What's everyone's favorite part of Christmas? Mine is definitely the music, which is probably why this is my favorite episode yet! Don't forget to use the code ‘TASTINGHISTORY’ at curiositystream.com/tastinghistory
@TheLoneDragoon3 жыл бұрын
Yes, I do that too (smell books old and new), I have a large collection of them. Great smell.
@stevenrose98183 жыл бұрын
You should look into what evil baker came up with fruit cake!!Or at least mixed it in with Christmas.Also love your videos I share them with my mom in hopes she'll make some for me.
@FelixWheatfield3 жыл бұрын
I must admit I also love Christmas music DESPITE having worked in retail for a while. I blame it on the fact that I'm also a music major, ha
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
@@stevenrose9818 Good fruit cake is actually wonderful. Sadly, most of them are not good.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
@@FelixWheatfield Me too! When I worked at The Sharper Image, we had 1 CD that played on repeat.
@glitchperson3 жыл бұрын
Strong suspicion that Christmas is so associated with warmth because everyone was absolutely hammered
@DragonTigerBoss3 жыл бұрын
Oh... Santa's rosy cheeks aren't from the cold after all.
@mortisCZ3 жыл бұрын
At least parts of my family keep this tradition alive. :-D And how merry they are.
@insoserious3 жыл бұрын
@@DragonTigerBoss neither was rudolph's red nose lol. a bunch of drunk drivers, they were!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
And that’s okay 🤣
@violetskies143 жыл бұрын
Was? My Christmas cake full of brandy and all the other alcohol I'll be drinking this Christmas would like to contend most of us still are hammered on Christmas. At least in Britain we are.
@antonk.27482 жыл бұрын
I have actually eaten a 46 year old christmas pudding once. A family found it in their granny's house (it was apparently dated 1969) and brought it to the University where I worked to have it microbiologically tested and I got to try some. It was a bit dry but other than that pretty decent. The family also said not to microwave it cause their might be a silver sixpence in it ;)
@prapanthebachelorette680310 ай бұрын
I’m curious about the microbiology test results 😂😂😂
@ruthanneluvsvacuuming66538 ай бұрын
I was born October 4 1969
@expl0sive296Ай бұрын
my gran used to make a christmas cake every year for each of her childrens family, (lots of aunts and uncles in my family) she would start them in january and feed them brandy all year then gift them on christmas, best fruit cake ive ever eaten and iove never been able to re create it. there was nothing like a slice of that cake with a chunk of aged mature cheddar (yes im from yorkshire) i managed to keep a morrisons bought christmas cake going by feeding it for 4 years as an experiment but it only lasted 4 years because i took a quarter each year.
@valor101ariseАй бұрын
What an experience ❤
@jmcdhome3 жыл бұрын
I suspect that the "smell of laundry" was more like cooking meat than like Downy. Laundry soaps for the peasantry was made from beef tallow.
@EMSpdx3 жыл бұрын
Once you filter tallow and add the salts to make salts, you get a very mild and persistent oily scent- not like a griddle, but pretty close! It would have been seen as pleasant because up until 1870s or so soap, even homemade soap, was highly taxed.
@richardlane26513 жыл бұрын
Or the smell could have been from the pudding being boiled in the copper, which was the huge copper vessel used to boil laundry in.
@MyLifeInWonderland3 жыл бұрын
could be this, though more likely it has to do with the vessel it was cooked in (the smell and laundry does in the quote have to do with the cloth) as it was common to boil the pud in the copper. The copper referring to the big drum kettle in the laundry :)
@lisakilmer26673 жыл бұрын
@James McDonald -- that's interesting! Explains the scent better than just the cloth.
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
All of the above, I would imagine - tallow, boiling water, the copper kettle and the smell of hot boiled cloth and whatever wooden implement was used to fish it out with (taking the place of a wooden laundry stirrer).
@AndrewVelonis Жыл бұрын
My mother used to make plum pudding. Being a child, I took no interest in how it was made or what went into it, but after Christmas dinner, she would carry it into the dining room with the lights dimmed, blue flames dancing all around it. After a minute or two, the brandy burned off and the pudding would be served with "hard sauce" which was white and quite firm. I knew that she considered it to be very special, but having a child's taste, I didn't like it all that much. Looking back, I wish I had appreciated it more.
