions. The rest is history; Poirot cashed out and used his capital gains to purchase a house in Ville Franche sur-Mer in the South of France. 3. He chose the property for two reasons: (a) the sea view, and (b) a wonderful bistro that served an excellent coq au vin. The excellent wine list, heavy on vintages from Provence, was an added incentive. Interestingly, perhaps, is that his purchase was from the estate, created when the prior owner died shortly after making Poirot's acquaintance a month earlier in Monte Carlo. The surete in Paris became involved [wonder why?!] but nothing came of their investigation.

@PandoraBear357

5 ай бұрын

I thought that was a rare one where no one actually died. Just a jewel robbery.

@alisaurus4224

5 ай бұрын

@@PandoraBear357 SPOILER BELOW… … … … … … It was a fake murder double bluff. The young folks planned one of them to be found “dead” in the snow to fool Poirot, but he sussed it out and the fake victim and Poirot played it as if the fake murder had become real. You are correct that nobody actually died

The look on max’s face when he “now let light it on fire” is hilarious and has me laughing everytime

"that's alcoholic!" Welcome to Christmas in the UK, Max! You'd love it, I think.

@brolohalflemming7042

3 жыл бұрын

A proper Christmas pudding should be capable of being fired by cannon, ship to ship, or ship to shore, in one piece and still alight. The alcohol flames can simply be extinguished by the addition of eaither a dessert wine, custard, brandy cream. It is traditional to test if the flames have been extinguised by adding more brandy. Real holly should always be used for decoration, and coins or charms included. This is all part of the Britsh tradition (along with boarding schools) of teaching British children survival skills that will serve them well in later life, should they survive into adulthood.

@flameendcyborgguy883

3 жыл бұрын

Not only UK... It is preaty much the same on the continent( Europe)... Chears from Poland!

@doomslayer2290

3 жыл бұрын

Honestly I think it is a world wide thing. Even us Americans have plenty of alcoholic traditions in our Christmas traditions though usually in houses that don't have kids in it.

@StormShadowHarris

3 жыл бұрын

@@doomslayer2290 "Though usually in houses that don't have kids in it" Cowards.

@thomasbarca9297

3 жыл бұрын

Same in Australia and New Zealand my mum used to say they use to find a penny in the pud

Instructions not clear currently being scolded by Mrs. Crocombe

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

🤣 she’s wise and always uses a basin.

@denji769

3 жыл бұрын

lol, I could hear her like she was standing beside me when you said "candied peel"

@tysonperna8844

3 жыл бұрын

@@denji769 I immediately paused the video to come find who mentioned Avis Crocombe in the comments.

@miekekuppen9275

3 жыл бұрын

@@tysonperna8844 XD Same here. Their figgy pudding video was just as much fun!

@francesrockett4143

3 жыл бұрын

She would give the Crocombe side eye.

My mom included grated carrot in the pudding with the dried fruit and apples. Instead of brandy sauce, she made a caramel sauce. It was served warm, sometimes with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. So delicious!

You're wrong about Scrooge. He's had a total change of heart! He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world! I'm sure he loves this video!

officer: how much have you had to drink tonight? victorian: just a slice of cake i swear!

I bet the lady who made this recipe could never imagine that 200 years later, a guy would be sharing it with the world all over again. Food really does humanize the past. Thank you for your amazing work.

@michaeldougherty8344

2 жыл бұрын

Excellent statement

I've had a slice of fruit cake that was aged in apricot brandy, had to be driven home by a friend from that Christmas party. Those old recipes are no joke

Subbed. As an English person, let me tell you, my other half still puts £1 coins in our Christmas Pudding (which is what this pudding is called these days). It is an acquired taste, after a full Christmas dinner. If you all sit down for 2 hours it is best eaten at that type of interval, which of course, it never is. Children routinely hate this pudding, as it is nothing like modern desserts. In the old days, being boiled in a copper, it WOULD have smelled like laundry as that was the primary use for coppers - boiling washing. Infact, most houses would not have had a copper, as the fuel required to keep one going meant most could not afford it. So they took their washing to wash houses instead. Houses that had coppers usually had outbuildings in the garden, and some boarding houses had a copper in the yard that would be shared by several families. I am not sure whether people took their puddings to the wash house to cook 😆 sounds emminently possible. Wash houses were community places where women met to gossip, let alone do laundry. In much the same way as a bread oven used to be a community asset. Anyway, I'm 48, my Grandma would make this pudding around September and keep it under her bed until the big day. It was a matter of some boasting how soon before the event you made it. I'm afraid we buy ours from the supermarket, but I spend enough time cooking dinners from scratch without doing things like this. There is certainly no financial advantage to make your own given the expense of the ingredients.

@mary-janereallynotsarah684

Жыл бұрын

Well I was disappointed that foggy pudding is neither figgy or puddingy. Like, non British pudding which is soft and goopy.

@billysmith3841

Жыл бұрын

@@mary-janereallynotsarah684 I believe a pudding had to have suet in and be cooked in a stomach. Haggis is technically a pudding. Burns called it 'chieftain of the pudding race'. Our blood sausage we call 'black pudding'

@mary-janereallynotsarah684

Жыл бұрын

@@billysmith3841 oddly I always loved blood pudding. But now I can't eat it due to my beliefs.

I used 'bedight' in my D&D game this week and found out that two of my players also watch Max.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

Boom! Love this!

12:30 FYI the reason it smelled like laundry, according to the Charles Dickens Museum, was because Mrs. Cratchet was poor and would not have had a separate pot to use for cooking, so she used her laundry copper. The story also mentions the cloth, as you said. Also, Mrs. Cratchet did not have an oven (because poor people wouldn’t have such a luxury), hence the goose was off to the baker’s to cook.

@KelseyDrummer

2 жыл бұрын

Ooh makes sense! Thanks for your comment I was wondering!

