Stirring up the past
The Age
Tuesday December 1, 2009
There€™s the suet to be ordered from local Brunswick butchers Nino€™s and Joe€™s, fruit from nearby wholesaler NSM, and extra pudding basins to acquire. After all the ingredients have been collected, it requires €˜€˜two days of solid effort€™€™, says Coyle.For the past 10 years, every Melbourne Cup weekend has been devoted to the task; cooking traditionally starts on Friday night and the puddings steam throughout Saturday and Sunday. All weekend the house is filled with the aroma of fruit, allspice and cinnamon.Friends and family will each receive a pudding in a bowl, and they love it; even if he wanted to, Coyle doesn€™t think he€™d be allowed to get away with not making them.€˜€˜One friend makes a point of catching up with me for lunch around this time each year, just to make sure I know she wants a pudding,€™€™ he says.It€™s no wonder Coyle€™s friends make a point of staying on the list.His pudding is dark, dense and delicious. With a melting taste and texture that Coyle attributes to suet, the pudding is glossy, aromatic and richly textured with chopped almonds, chunks of glace ginger, dried figs, apricots and dried vine fruits. Spices and brandy make for a heady and intoxicating aroma.Based on his mother€™s recipe, and even with his own variations, Coyle€™s pudding still has a strong connection to the origins of Christmas, or plum, puddings, as they€™re also known €” a dish that can be traced to the 15th century.In the Oxford Companion to Food, Alan Davidson writes that the first puddings were not associated with Christmas. €˜€˜Like early mince pies, they contained meat, of which a token remains in the use of suet. The original form, plum pottage, was made from chopped beef or mutton, onions and perhaps other root vegetables, and dried fruit.€™€™ Later, in the 16th century, white meat replaced red meat, until it too was left out; €˜€˜plum€™€™ came to mean any dried fruit; and vegetables also gradually disappeared (although you can still find recipes today that include a token carrot). By the 1670s, the plum pottage had become firmly associated with Christmas and by the 19th century had morphed into the pudding we now eat on Christmas Day.Other historians suggest the link to Christmas started with a decree by the medieval Catholic Church that €˜€˜pudding should be made on the 25th Sunday after Trinity, that it be prepared with 13 ingredients to represent Christ and the 12 apostles, and that every family member stir it in turn from east to west to honour the Magi and their supposed journey in that direction€™€™.Even without the religious connotations, stirring the pudding also became associated with good luck, and some families still close their eyes and make a wish while taking a turn. And in some parts of England, Stir-up Day €” the Sunday before the beginning of Advent €” is still associated with pudding-making.Now most pudding aficionados like their puddings to have at least six weeks€™ sitting time; some even leave their pudding for a year. Others are less strict about timing.Dried fruit, spices, alcohol and suet are still the main ingredients of a traditional pudding, but most commercial puddings swap suet for butter. Not only does it mean vegetarians can eat it, but the word suet has developed negative connotations €” many people just don€™t like the sound of it.Maybe it€™s because suet is no ordinary animal fat. The fat that protects an animal€™s kidneys, beef suet is hard and granular and needs to be grated or finely chopped before it can be used in recipes. It doesn€™t sound or look very attractive, but its high melting point makes it ideal for puddings and pastry, so it€™s not surprising that chefs are among suet€™s greatest fans.Stephanie Alexander wouldn€™t make her pudding without it. Using her grandmother Emily Bell€™s recipe (you can find it in The Cook€™s Companion €” page 338 of the first edition, page 396 of the second), Alexander describes her pudding as €˜€˜very shiny, very moist, very sticky and with a gorgeous texture. It€™s less rich to taste than puddings made with loads of butter. And lots of people love it without knowing it has suet in it,€™€™ she says wickedly.Maggie Beer, whose Barossa Christmas pudding is one of the best commercially made puddings available, still thinks fondly of her Aunt Rita€™s rum-laden Christmas pudding, which was eaten by the family each Christmas until Rita died in 1997.€˜€˜After she died I made it, but it just wasn€™t the same, so I set about making my own version of pudding instead. I now use all the sour things I love, like lemons and cumquats.I use Australian dried fruits and it€™s a labour of love just to buy the ingredients.