Puddings!

I said last time that puddings would need to be a post unto themselves. So here is that post. Ohh puddings, how I miss them. Now puddings are a funny thing. The term is often used to refer to general dessert. Basically, whatever sweet you have once you finish your supper may be called pudding. These types are usually spongey cakes with a sauce poured on top, sometimes filled with fruit or nuts. However this gets confusing as there are also savoury puddings that can be served with dinner. Lets save the best for last then and start with the savoury.

Yorkshire pudding is definitely my favorite of the savouries and the one you have more likely tried (compared to the others at least). The Yorkshire pudding can even be found in restaurants like Lawry's, where I first tried them, served with roasted meats and veggies just like they are across the pond. Similar, or pretty identical actually, individual Yorkshire puddings are like pop-overs. They belong in the bread category of the dinner, and are made with a thin batter similar to American pancakes, though they do not taste like them. Light, fluffy and delicious. They can be baked individually, as pictured below, or as one ina big pan then sliced into portions. 

Sometimes individual puddings will have meat put in the middle, as if the pudding is just the holder for the rest of the meal. Traditionally Yorkshire pudding is  baked with leftover meat juices, as the pudding soaks up the flavors nicely, but this is not the case everywhere. So without the juices, these puddings have a nice differentiation from the other commonly known savoury pudding. No blood!

Yummy British Food

As I write this I am already overcome with excitement for this Thursday. I’m super antsy because two of my friends from London (Americans though) are coming to visit and I have missed them greatly. One will only be here for the night and the other for two days. Not nearly enough time. And what do we want to do with them in this great city? Go to Hollywood, see Rodeo Drive? No, it’s our mission to find a decent pub for traditional English breakfast. So it is with them and their visit in mind that I will reminisce about one topic that was close to our hearts and that we dearly miss... FOOD!

The British have long held a bad reputation when it comes to food. As one foodie from Manchester has admitted, "we do unspeakable things to peas" and yes making them look like guacamole is truly unspeakable. (On one of our first days my friends made that mistake, and that’s not a fun surprise for folks from SoCal). So it’s funny that I start this post saying how I miss this so-called terrible cuisine. In some ways I saw where the reputation for nasty food came from. There are still many pubs that are using recipes (and possibly pie crusts) that are decades, maybe even centuries old. British food had been known to be bland or overly spiced, the latter being to hide the rotten flavor or preserve it. And while it is still possible to come across a pastie that isn’t to your liking, on the whole I think the worst meal I had in London was a dish that claimed to be California Mexican.

I rather enjoyed standard English fare. Indian food is now a big part of that but I will continue on that another time. For now we're talking classic British. Fish and chips are commonplace, not as much in Central (London) but definitely by the coasts, and up in Scotland, etc. Its fried fish (often haddock or cod) and chips and usually peas (likely mushed, blegh). The best I ever had was in Brighton, right on the shore. Note that I asked them to hold the peas.