@visi9856

2 жыл бұрын

Wasn't a pudding almost always made in laundry copper? Cuz nobody had cooking pots big enough to fit in a pudding.

@avelineventer2482

Жыл бұрын

Um…. Alcohol was often used for stain removal 😅, so laundress’s (women who did laundry) would often have that smell on them. Generally it was cheap spirits and they had a reputation of being big drinkers as a result. This might be a reference to that thinking at the time. Kind of like how blonde jokes are funny because you already know the blonde is supposed to be stupid. 😊

@emmalarson07

Жыл бұрын

@@avelineventer2482 Bernadette Banner has a great video on the process of doing laundry for a Victorian. Gasoline is involved. Things were crazy back in those times.

@mary-janereallynotsarah684

Жыл бұрын

Gross. Like cooking with a wash basin.

As a little tip: Zante Currants that are commonly found at a grocery store in the US aren't actually currents, they're raisins but from small grapes. It's very hard to find actual dried currants, either black or red. But well worth it if you can! That might be why the pudding was overly raisiny. That should be the dominant flavor, but you should be able to taste the currants. Love the episode!

@1rbroderi

Жыл бұрын

Historically the Zante Currants would most likely actually be what the recipe ment.

@lainwired3946

Жыл бұрын

@@1rbroderi not on Britain, we have wild currants everywhere they're widely available for cooking.

@thenovicenovelist

Жыл бұрын

I know in some states like Virginia it's illegal to grow currants because officials are concerned that the currants could spread some sort of disease/blight to certain trees. I haven't seen currants in my rural area, but heard about them when I was in the UK. My dad and I looked into growing some only to find out that our state was one of the states that banned growing them. I don't think I've ever seen currants or Zante currants in my region.

@AliceLiddell-xb1ob

6 ай бұрын

The currants called for in this pudding recipe ARE small raisins.

@LynetteTheMadScientist

5 ай бұрын

Do you think craisins would work instead? I hate raisins so much

i live in aus, but my family always does an old fashioned english christmas dinner every year (which is unusual, its summer during so everyone eats summery foods for christmas instead) and we always have a christmas pudding. we've never made it ourselves, we order in advance. dunking it in brandy and setting it alight is compulsory lmao, it looks so magical and makes a wonderful smell. we eat it with custard, vanilla ice cream, or thick cream, often all three at once

So funny to see this as 'history' when modern British Christmas pudding is relatively unchanged and still as beloved! Christmas is just an excuse to eat your brandy, after all.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

Ha! So true.

@BPMEmmelia

3 жыл бұрын

We're in America, everything is 'historic' to us 😂😂😂

@AYoutubeAccountName

3 жыл бұрын

I genuinely thought Christmas pudding was just a thing almost everywhere

@JessRushworth

3 жыл бұрын

don't forget the brandy cream on top!

@lynnjones4609

3 жыл бұрын

I wonder how many people make one these days though, as opposed to buying one from the supermarket. Also, I remember my mother steaming the pudding for about two hours on Christmas Day when I was a child but I reckon most people probably reheat it in a microwave now.

"Bedight" has a more modern relative that we might be more likely to know. "Bedecked" is the newer version. The CK and the GH were pronounced quite alike in English a long time ago. An even more modern alternative that comes from "bedecked" that almost anyone would know is "decked out."

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

I love etymology! Thank you

@AnnaWalch

3 жыл бұрын

Bedecked sounds like the German "bedeckt", meaning covered, as the past form of bedecken = to cover

@hoathanatos6179

3 жыл бұрын

Well bedeck comes from Middle Dutch and entered into English in the 16th century by means of Dutch sailors influencing English nautical terminology while bedight originates in Old English and is cognate with the German Dichten - To compose poetry and Dichter - A poet. Both the English and German entered into Proto-Germanic from the Romans and the Latin verb Dictare - To dictate. Bedeck and bedight aren't related at all.

@hoathanatos6179

3 жыл бұрын

The Old English verb Dihtan was much closer to the Latin and German meanings of to dictate or compose but it also had the meaning of to ordain or to appoint and from that the idea of organizing and setting things in order. This in the medieval period saw an evolution of the word to mean to adorn, equip, clothe, prepare, and even evolved as slang of sex and murder oddly enough, like if you dighted a wench the other night in the time of Shakespeare it meant you gave her a good shagging.

@Tinky1rs

3 жыл бұрын

@@hoathanatos6179 Mhmm. Bedekt and dichten in modern Dutch.

Couple years late making this one. Put it together a couple weeks ago and will be serving it at a party in a couple of days. Smells bland hanging in its cloth. I'm sure the addition of all the booze and boozy sauce will make a huge difference. Will update soon!

@jrmckim

Жыл бұрын

How'd it go?

@mathewmikolas1492

Жыл бұрын

@@jrmckim Much like a fruitcake bread pudding. I liked it. Not everyone did. Served it with the punch sauce, and it was very boozy! Some said that it might be better with a heavy cream. I tried some leftovers with eggnog ice cream and thought it was great. If you like fruit cake, you'll like this. Either way, it was fun and a great conversation piece! Merry Christmas!

I forget if I've commented this before, but Max Miller brings the pitch-perfect level of manic to this history and food, and he's just delightful. Also I am always thrown by official art of the Cratchits because they are locked into my head as Muppets forevermore.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you 🙏 And yes, the Muppet Christmas Carol is definitive 🤣

me: I want to eat sweets and get drunk Them: *brings out pudding liberally doused in brandy* me: perfection

@kramermariav

3 жыл бұрын

Efficient

@rafaeldavid32

3 жыл бұрын

Pretty much similar and sounds like fruit cake, it taste very good. Would recommend trying one.

@seanminer8183

3 жыл бұрын

Also throws a bone to those who like to play with fire.