€™€™ Although the Christmas pudding of her childhood was made with suet, Maggie€™s Barossa Christmas pudding recipe uses butter instead €” the only move she€™s made away from a traditional Christmas pudding. €˜€˜With the amount of puddings we make, it€™s too difficult to manage with suet.€™€™ Beryl Smith, 95, wouldn€™t dream of using suet in her pudding either.€˜€˜I don€™t like it,€™€™ she says firmly. €˜€˜It€™s the one thing I€™ve changed from the original recipe.€™€™ Using a recipe taken from an Australian Dried Fruit Association booklet, Beryl€™s recipe, known as €˜€˜Nanny€™s Christmas pudding€™€™ by the family, has been adapted through the years. When granddaughter Anita Punton, now 39, was diagnosed with a nut allergy, almonds were removed. Over the years carrot, Guinness and bread soaked in milk have become key ingredients and the original suet was quickly replaced with butter creamed with a mix of brown and white sugar.Making the pudding is now a four-generational Christmas tradition. Beryl, very much in charge of the proceedings, directs her two daughters, Gay Punton, 67, and Eleanor Woodforth, 70, and granddaughter Anita. Anita€™s four-year- old twins James and Griff and two-year-old Sylvie are less willing to take instruction, but are keen to help with measuring, stirring and tasting.Adding a small collection of old silver coins to the pudding mix (which will be rediscovered with delight on Christmas Day) is a job that€™s also taken seriously by all three children.It€™s a little chaotic and Beryl declares: €˜€˜It was never like this in my kitchen.€™€™ Traditionally, the first week of Advent is the time to make the pudding. But Melbourne Cup weekend is now a key element of Coyle€™s pudding-making ritual, while Anita Punton€™s family doesn€™t have a fixed date. €˜€˜Last year I made it late in December and it tasted exactly the same to me. In fact, it€™s such a rich pudding that I can€™t imagine it being any richer even if I made it months in advance,€™€™ she says.Pudding-making is a deeply traditional, family-oriented activity that it€™s no wonder most people are adamant about details such as the ingredients it includes, how it must be served, when it should be made and what should be eaten with it.Maggie Beer outlaws glace cherries, while Beryl Smith€™s family wouldn€™t have a pudding without them. Stephanie Alexander prefers a pudding made in a bowl (€˜€˜cloth puddings have a leathery skin€™€™), Coyle likes his pudding only with cream and ice-cream.€˜€˜You get very attached to your own recipe,€™€™ says Alexander. €˜€˜It€™s all about maintaining traditions.€™€™ See Michael Coyle€™s pudding recipe online at www.theage.com.au/ entertainment.Buying yours? Consider these...Maggie Beer Barossa Christmas Pudding Maggie Beer uses local dried fruit (of course), including chunks of glace orange peel, plus lemon juice for a lovely burst of citrus flavour. Dense but not stodgy, with excellent texture; port adds richness and an inviting gloss.$12.95 for 220g, $43.95 for 900g.See maggiebeer.com.au for a list of stockists or to buy online.Luke Mangan Mum€™s Recipe Christmas Pudding A pudding rich with fruit (including apples and apricots), the crunch of almonds, prunes, carrot and a good dash of stout and brandy, Luke Mangan€™s mum€™s pudding is dark, glossy, rich and wonderfully textured.Comes with its own cute pudding bowl.$34.95 for 500g at David Jones and Leo€™s Fine Food and Wine.Stephen€™s Fine Foods Traditional Rich Christmas Pudding A very simple pudding dominated by vine fruits. You won€™t find nuts, glace cherries, dates or prunes in the ingredients, making it ideal for the family with finicky tastes. A slightly crumbly texture may not be traditional, but soaks up custard, cream or ice-cream beautifully.$7.80 for 100g, ranging in size up to $74.25 for 2kg from The Essential Ingredient.Linden€™s Plum Puddings A lovely pudding, fragrant with spices and rich with butter and eggs.Healesville-based Linden Danks uses plump sultanas, currants, raisins and dates in this simple home-style pudding.$15 for 400g pudding, $25 for 1kg pudding. Available at Yarra Valley, Hurstbridge and Bulleen farmers€™ markets. See lindenskitchen.com for stockists.Lafayette Fine Foods Christmas Pudding (below) Some Christmas puddings are so rich and heavy they require a lie-down accompanied by gentle groaning immediately after eating. Not so Lafayette Fine Foods€™ version. Made to an Irish recipe, including a dash of brandy and stout, this pudding uses an aromatic but not dominant spice mix and a good balance of fruit in a golden-brown crumb. A subtle flavour and a light batter mean you may even be able to go back for seconds.$39.95 for a 900g pudding at Lafayette Fine Foods, 355 New Street, Brighton, 9596 1867.
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