This UK Christmas treat would make an American cry (me included)

there is a beloved British Christmas tree that would simply make an American cry hi everyone it's me for those of you who don't know me my name is Alena and I'm a Canadian but I have been living here in the UK for the last 8 years now can you guess what British Christmas tree we are talking about of course it's Christmas pudding I have tried 48 years to like Christmas pudding I've tried fancy ones I've tried cheap ones I've tried Supermarket ones I've tried homemade ones and I just can't but I've really tried and to be fair I don't think many Americans or Canadians will ever like Christmas pudding so why can something that is so loved here in the UK be absolutely loathed by North Americans let's find out so without further Ado let's go for any Americans watching you might not actually know what Christmas pudding is in which case I envy you you may have heard it in We Wish You a Merry Christmas which has a whole two verses demanding figgy pudding as with many things in the UK and this is something that I love Christmas pudding has very old Origins so even though I would rather stand in front of a moving vehicle than eat Christmas pudding I do appreciate that it is historical and people are still eating it leave a comment down below do you like Christmas pudding now I wrote this down get ready for a history lesson I bet you didn't know this I hope you didn't know this I hope somebody watching this didn't know this Christmas pudding has its roots in medieval England but it was not a sweet dessert it was actually more of a meat dish so they would have sausages fat spices fruits all mixed together with grains and vegetables and packed into guess what animal stomachs and intestines Merry Christmas now this was actually very strategic because with the mixed fruit and storing it storing it's not the right word like building it that's not the right word creating this pudding in the animal stomach or in the intestine meant that it was preserved the first records of Plum puddings dates to the early 15th century when Plum pontage a savory conco auction was served at the start of the meal did you know that this dish had origins in animal stomachs I love it now the term plum in Plum pottage is not actually for plums per se but it was basically like any dried fruit that was available so we're typically talking about like raisins and currants delicious maybe some prunes if those were around and then by the 16th century dried fruit fruit was just easier to come by it was more accessible so this little pudding this little pottage made the switch from Savory to Sweet all thanks to a interesting advention pudding cloth now the development of this fancy little cloth meant that you could make a pudding any pudding Christmas pudding or literally anything else of any size without having to use animal products so you could use this flowered cloth to make whatever you like without relying on animal products animal stomachs animal intestines Thank God now when I was reading about this stuff I thought okay cool we've got this Plum pottage which to be honest doesn't really sound christmy so how do we get from that to Christmas pudding so we know it starts off Savory and usually would have it like before a meal or as like the beginning part of a meal it slowly makes a shift to more of a fruit based thing and then of course we get that cloth the what do you call it the pudding cloth so so far 16th century We've Ended up with a fruit-based pudding created in a cloth but how is that Christmas are you ready for another little history lesson did you know this I hope not I hope somebody out there didn't know this when Oliver Cromwell came to power in 1647 he banned plum pottage along with Ule logs carol singing and nativity scenes if only he could have banned Mariah cares All I Want For Christmas Is You Now this didn't actually last all that long some 13 years later the Puritans were deposed Christmas pudding along with the English Monarchy was restored but next up we need to talk about the victorians cuz as with almost any British thing that I have researched on this channel always winds up with with the victorians today's video is sponsored by skillshare which actually helped me make this video skillshare is the largest online learning community which can help you develop your passion or even start your own business skillshare classes are led by industry professionals so they actually know what they're talking about in a variety of different topics we've got marketing we've got design we've got art photography music entrepreneural ship I can't say that word there's so much cool stuff and skillshare has offered the adventures and apps audience an exclusive deal so the first 500 people who click my link in the video description are going to get a month free trial of skillshare so I mentioned that skillshare actually helps me create this video so I've actually been following along with the notion for YouTube creators class I use notion for organizing my content but where I'm doing more and more like like research topics I'm still kind of learning how best to organize that information so I can actually make a coherent video so this class has been super interesting and extremely helpful how I can update and build my notion to help me make these types of videos and because it's on demand I can watch it whenever I have time so it can fit around my schedule a big thank you to skillshare for sponsoring this video don't forget to use my link in the description the first 500 people are going to get a month free of skill share and I hope you can learn something new anyway let's get back to my video now the standard form of Christmas pudding started taking shape around the Victorian era so this is something that is very similar to what British people are eating today so we're talking after like 1837 is but a lot of journalists and political leaders and novelists Charles Dickens I'm looking at you started putting forth this idea of like a familyfriendly Christmas and it included this Christmas pudding and in 1845 cooker writer Elsa Acton is that right wrote the first recipe for a dish actually called Christmas pudding now I'm not religious and some of these words kind of go over my head but um as I was researching this this little tidbit comes up I hope it makes sense but bear with me throughout England family started celebrating the last Sunday before Advent does that make sense and in the book of common prayers liturgy does that make sense liturgy there includes a prayer that begins stir up we beseech thee O Lord the wills of thy faithful people as the last Sunday B four Aven is stir up Sunday in which family members take turns stirring the Christmas pudding to be it was then wrapped and boiled and left to mature for Christmas day who doesn't love taking turns stirring a pudding now around this time another tradition took place and you may still do something similar in your family which I found very interesting because I didn't realize it was this old because this Begins the tradition of putting money into the Christmas pudding a silver six P was placed into the pudding mixture and then every member of the household gave the stir a mix whoever found the six pth in their own piece of the pudding on Christmas Day would see it as a sign that they would enjoy wealth and good luck in the year to come now I know that is an old tradition and I don't know how many