@SvenTviking

3 жыл бұрын

You put brandy or rum butter in it as well, which is booze beaten in with butter and icing sugar to make a thick, sweet boozy paste that melts on the warm pud and mixes with the cream. 🤤

“Who’s that Pokémon?” Looks behind Max “It’s Christmas Pikachu!”

@stijn2472

3 жыл бұрын

Chrispachu?

@lauregami

3 жыл бұрын

christmas pikachu is fine but i demand that everyone turn their attention to my sweet child Christmas Applin

@firenter

3 жыл бұрын

Also Christmass Applin!

@Mazazamba

3 жыл бұрын

There's some apple-looking thing behind the Pikachu too.

@katiestott1449

3 жыл бұрын

It's sugar plum clefairy!

Max's utter glee at how boozy and delicious the pudding turns out to be is absolutely EVERYthing.

The BBC documentary series "The Victorian Farm at Christmas" (which shows three historians living as Victorian farmers during the Christmas period) demonstrates using the laundry copper to boil a traditional Christmas pudding.

Pah, you call that alcoholic? My grandma makes her Christmas cake two months in advance and "feeds" it with brandy every few days. By Christmas it is quite impressive...

@AlexandraLynch1

3 жыл бұрын

Ah, yes. You eat a small slice after dinner so that you have food in your stomach to soak up some of the booze...

@Paul2377

3 жыл бұрын

That's the only way to make it! My mum does the same.

@mariboni516

3 жыл бұрын

I feel like I'm in the wrong family! 😄 That Christmas cake sounds delicious and necessary! 😂

@make.and.believe

3 жыл бұрын

Wow - that might be covidproof!

@LillibitOfHere

3 жыл бұрын

My mom uses rum.

"A good plum pudding should last for a thousand years" so a proto-Twinkie, got it

@Li_Tobler

3 жыл бұрын

LMAO

@Ajehy

3 жыл бұрын

But with booze.

@scottydu81

3 жыл бұрын

There was a guy who actually saved twinkies for ten years. Solid as a rock lol. He shattered them with a hammer.

@cjpowers9330

2 жыл бұрын

A good fruit cake is best when years old. The best one I ever are was 50 years old and enjoyed with a good Hunting Port. The slice was small, but the impression it made was immense and lasting. No Fox hunting involved by the way.

My father had made something sort of like this, he used a fruitcake with a lot of dried fruit, wrapped it in tin foil then soaked with whiskey and put it in the fridge. Every week or so he would take it out and add more whiskey. When he had used the entire fifth of whiskey to soak it with he left it in the fridge until Christmas when we partoke of it. It was absolutely delicious.

@orion8835

Жыл бұрын

That is pretty much exactly what this is. Except the spices are far more generous and it is has stout in the baked product. And it was brandy not whiskey which is more Scottish.

I literally made this over the weekend, for Christmas 2022, exactly as you directed. My pot was "singing," and it turned out great! Damn man, you are wonderful! As a "historical foodie buff", I am so thrilled to have found your channel and am binge-watching your episodes. Keep up the great work!

"Now let's light this thing on fire!" He looked entirely too enthusiastic about that.

@uptoolate2793

3 жыл бұрын

I noticed that too. None the less a very good look for him.

@lillythepone2994

3 жыл бұрын

Wait, it’s not normal to be excited to light shit on fire?

@kyrab7914

3 жыл бұрын

@@lillythepone2994 My first thought too. "Wouldn't you be?"

Anyone else just laughing at him screaming, "No Christmas, No Christmas, No Christmas."

@cazadoo339

3 жыл бұрын

Reminded me of peaky blinders, no fighting!

@kalendea

3 жыл бұрын

I laughed so hard and kept rewatching that part

@JerryB507

3 жыл бұрын

He did rather sound like the Governor of California.

@Sammie1053

3 жыл бұрын

For anyone looking for that part: 10:08

@mikegallant811

3 жыл бұрын

@@JerryB507 Christ, another Cromwell in the making!

Oh and while I'm commenting: you should have cut into the centre of your pudding and created a wedge, not a slice. Christmas Pudding doesn't hold together massively well unless you make it 6 months or more ahead of Christmas. As an aside, I used to make my own Christmas Puddings back in the 1970s. I used a Pyrex bowl to hold them with cloth and string around the top. Here in England I had an old Victorian copper for boiling clothes which was in the outhouse to the place I lived. It was literally heated by burning wood underneath it. The laundry smell came from the residue of soap suds remaining in the copper from previous washdays. Hence Dickens was perfectly correct with his colourful explanation.

"spread itself around the globe" is a hilarious term for what one of my favorite British podcasters calls (ironically of course) England's "enthusiastic foreign policy" XD

My 8 year old was asking me what figgy pudding was. As an American, I had no clue. One quick search and we were binge watching a bunch of your vids after finding this one. He is now a huge fan, as am I. Thank you for being informative, entertaining, and educational.

@grendelgrendelsson5493

7 ай бұрын

Are Christmas puds not available in America at all? If they're not, it's a sad state of affairs! Christmas pud with brandy butter or custard or double cream is a culinary delight which should not be denied our American chums!

@hazeltade3679

7 ай бұрын

@@grendelgrendelsson5493I’m sure there’s some sold but as an American I haven’t seen any available

@Nikki_the_G

6 ай бұрын

@@grendelgrendelsson5493 Only from specialty stores, it's just not part of christmas tradition for most of us, and for those who it is, they make it themselves.

"Figgy pudding" sounds like an insult from a Guy Ritchie movie. "Check it out, guv'nor, got ourselves a couple of figgy puddin's, don't we luv?"

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

🤣

@mark314158

3 жыл бұрын

Not even Guy Ritchie would use such "Hollywood cockney" dialogue.

