History of the Christmas Pudding

The Christmas pudding has its origins in a dish enjoyed in the Middle Ages by both the rich and the poor. It was a spicy porridge called ‘frumenty’.

To start making ‘frumenty’ you boil wheat in water until it turns into a soft porridge or gruel. Add milk, currants and other dried fruit. Then add the yolks of eggs and mix in, together with spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. Then cook into a kind of stiff pudding. In some Scandanavian countries, like Sweden and Norway, porridge is still part of a traditional Christmas meal.

The pudding was often called ‘plum pottage’, meaning a mixture as thick as porridge. Later it was sometimes called ‘hackin’ pudding’ as the ingredients were chopped, or hacked before going into the pudding. Later it became the familiar ‘plum pudding’. In the 19th Century, instead of fresh plums, it only contained prunes, they later gave way to dried fruit, especially currants, sultanas and raisins.

The habit of placing a coin or trinket in the Christmas Pudding is very similar to the Saturnalia custom of hiding a dried bean in the Christmas Pudding. Their custom was that the person who found it, even if he were a slave, was elected master of the revels, a king for the holidays with special priviledges.

With so many puddings coming ready-made from supermarkets now, the tradition of silver charms and new coins being put in the mixture is almost lost. It is one of the oldest and fun of the Christmas traditions. Whoever found the charm in their piece of Christmas pudding would have good luck in the year to come.