Pudding Fan?
What’s the story of your favorite dessert?…the proof is in the pudding.
Is there anything better than eating a scrumptious meal and knowing at the end of the meal there is a delicious pudding waiting for you for dessert? Many people may argue over what is the best type of pudding, but one thing is undeniable, it is a fantastic dessert. Let’s take a tasting tour of the history of pudding and explore some of the fantastic types of pudding that we enjoy today.
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, pudding is “a dessert of a soft, spongy, or thick creamy consistency especially : one made from sweetened milk or cream cooked with a thickener (such as eggs, flour, tapioca, or cornstarch) and usually flavored.” It is a dessert which has happily graced many dinner tables.
The history of pudding goes back throughout history as it has long been a yummy snack. The pudding that we enjoy today is more closely related to custard than the term pudding which has been known since time began. Traditionally, pudding contained meat and it has only been within the last two centuries or so that it began to be boiled and come out more like the product that we know today. Custard comes from the use of eggs as a binding agent and that knowledge harks all the way back to the ancient Romans, although the concept of custard was most likely not begun until the Middle Ages. Today the most adaptable of all custard desserts is flan which is widely used worldwide. Eventually, in the 1840’s in America, people began to have enough to eat and were able to experiment with using custard powder rather than eggs and custard/pudding became more widely eaten.
Bread pudding became a way to use up stale bread without having to throw it out. Traditionally, stale bread had been used to hold soup, in stuffing, and other purposes and all that was needed to make it a delicious treat was to use bread in this way and it quite often was used in desserts previously in the form of bread crumbs. The bread can be substituted for a variety of other forms such as cake as tastes necessitate and all it takes is the addition of butter to make a great dessert.
Rice pudding most likely began either in Persia or the Middle East, although it is possible that it was brought by the Mongols. It is a cold, milky dessert that can be made with rice or cornflower and is often given its flavor by rosewater or ground cardamom. Just as rice was initially grown for its medicinal purposes instead of simply for eating, rice pudding was initially used to help solve stomach ailments although now it is an appetizing treat.
Tapioca pudding comes from the cassava plant which was initially from Brazil but now is primarily produced in Africa and Asia. Many people enjoy eating it and find it to be healthy because its starch is easy to digest and was initially created as food for the young and the old. In some areas of the world such as Brazil tapioca is used to make wraps while in many others it makes a mouthwatering snack of pudding.
Hasty pudding, also well-known as the name of a Harvard theater group, is any type of pudding that can be quickly made in a jiff as needed. Traditionally it comprises boiled milk and flour and can be made quickly and often encompasses ham as well. Oats could be included as well and it is the olden day version of our fast food meals today.
Many people today have grown up with pudding throughout their life, but few know what it actually is, much less where it comes from. Some have openly speculated that they worry that pudding may be made from fish eggs, slime, or even worse in their minds, fish eyes, it is simply not the case. Whether it is made from bread, cassava, tapioca, or a mix of milk and flower pudding is a tasty snack that is valuable both to help our stomachs medically and to help fill them physically. It is hard to think of a dessert that could be more helpful than that.
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