In England, the suet we use is a brand called ATORA. It has been used for years and years and years!

@Alizudo

5 ай бұрын

Surprisingly, that brand exists in America as well. I'll need to take note of it.

Sorry this is so off schedule but it is October and getting closer to the time to make these again. My grands were British and we always had plum pudding at Christmas. Fruitcake too. Our fruitcakes were more sauced than the plum puddings were though. We enjoy the pudding with a lemon sauce, but many put a hard sauce on it which seems like a loose powder sugar frosting with brandy. We always flame the pudding and the fresh Holly. Coins were hid underneath rather than in but we also own silver charms that could be baked inside. The fruitcake used to get marinated with a jigger of whatever booze was hanging around, about every month or more. It was made a year in advance. Tastes amazing. Thanks for the history of it all. Looking forward to this Christmas' videos!

@maryanneslater9675

Жыл бұрын

I have a couple of great recipes for fruitcake and they are well and truly sauced or soused. I dropped gave one to a client along with some cookies for their Christmas party and warned them about waiting an hour after eating cake to drive. When he called to thank me, he said he thought I was joking about the alcohol content until he tried a slice. They toasted each other with it. :)

@erinsjourney315

Жыл бұрын

Oooo, yes! My childhood also included ‘hard & soft sauce’ with our pudding 🥰

@vikkirobinson4131

Жыл бұрын

They should be made the week before advent. The collect for the Sunday before Advent in the Book of Common Prayer starts "Stir up we beseech thee oh Lord..." This was considered a reminder to make your pudding! LOL

@AndrewVelonis

Жыл бұрын

The hard sauce that my mother made was different than what you describe. It was white and had the consistency of paste.

I legitimately hope this isn't your only Christmas/holiday-themed episode for the month, because this was so much fun to watch.

@thethpian

3 жыл бұрын

Brandy

@mando_dablord2646

3 жыл бұрын

Had us in the first half, not gonna lie.

@JaySports644

3 жыл бұрын

This. I'm hoping he shows us how to make Aunt Bethany's jello mold from Christmas Vacation.

@Habitt5253

3 жыл бұрын

@@thethpian You're a fine girl...

@justdoinmything

3 жыл бұрын

@@Habitt5253 what a good wife you woul beeeee

"Oh those crazy brits." 😂 "Now let's light this thing on fire!" 😳😳😳

@AD_AP_T

3 жыл бұрын

AND sing Happy Birthday to Jesus over the flaming pud! (Not a common tradition, but my family is one of those who do it.)

@BriannePitt

3 жыл бұрын

So many good reaction gifs possible from this vid!

@jupitermelichios392

3 жыл бұрын

the secret is to heat the brandy in a spoon like you're cooking heroine

@AD_AP_T

3 жыл бұрын

@@jupitermelichios392 true! Then try to light the brandy in the spoon as you pour it out.

My mother always served with "hardsauce" basically butter/powdered sugar with a touch of brandy. A higher caloric density cannot be found.

My family makes persimmon pudding, which is similar to plum pudding. It contains the pulp of two Hachiya persimmons, a cup of raisins, and a cup of chopped pecans. Originally, it was supposed to be either steamed or put into a bain-marie, but my Mom (who acquired the recipe from my Dad's mother) quickly decided that was too much work with four little ones underfoot, so she just decided to bake it instead. We eat it every year at Christmas, and occasionally at Thanksgiving as well. It is served with "hard sauce" that is hard only as it relates to alcohol, because it is loose and runny (made with butter, sugar, an egg, and as much bourbon, whiskey, or sherry as you please). The hard sauce was something Mom's grandmother made for canned plum pudding every Christmas, so the combination of the pudding and the sauce are an amalgamation from both sides of my family.

"Whoo that's Alcoholic" then giggles like he has already had a few slices lol XD

@sarahnewton2759

3 жыл бұрын

My thoughts exactly. 😂

So, I just realized I own that book! My mom gave me a couple "really old cookbooks" that she found at a thrift shop because she knows I enjoy cooking, and I had been excited to see one from the 1800's (clearly no one at Goodwill realized what it was). It's been on a shelf in my kitchen for the last 3 years, but I kind of want to try some of the recipes now.

@lisahinton9682

Жыл бұрын

@Cristia Olson Be careful storing it in the kitchen, where airborne grease and steam will slowly damage the book. Just a friendly suggestion!

@maddieb.4282

Жыл бұрын

If it’s an original it might be worth something! Could go bring it into a used bookseller’s to get appraised

Here in Newfoundland and Labrador Canada, Puddings are often boiled in a pudding bag, made of unbleached cotton. Both sweet and savoury puddings are cooked this way.

I love the smell of books, especially old books. You are definitely not alone in that. Also, my uncle married a lovely English woman, and when he came back home for Christmas one year, he brought us Christmas pudding, meant to be doused with Brandy and lit on fire. It was awesome, so I decided I wanted to make my own. The recipe I used was mrs. Acton's recipe. It was superb. I put some Brandy butter on it And that was probably the best thing I've ever eaten. I love that you are using her recipe. I have made it twice, and the first time I used something specifically meant for puddings, because I figured it would be much easier. The second time, I wanted to try a pudding cloth. I had amazing results with both..... I wish I could help you figure out what you did wrong.. Also, many butcher shops can either special order kidney suet or already do have kidney suet in stock- at least in the area I live in, anyway. I did find out after the first batch that there is a difference in the suets that you find, but if you take the membrane off like I had to with both of them and make sure it's all just the suet fat and nothing else like the connective tissue, It turns out amazing either way. It really does. I didn't have anything other than cheesecloth, so I just folded it into multiple layers using multiple pieces that I had, and it worked just fine. Flour it well, make sure your water doesn't stop boiling and never boils away too much, and you'll be fine. also, don't use a whole bunch of Brandy and make sure it's warm. It lights on fire better that way

Of course you've missed out on the best part of a Christmas pudding - having a slice fried in brandy butter on Boxing Day morning...

