October 13: National Yorkshire Pudding Day!!
Did you know that a yorkshire pudding isn’t a pudding at all? Maybe it’s because I’m a Yankee, but I assumed a “pudding” was a custard-y like dessert.
pud·ding
ˈpo͝odiNG/
noun
-
1.
a dessert with a creamy consistency.
“chocolate pudding”
-
2.
a sweet or savory steamed dish made with flour.
“Yorkshire pudding”
Huh. Well I’ll be! Anyway, Yorkshire puddings are typically served with roast beef. I also learned that, according to a 2008 ruling by the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Yorkshire pudding isn’t a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than four inches tall. Good thing mine were 4 inches tall!!
Turns out, Yorkshire puddings taste just like pancakes. Upon doing a bit of research, this isn’t surprising. A recipe for Yorkshire pudding (aka dripping pudding… ew) was published in The Whole Duty of a Woman:
Make a good batter as for pancakes; put in a hot toss-pan over the fire with a bit of butter to fry the bottom a little then put the pan and butter under a shoulder of mutton, instead of a dripping pan, keeping frequently shaking it by the handle and it will be light and savoury, and fit to take up when your mutton is enough; then turn it in a dish and serve it hot.
Unfortunately, my book club has yet to read The Whole Duty of a Woman, but I’m glad that I wasn’t crazy when I thought “pancake!” after I took a bite. I didn’t have time to whip up any mutton tonight (or a roast beef for that matter), so I did what my taste buds told me to do and pretended they were pancakes. Breakfast for dinner!
Tomorrow: National Chocolate Covered Insect Day!