"puddings" news and stories

Lo these many years ago, a UK-born boss of mine attempted to wheedle me into swifter production by offering me a small mincemeat pie if I finished a pressing task by 4 p.m. I begged to be allowed to take only half if I knocked it out by 3, and remain fully un-minced if I had everything squared away by 2.

In theory, I should love traditional mincemeat. I'm a huge fan of a meat 'n sweet one-two punch -- especially when there's cookin' booze involved -- but I've never been able to wrap my head around the flavor of suet. It's the hard fat from around the loins and kidneys of sheep and cows, isn't especially full and meaty like lard, and is possessed of a particularly high melting point, making it the perfect base fat for many classic British steamed puddings. It seems to be the definitive flavoring agent in all the mincemeat I've had, but I've not been able to convince myself to care for it. I tend to be a stickler when it comes to ingredient lists for traditional dishes from my vintage cookbooks, but I'm wondering if there's a fat I can sub in that would render a texture that would cleave closely to the original. Most suet-centric recipes I've come across warn that the use of butter, margarine, lard, shortening et al leaves the whole dish overly greasy and flat, but if any of y'all have met with a successful swap, I'm all ears. There may even be a bit of Spotted Dick in it for you.

Other Cooking and Traveling the Cape Cod Way highlights include Forefather's Day Succotash (look for that recipe on December 21st), Beach Plum Jelly, Irish Moss Pudding, Scootin'-Long-The-Shore, Skully Joe and a wicked lot of mouthwatering Portuguese cookery. I'm more than happy to share if there's any interest.

Did you know that England has a national saint? We probably planted a flag and nicked him from someone else but what the heck, good ol' St George. Sadly, unlike the Scots and the Welsh, the English tend not to celebrate their national patron. But not in the food blog world, oh no!

This year Sam of Becks and Posh (an English woman abroad) and cheeky scampster Monkey Gland of Jam Faced (an Englishman who has been abroad, but is now back) have created the first What's For Pud? event. Bring out your spotted dicks, swirl the cream over the trifle or whisk together a tub of custard to smoother the crumble as it is puds all the way this weekend. If you have a blog you can write your own post and join in the fun. Otherwise check their websites for the recipe links.

Remember though this is England we are talking about. Nothing Scottish, nothing Welsh or Irish thankyou.