**Holds hand up to being a book sniffer.** The odour even has a name: biblichor: Biblichor “Biblichor is the word that describes the particular smell that belongs to old books. Biblichor is a newly created word that combines the Greek words biblio (book) with ichor (the fluid that flows like blood in the veins of the gods), much the way petrichor was created." The term petrichor was coined by Australian scientists in 1964 to describe the unique, earthy smell associated with rain. It is caused by rainwater falling on dry soil, along with certain compounds like ozone, geosmin, and plant oils. Cooking things in an animal's stomach was widespread and gives us that Scottish dish haggis. A good way to start a fight north of Hadrian's Wall is to say that there is evidence that haggis existed in Lancashire, England before any record of it in Scotland. Traditionally, the best time to start making a Christmas pudding is Boxing Day (26th December) of the year before. Some advocate whisky, brandy, or rum as your alcohol. I suggest alternating between all three to get the grain, grape, and sugar flavours of them all. Soak the fruit in alcohol to rehydrate it so that it doesn't draw moisture from the pudding crumb. Our old three- and six-penny coins were made of silver and could be cooked in the pudding. Modern coins mostly contain copper and will poison you. Not a good move to kill your nearest and dearest while you're celebrating Jebus' birthday. Pulled over for a random breath test by the police: Have you been drinking today, sir? No, officer, but I did have a double helping of my Nana's Christmas pud!

@Corvinus_swe

3 жыл бұрын

The biblichor is so pleasant because when lignin (one of the fibers in paper) breaks down it forms vanillin, one of the main flavour components of vanilla.

@eleni1968

3 жыл бұрын

@@Corvinus_swe Thank you also for justifying my weirdness for inhaling the scent of old books.

@eleni1968

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you for justifying my weirdness for inhaling the scent of old books.

@scottydu81

3 жыл бұрын

@@Corvinus_swe Vanillin is found in a lot of places. Oak barrels, when charred, form a thin layer of vanillin. That’s what gives hwhiskey that color, as well.

@ariandynas

2 жыл бұрын

@@Corvinus_swe So much so that it's the source of Imitation Vanilla extract.

In this age of technology, streaming and digital EVERYTHING, its nice to see someone taking the time to appreciate the smell of a good old fashion book. I never knew how great books and magazines smelled until a roommate showed it to me. It truly is an intoxicating smell.

@susie9893

2 жыл бұрын

It is. Literally. They've found that the molds found growing in old books have a mild hallucinatory effect and may even be addictive

My Mom, from Scotland, always made Christmas pudding, as well as fruitcake. She made two kinds of fruitcake, light and dark. The light has candied cherries, currents, and dried peel. The dark was basically the same fruits as go into the pudding. She always made two of the dark and one light. One dark was designated as “avec” and the other “sans” indicating that one had been liberally soaked in brandy or rum. After they were steamed, she would wrap them in cheesecloth or a towel and put them in Tupperwear containers and the alcoholic one was frequently and liberally sprinkled with the brandy/rum. In later years, Mom made a whole lot of dark ones for the fall fair at the church. They were so popular that she took orders for them, “avec” and “sans” and the money paid up-front to the church. They were $15 each. One year, she dropped them off an hour before the sale and they were all stolen… She was heartbroken. She stopped making them for the fall fair after that. We still got ours. We once went on a ski outing and Mom packed the container containing 1 and 1/2 well marinated and wrapped cakes with us. When we returned, she asked my sister to take them inside… Some time pater Mom asked where they were. My sister said “I put them on the piano bench”. They weren’t there but the plastic container was empty on the floor. Someone asked where our St. Bernard was. We finally tracked him down to the basement where we found him lying on his back, obviously well inebriated. The fact that he’d eaten even the cheesecloth was confirmed when we found it out in the back yard…

@Mudhooks

8 ай бұрын

Oh… when I got married, Mom offered to make the traditional wedding fruitcake. Most people don’t eat it, just take the “lucky piece” home. Mom made this HUGE one as well as the small wrapped pieces for the guests. We also had a wedding cake so the fruitcake, weighing about 8 lbs, went untouched. I brought it home and put it in the fridge. She’d put so much brandy in it that it melted the Royal Icing and it was literally dripping out of the cake and all over the fridge. It was damned good, though…

@Ozziecatsmom

6 ай бұрын

@@MudhooksI’d so much love to taste your mom’s fruitcake! It sounds wonderful.

I just loved everything about this episode! For quite a few years, we observed Stir Up Sunday, making two puddings; one for the current year's Christmas, and one to be matured for 13 months and eaten the following year (they were very good). Every year we would increase the recipe by one more ingredient such as an additional type of dried or fresh fruit, until we got to a recipe that was absurdly long and would engage the whole family peeling carrots, chopping apples, dicing pears, etc. Also, I absolutely love that you want to revive archaic words like 'bedight' - I have been working tirelessly to revive the word 'nextly' (E.g: Firstly/nextly/furthermore...finally)

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

Together, we will revive English as it is meant to be!

@barbarusbloodshed6347

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory as a German speaker I'd appreciate this. When reading old English dialects I always get the impression that they have much more of their "Germaness" left and that they're much more elegant than modern English.