@jrmckim Жыл бұрын
I wonder if the flaming puddings to celebrate Jesus Christ's bday are the reason for candles on bday cakes 🤔
@katherinewilson1853 Жыл бұрын
My step-mother made plum pudding, I didn't like it much then either.
@nowandaround312 Жыл бұрын
@@jrmckim No it's not 🤣
@Wkmor Жыл бұрын
I would have thought hard sauce might mean it was alcoholic. We were a teetotal family who enjoyed either a “white” custard sauce or a “brown” brown sugar sauce. I loved both.
@hazelhatswell42687 ай бұрын
Delicious!!!!! In Scotland we have Clootie Dumpling ❤️ and my grandmother always made one for my birthday (Dec) and she’d dry its flour coating off by placing it in front of the fire! Not only scrumptious as it is or with custard but can also be sliced in the following days (if there’s any left!) and fried in bacon fat! Delicious 👍
@mrsary78683 жыл бұрын
You've probably noticed by now that the one constant in the entire history of Britain is alcohol
@kieranb19953 жыл бұрын
it's true we're a nation of pissheads
@ericcurtis89343 жыл бұрын
Is that why they're all so stiff? They're all blitzed?
@Lionstar163 жыл бұрын
As a Brit I can confirm that from our introduction of hops to our ale to make strong beer to the gin craze of the 18th century, yes we really REALLY love alcohol :)
@snazzypazzy3 жыл бұрын
Alcohol and tea.
@liquidcocaine003 жыл бұрын
Got love them brits...always sauced
@kikicogger22843 жыл бұрын
I'm sorry, whenever I hear the line "should be buried with a stake of holly through his heart" all I can think of is that is a great way to prevent Christmas vampires.
@jayhom53853 жыл бұрын
I've never seen it as the title sounded so bad, but I thought of "Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter." reading this.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣
@scaper83 жыл бұрын
That is a story that needs to exist!
@scaper83 жыл бұрын
@@jayhom5385 Give the book a read. The movie is silly fun, but the book is great because the author took great pains to ensure that Lincoln and everyone else from history were in places at times that they were. He set out to treat the work as if it were our own history, this is just the parts we never knew about. He very much succeeded.
@FRRobyn3 жыл бұрын
So is eggnog. Vampires hate eggnog.
@AtomicShrimp3 жыл бұрын
I just loved everything about this episode! For quite a few years, we observed Stir Up Sunday, making two puddings; one for the current year's Christmas, and one to be matured for 13 months and eaten the following year (they were very good). Every year we would increase the recipe by one more ingredient such as an additional type of dried or fresh fruit, until we got to a recipe that was absurdly long and would engage the whole family peeling carrots, chopping apples, dicing pears, etc. Also, I absolutely love that you want to revive archaic words like 'bedight' - I have been working tirelessly to revive the word 'nextly' (E.g: Firstly/nextly/furthermore...finally)
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Together, we will revive English as it is meant to be!
@barbarusbloodshed63473 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory as a German speaker I'd appreciate this. When reading old English dialects I always get the impression that they have much more of their "Germaness" left and that they're much more elegant than modern English.
@barbarusbloodshed63473 жыл бұрын
I actually use the word "nextly". At first I used it because I just didn't know any better, when starting out learning English I often just made assumptions what the English equivalent of a German word might be and then used this in my sentence. Someone then told me that "nextly is not a word" and I looked it up. Well, turned out it was a word after all :D Oh! And another good one is "overmorrow" for "the day after tomorrow"... which is pretty much exactly what we use in German: übermorgen.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
@@barbarusbloodshed6347 I didn’t know overmorrow but I like it! Just unique enough that people will think I’m pretentious without being so bad as to want to punch me. 🤣
@barbarusbloodshed63473 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory yeah, it was an actual word... kind of weird, that it is no longer in use as it is clearly useful. More useful than saying "the day after tomorrow" each time, at least. When my British friends and I use "overmorrow" we prentiously roll the Rs in it. And whatever the sentence in which you use it, you have to end it with "my good Sir" :D
@micheleheddane3804 Жыл бұрын
I’m from Ireland and still make my Christmas pudding in a cloth.I think the flavour is better than one made in a bowl. I remember my mothers anxiety when she un wrapped the pudding, would it crack, did it smell right and most important was the skin intact. She didn’t have a receipt and when she died it took many years to perfect it. Thanks for showing people this custom
@kimberlyterasaki4843 Жыл бұрын
Are you willing to share the recipe with random strangers? If not, any advice for using the cloth method?