people have a silver 6 P just hanging around but I do know a lot of families who still put some type of coin in their pudding I guess as long as you don't swallow it do you leave money in your Christmas pudding leave a comment down below now what about pudding today so we are not in Victoria era Britain surprise I don't know if that's surprising or not so what does Christmas pudding actually look like today by the 19th century the ingredients are pretty much standard so we're talking about SE brown sugar raisins and currants candied orange peel eggs breadcrumbs nutmeg cloves all spice and plenty of alcohol some British people don't even use the cloth if they're making their own cuz you can get like little molds I don't know if you guys have that or used them before you know like the little molds and you can just use that instead of having to deal with a cloth and I know for many Americans it's going to be really hard to understand what a Christmas pudding truly is you've got the history you've got the general like ingredient list but what is it if you can't taste it so I'm going to do that for you and to be honest I'm kind of regretting it all already so I bought this adorable serves one Christmas pudding Tesco's finest um Tesco in any Supermarket will have loads of variety typically and it's usually like Signs so there was one that served like eight there was also just like a regular tusco one that was kind of in between and then we had these tiny they're very cute even though I know I absolutely hate them these tiny little 12 month Christmas pudding serves one adorable now I do just have to say when I talk to British people about Christmas pudding and I say how much I despise it a lot of them say you're not eating it right because you're supposed to drown it in custard now I would argue that if you have to drown something in custard to make it taste good perhaps the base thing is not very good do you know what I'm saying anyway here we are so let's just do it shall we for Americans watching and any Canadians who've never heard of this the instructions are to microwave it or you could actually steam it for 30 minutes I'm not steaming it we're going to pop this bad boy in the microwave technology leave in plastic Basin and Pierce film lid several times heat on full power for 40 seconds that's it at the very least can you give this video a like I'm literally subjecting myself to something that is like the worst part of Christmas for entertainment value please for the love of God I beg you all right we got to oh I can smell it we got to peel the top off and then we flip FP it out and we're going to eat it Americans watching can you see that it just looks like a brown hole of Despair this is what they eat here okay mine came out in pieces probably cuz I didn't let it like solidify long enough but I really just kind of want to get this over with so let's do it okay so looking at it um mine did fall apart you can see lots of little bits in it loads of like raisins and and stuff which is just not something that is enjoyed by the North American palette I think we should have some first before we drench it in the name of science I've just broken out into a cold sweat cheers wow that's offensive so back to my original statement and perhaps the title of this video I'm not actually sure what I'm going to title it yet Americans will not and I don't think would ever accept this as anything other than offensive there's a joke I kid you not there's a joke in North America is if you really don't like someone give them a fruit cake and if you receive a fruit cake you should be really offended I'm sure Christmas pudding can be found in North America especially if you have like British Heritage maybe you got British parents or something I'm sure you could Source one but for the vast majority Americans do not eat this would not want to eat this and I agree there's so many other dishes and desserts sorry I think I'm allergic there's so many other desserts that are just nicer cake chocolate cookies pie ice cream anything except dried spiced fruit cheers oh brings a tear to your eye here's my little hypothesis when I've spoken to British people about Christmas pudding a lot of people who say that they like it like it drenched in custard which I've spoke about that earlier or they like it because it's a tradition so perhaps every Christmas your mom would make a Christmas pudding or you'd get a really big S spre 12 Monon Christmas pudding and you'd all sit down and you would have that together I'm just realizing right now I didn't set it on fire that would have been really good for this video just use your imagination back to my hypothesis I think a lot of British people like this because it is a tradition not because it is an objectively good food but because it means something to you so because you have that emotional connection even if maybe like the taste isn't perhaps your favorite it has a real meaning to you and to your family for me for other Canadians for other Americans this is we it just I don't get it because I don't have that emotional connection so all I can do is try it look at it taste it and realize that I don't like it in terms of like taste for Americans who've never had this the Little Instruction or the description on the back it's a Christmas pudding made with Vine fruits glaze cherries cider Brandy cherry and conac but for me the texture is just r raisins like you know when you bite into a raisin like a wet kind of that's all I get and I I'm broken out into a cold sweat it's kind of like it's a spiced little bit alcoholic kind of tasting raisin that's what it is for me but I don't have that emotional connection I don't have that tradition I don't have that family connection with a Christmas pudding so what have we learned today um something I hope if you have never had a Christmas pudding and you've made it this far in the video thank you so much I really hope you can try and find one and taste it if you're in North America I want to say that like British shops would stock something like this around Christmas New Year maybe like a specialty store perhaps or if you're feeling absolutely adventurous you can make one but for me there are so many wonderful things about the UK so many great foods and drinks and things to taste test and a Christmas pudding is not one of them if you would like to watch more content which will be totally awesome why not check out this one I share how my Christmas is different in Canada versus the UK but specifically I share very embarrassing story about Christmas pudding as always thank you guys so much for watching I hope you had a wonderful Christmas New Year I hope you're doing great I hope you're happy and full of something tasty maybe it's Christmas pudding maybe it's not um but as always thank you so much for watching until next time bye

Channel: Adventures and Naps

Views: 30,884

Keywords: adventures and naps, christmas pudding, usa vs uk, uk vs usa, uk vs usa christmas, history of christmas pudding, why americans hate christmas pudding, british christmas desserts, traditional christmas pudding, uk vs us, british vs american, christmas pudding recipe, england versus america, family christmas traditions, british christmas traditions, british christmas, christmas in england, uk christmas traditions, canadian living in england, immigrant in england

Id: 9MJIAbEgYr8

Length: 17min 33sec (1053 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 26 2023