@barbarusbloodshed6347

3 жыл бұрын

I actually use the word "nextly". At first I used it because I just didn't know any better, when starting out learning English I often just made assumptions what the English equivalent of a German word might be and then used this in my sentence. Someone then told me that "nextly is not a word" and I looked it up. Well, turned out it was a word after all :D Oh! And another good one is "overmorrow" for "the day after tomorrow"... which is pretty much exactly what we use in German: übermorgen.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

@@barbarusbloodshed6347 I didn’t know overmorrow but I like it! Just unique enough that people will think I’m pretentious without being so bad as to want to punch me. 🤣

@barbarusbloodshed6347

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory yeah, it was an actual word... kind of weird, that it is no longer in use as it is clearly useful. More useful than saying "the day after tomorrow" each time, at least. When my British friends and I use "overmorrow" we prentiously roll the Rs in it. And whatever the sentence in which you use it, you have to end it with "my good Sir" :D

"I love the smell of [old] books. Does anyone else do that?" Why do you think I watch you? It's like walking into an historical library each week! I used to help make 2000 plum puddings for fundraising. It was done by hand from start to finish. The best part was pleating up the cloth and tying it off. We sat in the same room as 9 boilers, pleating up, in temperatures around 30 C.

@angolin9352

3 жыл бұрын

86 F in freedom units

Is anyone else absolutely in love with Max's wry chuckle.

Well Max, I'm trying the recipe this year. Pudding just came out of the pot and seems like it held together. Thanks to you and Townsend, I love historical cooking. I'd send a pic, if I could but I'll let you know what my guests think this weekend.

@nicolepowers9502

Жыл бұрын

How did it taste??

@jenniferkirby6567

Жыл бұрын

@@nicolepowers9502 it was good, the texture was firm, good balance of fruit flavors and the candied orange peel gave a crunch almost nut-like. My guests enjoyed it and were quite surprised to find out what actual Figgy Pudding was. Seems like it is the root to what we know as fruitcake, but much better.

The Brits say "Happy Christmas" today because it used to be "merry" in the past, with copious amounts of drinks, but then the Puritans came along 😂

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

“...but then the Puritans came along” is how so many stories about good things going away start.

@yungboy4216

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory "But everything changed when the puritan nation attacked"

@Isalukich

3 жыл бұрын

Don't worry, we drove the Puritans out long ago so now we're all s***-faced at Christmas again! So "Merry Christmas" is the norm, at least it was last year. I have heard rumours the Puritans could be back though....

@Lucius1958

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory In New England, where I live, the antipathy towards Christmas outlasted the Restoration by many years; it wasn't until the 19th century that Puritan strictures began to relax.

@pcurd

3 жыл бұрын

We say Merry Christmas today - although Happy Christmas is also acceptable it clashes with “and a Happy New Year” so we say Merry most often.

If a core childhood memory of yours isn't desperately trying to hide the fact nana's Christmas pudding was so boozy you felt a little giddy so you can have more, did you even Christmas?

@cazadoo339

3 жыл бұрын

Exactly and sherry trifle!!

@Lionstar16

3 жыл бұрын

@@cazadoo339 It's not trifle without the sherry, no question :)

@javeedn

3 жыл бұрын

@@cazadoo339 it's not trifle without beef sautéed with peas and onions!

@somethingillregret

3 жыл бұрын

@@javeedn I see what you did there. Bravo

@javeedn

3 жыл бұрын

@@somethingillregret thank you hahaha

Well, part of the reason he compared it with laundry, was that, especially in poorer households, the same copper that was used to boil the pudding, was also used for laundry. And as he said you have a wet cloth, to add to that smell. Lauri

One would think that "Figgy Pudding" might actually have figs in it😂😂😋😋

@stevemartin6882

Жыл бұрын

The same could be said of a hamburger usually made from 100% prime beef! Doesn't matter what you call it as long as it tastes good.

@maddockemerson4603

Жыл бұрын

The hamburger is named after the region of Hamburg. There was no such thing as a burger before the hamburger so it’s not “ham-burger” but “Hamburg-er”

@stevemartin6882

Жыл бұрын

@@maddockemerson4603 Very true, I was just saying. But what's your explaination about fairy cakes? These don't contain fairies, at least not the ones I've been munching on.

@cindyknudson2715

Жыл бұрын

@@stevemartin6882 cakes that fairies eat?

@Cheriec11

Жыл бұрын

He addressed that in the first few minutes...

I'm trying to bring back the word "overmorrow", which means "the day after tomorrow". I will take up the cause of bedight as well!

@caro1ns

3 жыл бұрын

Overmorrow - I love that! Where did you find it?

@jamesterwilliger3176

3 жыл бұрын

@@caro1ns It was in some post I saw a couple of months ago on Facebook about "why do we have a word for throwing someone out a window (defenestration) but not one for the day after tomorrow" and someone was like "oh but there is". I guess the word for "the day before yesterday" is "ereyesterday", which doesn't quite have the same ring to it.

@coffeesquirrel1

3 жыл бұрын

Ohhh yes i’m totally down for both if we can also bring back “Anon” 🤓

@estoy1001

3 жыл бұрын

Sennight (seven-night) is an archaic term for a week, the precursor to fortnight (fourteen nights). Friend Boy/Girl (as opposed to Boy/Girl Friend) is your friend (with gender descriptor). Jigger is a word with 27 different definitions, some contradictory (it tends to be a catch-all word like whatchamacallit). Tsujigiri is a Japanese word that describes the act of testing out a new sword on an innocent passer-by. It means "cross-road killing". Jay is a bumpkin, which is a possible origin of the term 'jaywalking'.

@Nightmster

3 жыл бұрын

We still have this in german: Übermorgen is the day after tomorrow

This is almost identical to my mum's Christmas pudding recipe. She would make a huge batch of it in October and feed it brandy over the weeks until Christmas, usually forgetting where she had put all of them so we would have one in the next summer when it was discovered.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

🤣 I love that. Pudding surprises throughout the year.

That's honestly a great aspect to having british family. There's a whole universe of dried fruit & spice based desserts (and even main dishes) that one otherwise wouldn't know existed. Quite exotic to my American palette.

@Alizudo

5 ай бұрын

Envious.

