The Silver Kettle

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  • The War Over Christmas Pudding

    There is a war going on in Britain over Christmas pudding, and any sufficiently curious American will discover this.

    The Brits seem to mostly agree on the ingredients of traditional English Christmas pudding. These typically include bread crumbs, flour, eggs, sugar, dried fruits (raisins, currants, something called “sultanas”), nuts (probably almonds), various types of citrus zest, and an entire liquor cabinet. But this is where the agreement ends.

    The most fundamental question in the War over Christmas Pudding is whether to have a Christmas pudding at all. This is a complicated question that is better contemplated by those who understand the labor a traditional Christmas pudding entails.

    Next comes the question of store-bought or homemade. And finally come the countless questions of how to make one at home. Must you use suet (rendered kidney fat)? Must every family member give the pudding a stir and make a wish? Must it be shaped like a ball? Must you steam it in “the old copper,” as Fanny Cradock called it, or do you pop it in the microwave? Must you light it on fire in a dark room when you serve it? And could you possibly dare to make two and save one for next year?

    At the end of the day, pudding is just pudding, except that it isn’t really “pudding,” because this writer is American and that word means something totally different Stateside. But there is something big here. Christmas pudding is an iconic dish, and there is no end in sight to the War over Christmas Pudding.

    Christmas Pudding Videos for the Curious Reader:

    In 1975 Fanny Cradock assumes you have “The Booklet” (the magical book that contains her Christmas pudding recipe) and are therefore ready to shape and steam the thing. Watch here.

    In 1990, Delia Smith walks you through the whole process of making a Christmas pudding. Watch here.

    In 2009, Delia Smith again walks you through the whole process and has notably reneged on her stance to always make a fresh Christmas pudding each year. Watch here.         

    In 2021, Chef John of Food Wishes makes an Americanized Christmas pudding with dried apricots, dates, and bourbon whiskey. Watch here.

    Leave a comment and let this humble American writer know your opinions on traditional English Christmas pudding!

  • Top 3 Classic British Christmas Cooking Shows

    Craving a classic English Christmas? Check out these 3 classic Yuletide British cooking specials that you can watch FREE on YouTube.


    1. Two Fat Ladies Christmas Special


    Join the Two Fat Ladies, Clarissa Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson, for a sumptuous tour of classic Christmas cookery. This pair of mischievous maids famously toured the culinary pleasures of the English countryside with Wright driving a motorcycle and Paterson riding sidecar.

    In this 1997 Christmas Special, Wright and Paterson prepare a Christmas feast for the boys of the renowned Winchester Cathedral Choir at The Pilgrims’ School, enjoying several sneak peeks of the choir’s much beloved Christmas performance.

    On the menu is a (begrudgingly) vegetarian-friendly egg mousse appetizer, roast goose with goose liver stuffing, a tart Swedish red cabbage sweetened with black treacle, and a glamorous Christmas Pudding ice cream bombe with brandy butter filling.

    Lovers of poetry and prose will appreciate the pair’s warm remembrances and colorful references to old English poetry.

    Watch Two Fat Ladies Christmas Special here.

    2. Delia’s Classic Christmas

    Considered by many Brits to be the definitive queen of Christmas cookery, Delia Smith’s television specials inspired the home cooks of Britain for four decades. Her 2009 Christmas series, Delia’s Classic Christmas, is the home cook’s all-in-one holiday lifeline, as Smith encourages her audience to create a stress-free Yuletide kitchen.

    “A real classic, homemade British Christmas is part of our history and heritage,” Smith says as she pleads the case for homemade Christmas pudding. The vast menu includes such festive centerpieces as collar of British bacon with blackened crackling and Cumberland sauce, roast turkey with classic sage and onion stuffing, and a vegetarian cheese and parsnip roulade.

    Smith’s gentle encouragement and passion for traditional English cuisine will inspire even the most reluctant of home cooks.

    Watch Delia’s Classic Christmas here.

    3. Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas

    Proclaimed “the grande dame of TV cookery” by the Telegraph, Fanny Cradock is among the most iconic cooks in British television. Known for wearing glamorous evening dresses and full make-up while cooking, the ever-controversial Cradock combined a no-nonsense persona with a warm, approachable teaching style.

    Though Cradock is scarcely known among the Gordon Ramsay generation, Cradock’s 1975 series Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas remains a classic of English Christmas television. In this series, Fanny presents tips for roasting every type of Christmas bird, revives the traditional round Christmas pudding, and offers creative new uses for mincemeat, which she calls the “Cinderella of Christmas cooking.”

    With her penciled-on eyebrows and headmistress-like precision, Cradock convinces her audience to strive for more in their Christmas kitchens.

    Watch Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas here.

  • The Art of Connection

    The Art of Connection

    Welcome to WordPress! This is a sample post. Edit or delete it to take the first step in your blogging journey. To add more content here, click the small plus icon at the top left corner. There, you will find an existing selection of WordPress blocks and patterns, something to suit your every need for content creation. And don’t forget to check out the List View: click the icon a few spots to the right of the plus icon and you’ll get a tidy, easy-to-view list of the blocks and patterns in your post.

  • Beyond the Obstacle

    Beyond the Obstacle

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  • Growth Unlocked

    Growth Unlocked

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  • Collaboration Magic

    Collaboration Magic

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  • Teamwork Triumphs

    Teamwork Triumphs

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  • Adaptive Advantage

    Adaptive Advantage

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