@Nickelplate13 жыл бұрын
"Bedight" has a more modern relative that we might be more likely to know. "Bedecked" is the newer version. The CK and the GH were pronounced quite alike in English a long time ago. An even more modern alternative that comes from "bedecked" that almost anyone would know is "decked out."
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
I love etymology! Thank you
@AnnaWalch3 жыл бұрын
Bedecked sounds like the German "bedeckt", meaning covered, as the past form of bedecken = to cover
@hoathanatos61793 жыл бұрын
Well bedeck comes from Middle Dutch and entered into English in the 16th century by means of Dutch sailors influencing English nautical terminology while bedight originates in Old English and is cognate with the German Dichten - To compose poetry and Dichter - A poet. Both the English and German entered into Proto-Germanic from the Romans and the Latin verb Dictare - To dictate. Bedeck and bedight aren't related at all.
@hoathanatos61793 жыл бұрын
The Old English verb Dihtan was much closer to the Latin and German meanings of to dictate or compose but it also had the meaning of to ordain or to appoint and from that the idea of organizing and setting things in order. This in the medieval period saw an evolution of the word to mean to adorn, equip, clothe, prepare, and even evolved as slang of sex and murder oddly enough, like if you dighted a wench the other night in the time of Shakespeare it meant you gave her a good shagging.
@Tinky1rs3 жыл бұрын
@@hoathanatos6179 Mhmm. Bedekt and dichten in modern Dutch.
@GiselleMFeuillet3 жыл бұрын
The stomach of an animal... IT'S A CHRISTMAS HAGGIS!!!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Basically!
@clockworkkirlia74753 жыл бұрын
Any haggis can be a Christmas haggis if you're brave enough! Wonder if you could make it as a stuffing...
@mortisCZ3 жыл бұрын
I'm all for a Christmas haggis.:-)
@jmcdhome3 жыл бұрын
Not without sheep lung!
@juliebaker69693 жыл бұрын
@@jmcdhome it's not hard to get sheep lung. All you have to do is butcher your own sheep, then you can keep any bits you like. I like the heart personally, and my husband leans twords the liver.😉
@tonym98803 жыл бұрын
officer: how much have you had to drink tonight? victorian: just a slice of cake i swear!
@alisaurus42243 жыл бұрын
One of Agatha Christie’s Poirot stories involves everyone in the house taking a turn to stir the Christmas pudding and make a wish, and the symbolism of all the “choking hazards” one might find in their slice come Christmas! Plus a murder, but that’s how it goes when you invite Poirot absolutely anywhere…
@melissasalasblair5273 Жыл бұрын
I LOVE when author's, director's share details like that ❣️ I cry when I hear "cake", or whatever it is, and then I'm left w/ questions because of deets lacking lol
@kimn73599 ай бұрын
Her Poirot story "Halloween Party" includes the snapdragon game, and yes, it was a children's game.
@richardperea96688 ай бұрын
Several little known facts for you: 1, Poirot and murder seemed to always go together. Other guests started complaining about the murders, and became increasingly afraid of accepting weekend invitations when they knew Hercule would be there. That is why the lower-aristocracy stopped inviting him for country weekends. 2. The decline in invitations is when his case load lighted up [hmmm.] and he eventually had to retire, moving to Orlando to invest in real estate just prior to the Disney acquisitions. The rest is history; Poirot cashed out and used his capital gains to purchase a house in Ville Franche sur-Mer in the South of France. 3. He chose the property for two reasons: (a) the sea view, and (b) a wonderful bistro that served an excellent coq au vin. The excellent wine list, heavy on vintages from Provence, was an added incentive. Interestingly, perhaps, is that his purchase was from the estate, created when the prior owner died shortly after making Poirot's acquaintance a month earlier in Monte Carlo. The surete in Paris became involved [wonder why?!] but nothing came of their investigation.
@PandoraBear3578 ай бұрын
I thought that was a rare one where no one actually died. Just a jewel robbery.
