Yorkshire pudding
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Yorkshire puddings | |
| Type | Pudding |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Yorkshire, England |
| Main ingredients | Milk or water, flour and eggs |
 Cookbook: Yorkshire pudding  Media: Yorkshire pudding | |
Yorkshire pudding is an English dish made from batter consisting of eggs, flour, and milk or water. The dish is sometimes served with beef and gravy and is a staple of the traditional British Sunday roast. It may also be served as a dessert.[1]
Originally the Yorkshire pudding was eaten on its own as a first course with thick gravy to fill the stomach with the low-cost ingredients so that one would not eat so much of the more expensive meat in the following course.[2] An early recipe appeared in Alexander Cassey's The Whole Duty of a Woman in 1737.
History
When wheat flour began to come into common use for making cakes and puddings, cooks in the north of England devised a means of making use of the fat that dropped into the dripping pan to cook a batter pudding while the meat roasted. In 1737, a recipe for 'a dripping pudding' (Later named The Yorkshire Pudding) was published in The Whole Duty of a Woman:[3]
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.
Similar instructions were published in 1747 in The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse under the title of 'Yorkshire pudding'. It was she who re-invented and renamed the original version, called Dripping Pudding, which had been cooked in England for centuries, although these puddings were much flatter than the puffy versions known today.[4]
The Yorkshire pudding is meant to rise. The Royal Society of Chemistry suggested in 2008 that "A Yorkshire pudding isn't a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than four inches tall".[5]
The Yorkshire pudding is a staple of the British Sunday lunch and in some cases is eaten as a separate course prior to the main meat dish. This was the traditional method of eating the pudding and is still common in parts of Yorkshire today. Because the rich gravy from the roast meat drippings was used up with the first course, the main meat and vegetable course was often served with a parsley or white sauce.
It is often claimed that the purpose of the dish was to provide a cheap way to fill the diners, thus stretching a lesser amount of the more expensive ingredients as the Yorkshire pudding was traditionally served first.[6]
In poorer households, the pudding was often served as the only course. Using dripping and blood, a simple, energy-rich meal was made with flour, eggs and milk. This was traditionally eaten with a gravy or sauce, to moisten the pudding.
Cooking method
Yorkshire pudding is cooked by pouring a batter made from milk (or water), flour and eggs into preheated, oiled, baking pans, ramekins or muffin tins (in the case of miniature puddings). A basic formula uses 1⁄3 cup flour and 1⁄3 cup liquid per egg.
Similar dishes
Other dishes made from batter include popover, a hollow roll; Gougère, a savoury pastry; Dutch baby pancake, a breakfast dish; Toad in the hole; David Eyre's pancake, another breakfast dish; takoyaki, Japanese puff batter dumpling with octopus; clafoutis, French style cherries in batter; and far Breton, a thick Breton cake.
References
- ↑ "foodnetwork.co.uk - Yorkshire pudding desserts". foodnetwork.co.uk. Retrieved 4 May 2015.
- ↑ "Old England Traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding". food.com. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
- ↑ Lady, A; Kenrick, William (1737). The Whole Duty of a Woman. London.
- ↑ Glasse, Hannah (1998) [1747]. The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy. Applewood Books. ISBN 978-1-55709-462-9.
- ↑ "Yorkshire pudding must be four inches tall, chemists rule". Royal Society of Chemistry. 12 November 2008. Retrieved 8 January 2014.
- ↑ "Secret of a perfect Yorkshire pud". BBC News. 14 November 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Yorkshire pudding. |
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