I love the smell of old books. My Mother always thought it was weird. There was a small book store by my house as a child, called "Al's Old Books". I can still recall the smell of the place if I close my eyes and picture standing among the claustrophobic placing of the towering shelves.

My favourite part would be the the lazy days. With lots of leftovers, days spent in pyjamas, watching movies and playing board games with the family.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

That’s been much of my life for 10 months.

@DemeterMedi

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory I'm not sure I'm jealous of that.

@sonipitts

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory This is why my head-canon for 2020 is that the evil genie granted everyone's wishes all at once. No work, no social engagements, no need to do our hair, dress up or even wear a bra/underwear/shoes...nothing expected of us but to stay at home in our pjs playing video games and watching tv. Never bet against the evil genie. They always play dirty.

Me (a self-identified grinch): Okay that pikachu and the joy of historic holiday baking are the only things that warm my heart. Maybe Christmas isn’t that bad after all...

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

😁 pikachu makes everything better

@mortisCZ

3 жыл бұрын

What about brandy?

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

@@mortisCZ Brandy too; goes without saying : )

@kramermariav

3 жыл бұрын

God bless us, every one!

The smell of old books makes me so happy. It is the smell of a new adventure.

I recently read an Agatha Christie novel that the crime was committed while the children played snapdragon. There was something about burning raisins, and I was confused. This was helpful!

I cracked up when you sniffed the book. It’s one of the first things I do when I get a used book. It smells like coming home.

I love that, in the tradition of Julia Child , you show us your mistakes & genuine reactions.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

There are so many mistakes 😆

@Myzelfa

3 жыл бұрын

You learn more from a mistake than a success, after all, especially if it's someone else's.

@TheRealNormanBates

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory as Bob Ross or my parents would say, there are no mistakes.. just happy little accidents.

This recipe is so similar to my familiy's Christmas pudding recipe 😆 Max is pretty game trying to tighten the pudding in the cloth on his own. It is always at least a two person job in our family.

Just now seeing this. My grandmother is from Liverpool. They also cover the pudding with a custard sauce.

Yes, someone else who loves the smell of books - the old ones are especially divine :)

@scaper8

3 жыл бұрын

When I saw him smell the book, my first thought was somewhere between, "Ha! I knew I wasn't the only one who does that!" and "Thank god! I'm not the only one who does that!"

@Lionstar16

3 жыл бұрын

@@scaper8 It's partly why I prefer to buy my reading material as a physical book rather than on my Kindle - it just smells so nice :)

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

It’s the best!

@bimscutney1242

3 жыл бұрын

Love that smell. I have a friend who was a librarian and the first thing he does when he opens a book is sniff it. Even did it with his comic books in college. I recently described a Scotch to someone as having a faint, musty, old book like aftertaste. 😂

@renpixie

3 жыл бұрын

Hopefully that book was printed before arsenic was used to dye paper green.🤢

The excitement on his face at lighting that pudding on fire made me holiday season.

This episode was bedight with a copious plethora of wonderful information. Thank you Max and God bless us everyone!

3 months later and I’m still impressed by the segue into the sponsorship.

“Some think it should have coins and other _choking hazards_ cooked inside” lmao

@VidyaAntics

3 жыл бұрын

Irish barmbrack does this and is an important tradition. Don't knock it til you find that ring in your slice and get to feel #blessed haha

@blinder3305

3 жыл бұрын

:D "as little prices for good luck" it killed me too

@ABC1701A

3 жыл бұрын

Silver sixpence, and a gold ring are the traditional items.

@daniels5780

3 жыл бұрын

Sounds like Mardi Gras king cake, which has a little plastic baby in it.

@theresedavis2526

2 жыл бұрын

Well, you're not supposed to hork it down in chunks. You're supposed to chew it.

so glad i'm not the only christmas lunatic who's gonna make one of these things this year ❤️

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

I wish you the best of luck.

@DragonTigerBoss

3 жыл бұрын

The Christmas Lunatics would be a great name for a Christian horrorcore group.

@youroldpalavy

3 жыл бұрын

@@DragonTigerBoss i would pay at least $40 to see them live

@lairdcummings9092

3 жыл бұрын

Lots more time on our hands; kitchen experiments abound!

@itwasagoodideaatthetime7980

3 жыл бұрын

@@TastingHistory In addition to adding a bottle of brandy to her Christmas pudding mix. My Great Grandmother (who was English) used to soak her Christmas pudding fruit in brandy. She'd put the fruit into a large jar & cover it in brandy in August. & top up the jar as needed. She made a dozen puddings each year & we're still eating them. Her puddings are 'lethal' if you eat one you can't drive. Last year my Dad had a slice of it & drove to get some ice from the gas station. (We're in Australia so ice is a *must* at Christmas time here.) He got pulled over & had to take a breathalyser, which he naturally failed. When he went to court he had to take the recipe to show he hadn't been drinking just eating Christmas pudding. The judge took one look at the recipe & dismissed his case.

My Mom was from England and when we visited our Grandparents during the Christmas holidays we loved Nanas' Christmas pudding. She would start it a few months before and once a week she would ladle a tablespoon or so over it while it rested in the larder. My Dads' eyes would light up and he would have such a grin on his face when Nana brought it to the table.

My Granny (we live in Scotland) used to make a Clootie Dumpling for our birthdays. It’s not dissimilar to your pudding. The skin that forms on the outside of it was the part we always fought over! Good memories.

"It may be served with German" Me, a German: 👀

@MrBlueManCole

Жыл бұрын

What is meant by that? Is it a wine or a Sauce?

@Tymdek

Жыл бұрын

@@MrBlueManCole In the recipe it says: "It may be served with German, wine or punch sauce." So German sauce, actually (whatever that is). I just took away the sauce (joke's on you, Mr. Ramsay) to make a joke.