@alisaurus42248 ай бұрын
@@PandoraBear357 SPOILER BELOW… … … … … … It was a fake murder double bluff. The young folks planned one of them to be found “dead” in the snow to fool Poirot, but he sussed it out and the fake victim and Poirot played it as if the fake murder had become real. You are correct that nobody actually died
@BadSkeelz3 жыл бұрын
"Her sauces are liquidy because there's a LOT of alcohol in them..." Guess that explains the etymology behind being "sauced."
@DarkPsychoMessiah3 жыл бұрын
And hitting the sauce
@nenagravil3 жыл бұрын
Back on the sauce.
@smvuy3 жыл бұрын
And saucy; the dictionary explains it really well
@heru-deshet3593 жыл бұрын
Or saucy wench.
@MattCoversTech3 жыл бұрын
12:30 FYI the reason it smelled like laundry, according to the Charles Dickens Museum, was because Mrs. Cratchet was poor and would not have had a separate pot to use for cooking, so she used her laundry copper. The story also mentions the cloth, as you said. Also, Mrs. Cratchet did not have an oven (because poor people wouldn’t have such a luxury), hence the goose was off to the baker’s to cook.
@KelseyDrummer2 жыл бұрын
Ooh makes sense! Thanks for your comment I was wondering!
@visi98562 жыл бұрын
Wasn't a pudding almost always made in laundry copper? Cuz nobody had cooking pots big enough to fit in a pudding.
@avelineventer2482 Жыл бұрын
Um…. Alcohol was often used for stain removal 😅, so laundress’s (women who did laundry) would often have that smell on them. Generally it was cheap spirits and they had a reputation of being big drinkers as a result. This might be a reference to that thinking at the time. Kind of like how blonde jokes are funny because you already know the blonde is supposed to be stupid. 😊
@emmalarson07 Жыл бұрын
@@avelineventer2482 Bernadette Banner has a great video on the process of doing laundry for a Victorian. Gasoline is involved. Things were crazy back in those times.
@mary-janereallynotsarah684 Жыл бұрын
Gross. Like cooking with a wash basin.
@PunkyPink853 жыл бұрын
I bet the lady who made this recipe could never imagine that 200 years later, a guy would be sharing it with the world all over again. Food really does humanize the past. Thank you for your amazing work.
@michaeldougherty83442 жыл бұрын
Excellent statement
@yamiatemyugi2 жыл бұрын
The look on max’s face when he “now let light it on fire” is hilarious and has me laughing everytime
@wug8763 жыл бұрын
So funny to see this as 'history' when modern British Christmas pudding is relatively unchanged and still as beloved! Christmas is just an excuse to eat your brandy, after all.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Ha! So true.
@BasedPhilosophyMom3 жыл бұрын
We're in America, everything is 'historic' to us 😂😂😂
@AYoutubeAccountName3 жыл бұрын
I genuinely thought Christmas pudding was just a thing almost everywhere
@JessRushworth3 жыл бұрын
don't forget the brandy cream on top!
@lynnjones46093 жыл бұрын
I wonder how many people make one these days though, as opposed to buying one from the supermarket. Also, I remember my mother steaming the pudding for about two hours on Christmas Day when I was a child but I reckon most people probably reheat it in a microwave now.
@ABackwaterPrincess3 жыл бұрын
"that's alcoholic!" Welcome to Christmas in the UK, Max! You'd love it, I think.
@brolohalflemming70423 жыл бұрын
A proper Christmas pudding should be capable of being fired by cannon, ship to ship, or ship to shore, in one piece and still alight. The alcohol flames can simply be extinguished by the addition of eaither a dessert wine, custard, brandy cream. It is traditional to test if the flames have been extinguised by adding more brandy. Real holly should always be used for decoration, and coins or charms included. This is all part of the Britsh tradition (along with boarding schools) of teaching British children survival skills that will serve them well in later life, should they survive into adulthood.
@flameendcyborgguy8833 жыл бұрын
Not only UK... It is preaty much the same on the continent( Europe)... Chears from Poland!
@doomslayer22903 жыл бұрын
Honestly I think it is a world wide thing. Even us Americans have plenty of alcoholic traditions in our Christmas traditions though usually in houses that don't have kids in it.
@StormShadowHarris3 жыл бұрын
@@doomslayer2290 "Though usually in houses that don't have kids in it" Cowards.
@thomasbarca92973 жыл бұрын
Same in Australia and New Zealand my mum used to say they use to find a penny in the pud
@lawilson19803 жыл бұрын
My 8 year old was asking me what figgy pudding was. As an American, I had no clue. One quick search and we were binge watching a bunch of your vids after finding this one. He is now a huge fan, as am I. Thank you for being informative, entertaining, and educational.
@grendelgrendelsson549311 ай бұрын
Are Christmas puds not available in America at all? If they're not, it's a sad state of affairs! Christmas pud with brandy butter or custard or double cream is a culinary delight which should not be denied our American chums!
@hazeltade367910 ай бұрын
@@grendelgrendelsson5493I’m sure there’s some sold but as an American I haven’t seen any available
@Nikki_the_G9 ай бұрын
@@grendelgrendelsson5493 Only from specialty stores, it's just not part of christmas tradition for most of us, and for those who it is, they make it themselves.
@tessalowes34983 жыл бұрын
My mom included grated carrot in the pudding with the dried fruit and apples. Instead of brandy sauce, she made a caramel sauce. It was served warm, sometimes with whipped cream and/or vanilla ice cream. So delicious!
@Cowgirlcadet3 жыл бұрын
"Now let's light this thing on fire!" He looked entirely too enthusiastic about that.
@uptoolate27933 жыл бұрын
I noticed that too. None the less a very good look for him.
@lillythepone29943 жыл бұрын
Wait, it’s not normal to be excited to light shit on fire?
@StonedtotheBones133 жыл бұрын
@@lillythepone2994 My first thought too. "Wouldn't you be?"
@hermeticbear3 жыл бұрын
me: I want to eat sweets and get drunk Them: *brings out pudding liberally doused in brandy* me: perfection
@kramermariav3 жыл бұрын
Efficient
@rafaeldavid323 жыл бұрын
Pretty much similar and sounds like fruit cake, it taste very good. Would recommend trying one.
@seanminer81833 жыл бұрын
Also throws a bone to those who like to play with fire.
@SvenTviking3 жыл бұрын
You put brandy or rum butter in it as well, which is booze beaten in with butter and icing sugar to make a thick, sweet boozy paste that melts on the warm pud and mixes with the cream. 🤤
@Ablorktoremember3 жыл бұрын
I used 'bedight' in my D&D game this week and found out that two of my players also watch Max.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Boom! Love this!
@rdr62692 жыл бұрын
You're wrong about Scrooge. He's had a total change of heart! He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world! I'm sure he loves this video!
@cristiaolson73273 жыл бұрын
So, I just realized I own that book! My mom gave me a couple "really old cookbooks" that she found at a thrift shop because she knows I enjoy cooking, and I had been excited to see one from the 1800's (clearly no one at Goodwill realized what it was). It's been on a shelf in my kitchen for the last 3 years, but I kind of want to try some of the recipes now.
@lisahinton9682 Жыл бұрын
@Cristia Olson Be careful storing it in the kitchen, where airborne grease and steam will slowly damage the book. Just a friendly suggestion!
@maddieb.4282 Жыл бұрын
If it’s an original it might be worth something! Could go bring it into a used bookseller’s to get appraised
@WolfysEyes3 жыл бұрын
I legitimately hope this isn't your only Christmas/holiday-themed episode for the month, because this was so much fun to watch.
@thethpian3 жыл бұрын
Brandy
@mando_dablord26463 жыл бұрын
Had us in the first half, not gonna lie.
@JaySports6443 жыл бұрын
This. I'm hoping he shows us how to make Aunt Bethany's jello mold from Christmas Vacation.
@Habitt52533 жыл бұрын
@@thethpian You're a fine girl...
@justdoinmything3 жыл бұрын
@@Habitt5253 what a good wife you woul beeeee
@Darkasthenight063 жыл бұрын
Pah, you call that alcoholic? My grandma makes her Christmas cake two months in advance and "feeds" it with brandy every few days. By Christmas it is quite impressive...
@AlexandraLynch13 жыл бұрын
Ah, yes. You eat a small slice after dinner so that you have food in your stomach to soak up some of the booze...