@celinek.6849

Жыл бұрын

@@Tymdek As a German, I'm also really curious what German sauce is/was

Sauces were extremely alcoholic... hence the term 'getting sauced'.

@stephenpmurphy591

3 жыл бұрын

That appeals to my Irish DNA.....I'm not joking.

@teaves8251

2 жыл бұрын

Maybe why the warning to fair ladies not to partake of the cake.

Having made Christmas pudding a holiday tradition for the last few years (Thank you TNT’s version of A Christmas Carol!), this was absolutely fascinating. Glad you like the pudding as much as my family does.

I love the little Pillsberry doughboy impression at the end there lol.

I recommend Dr Lucy Worsley’s “12 Days of Christmas “ and explains an authentic Tudor Christmas. Very very different than Christmas today.

@MossyMozart

3 жыл бұрын

@Kevin Eaton - I adore that episode of Dr Worsley's! I could watch it any time of the year.

@QueenCityHistory

3 жыл бұрын

@@MossyMozart I have seen all her docs multiple times. She’s absolutely amazing

@PunkyPink85

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, I love her work. She is so likable!

@leotheoreganoman

3 жыл бұрын

Dr. Worsely is my queen

@BenjaminWeimer

3 жыл бұрын

its been some time since i've seen them but the bbc historic farms, christmas episodes where interesting and enjoyable.

When you mentioned the traditional stuffing of festive choking hazards, I laughed so hard I had to pause the video and my husband came in to see if I was okay.

@TastingHistory

3 жыл бұрын

🤣

@ragnkja

3 жыл бұрын

Don’t worry, those are in the Twelfth Night cake.

"Don't worry it's not going to take a few weeks for the history." I don't know about the rest of us but I'd happily listen to you rant on and on about history for a few weeks straight.

This year I'm not making a pudding, but a Christmas cake. Been feeding it for the last three weeks and it smells amazing! Definitely a topic for a new Christmas episode.

It’s still common in Scotland to make a light fruit pudding called “clootie dumpling”, “cloot” is Scots for cloth. My mum uses a clean pillow case.

@crimsonia0nightrayne

3 жыл бұрын

Those are soooo good

@Abigail-hu5wf

2 жыл бұрын

@@crimsonia0nightrayne I wanted to make a suet pudding for my partner while I was in the US with her but they don't sell like... half of the ingredients I needed for ANYTHING I wanted. Why do people not eat suet???

@raerohan4241

2 жыл бұрын

@@Abigail-hu5wf According to other replies: you can get it from a Mexican or Cajun grocery store. Other grocery store butchers might not have it on hand but may be willing to get it for you (could take a few days to get it). Apparently, small business type stores will be more likely to get it for you than larger retailers. And finally, you could look for a whole animal butcher.

@user-cr5nh4mv5j

2 жыл бұрын

@@Abigail-hu5wf for some reason, we insist on feeding it to the birds. Whole foods carries tallow ( which is rendered and cleaned suet similar in colour to the fat in the video) and if you put the jar in the fridge you can scrape nice sized bits with a fork. I buy tallow cheaply online in 10lb tubs for making Pastry crust and cleaning leather clothing. It's even easier to scrape it from the pail and it doesn't have the issue of shattered glass from temperature shock. However it's best to keep it in the fridge because moisture from the air can cause surface mold. If it happens just scrape it off. Atora suet from the United Kingdom is also fairly inexpensive online but American tallow is much cheaper and far more versatile as it has no added ingredients. May I suggest using tallow to fry chips/fries? They stay golden yellow and take longer to get soggy. And it makes lederhosen more stretchy around the waist.

@avacatherine5646

2 жыл бұрын

The best is when you fry the leftovers in butter the following morning….

"Don't try this at home!" Oh, dude, we still do this every year in the UK lol. The coins thing, too.

@nightsong81

3 жыл бұрын

Was England severely overpopulated at some point in history, and they just decided they needed more ways to introduce accidental death to the populace?

@gmaxe3561

3 жыл бұрын

@@nightsong81 thats the whole reason why we are only allowed to breed on certain days of the year or face the queen in a duel. they had it so good back then.

@nightsong81

3 жыл бұрын

@@gmaxe3561 This is now how I believe things work in the UK, and nobody is going to convince me otherwise.

@gmaxe3561

3 жыл бұрын

Who are these blasphemous heathens spouting indecent lies? We English shall cast them down the royal tea mines for this transgression.

@quietdavedevon

3 жыл бұрын

The Royal Mint still produce silver sixpences that you can order online. Though obviously they do cost a bit more, £30 for this year's.

Years ago I made a Plumb pudding with sack-sauce from 18th century cooking with Jas Townsend and Son. I loved the sauce: heat equal parts sugar, sack, and butter. Now that I am diabetic, I skip the carbs, but I still have my pudding cloth, just in case. I love your videos, thanks Max.

My Boston grandmother made the plum pudding in a cheese cloth that placed into a coffee can with a weight on it while it boiled. For the sauce she made a lemon sauce (yum) or white sauce. Good memories.

"Gaily bedight A gallant knight In sunshine and in shadow Had journeyed long Singing a song In search of El Dorado" -- Edgar Allen Poe The only other place I remember seeing this word!

@Pattilapeep

2 жыл бұрын

It is also in the lullaby Lullabye and good night with roses bedight.

Mum always made thirteen Christmas puddings each year - booked them in the old wash boiler over a two day period. Two large ones - Christmas day and New Year's day - and eleven small ones. We had one each month all through the year. Yes, we all like(d) Christmas pudding, and rich Christmas cake. She had four of those to bake as well, one for Christmas and one each for dad, my brother and me as birthday cakes. Happy, tasty, days.

As a child, my British Dad insisted on baking this every Christmas.....you did it proud! (But we were never bothered by the real holly sprig!)