@Paul23773 жыл бұрын
That's the only way to make it! My mum does the same.
@mariboni5163 жыл бұрын
I feel like I'm in the wrong family! 😄 That Christmas cake sounds delicious and necessary! 😂
@make.and.believe3 жыл бұрын
Wow - that might be covidproof!
@LillibitOfHere3 жыл бұрын
My mom uses rum.
@meganroberts8721 Жыл бұрын
I've had a slice of fruit cake that was aged in apricot brandy, had to be driven home by a friend from that Christmas party. Those old recipes are no joke
@youroldpalavy3 жыл бұрын
so glad i'm not the only christmas lunatic who's gonna make one of these things this year ❤️
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
I wish you the best of luck.
@DragonTigerBoss3 жыл бұрын
The Christmas Lunatics would be a great name for a Christian horrorcore group.
@youroldpalavy3 жыл бұрын
@@DragonTigerBoss i would pay at least $40 to see them live
@lairdcummings90923 жыл бұрын
Lots more time on our hands; kitchen experiments abound!
@itwasagoodideaatthetime79803 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory In addition to adding a bottle of brandy to her Christmas pudding mix. My Great Grandmother (who was English) used to soak her Christmas pudding fruit in brandy. She'd put the fruit into a large jar & cover it in brandy in August. & top up the jar as needed. She made a dozen puddings each year & we're still eating them. Her puddings are 'lethal' if you eat one you can't drive. Last year my Dad had a slice of it & drove to get some ice from the gas station. (We're in Australia so ice is a *must* at Christmas time here.) He got pulled over & had to take a breathalyser, which he naturally failed. When he went to court he had to take the recipe to show he hadn't been drinking just eating Christmas pudding. The judge took one look at the recipe & dismissed his case.
@merindymorgenson31843 жыл бұрын
I cracked up when you sniffed the book. It’s one of the first things I do when I get a used book. It smells like coming home.
@amandataylor6823 жыл бұрын
"Oh those crazy brits." 😂 "Now let's light this thing on fire!" 😳😳😳
@AD_AP_T3 жыл бұрын
AND sing Happy Birthday to Jesus over the flaming pud! (Not a common tradition, but my family is one of those who do it.)
@BriannePitt3 жыл бұрын
So many good reaction gifs possible from this vid!
@jupitermelichios3923 жыл бұрын
the secret is to heat the brandy in a spoon like you're cooking heroine
@AD_AP_T3 жыл бұрын
@@jupitermelichios392 true! Then try to light the brandy in the spoon as you pour it out.
@Mudhooks11 ай бұрын
My Mom, from Scotland, always made Christmas pudding, as well as fruitcake. She made two kinds of fruitcake, light and dark. The light has candied cherries, currents, and dried peel. The dark was basically the same fruits as go into the pudding. She always made two of the dark and one light. One dark was designated as “avec” and the other “sans” indicating that one had been liberally soaked in brandy or rum. After they were steamed, she would wrap them in cheesecloth or a towel and put them in Tupperwear containers and the alcoholic one was frequently and liberally sprinkled with the brandy/rum. In later years, Mom made a whole lot of dark ones for the fall fair at the church. They were so popular that she took orders for them, “avec” and “sans” and the money paid up-front to the church. They were $15 each. One year, she dropped them off an hour before the sale and they were all stolen… She was heartbroken. She stopped making them for the fall fair after that. We still got ours. We once went on a ski outing and Mom packed the container containing 1 and 1/2 well marinated and wrapped cakes with us. When we returned, she asked my sister to take them inside… Some time pater Mom asked where they were. My sister said “I put them on the piano bench”. They weren’t there but the plastic container was empty on the floor. Someone asked where our St. Bernard was. We finally tracked him down to the basement where we found him lying on his back, obviously well inebriated. The fact that he’d eaten even the cheesecloth was confirmed when we found it out in the back yard…
@Mudhooks11 ай бұрын
Oh… when I got married, Mom offered to make the traditional wedding fruitcake. Most people don’t eat it, just take the “lucky piece” home. Mom made this HUGE one as well as the small wrapped pieces for the guests. We also had a wedding cake so the fruitcake, weighing about 8 lbs, went untouched. I brought it home and put it in the fridge. She’d put so much brandy in it that it melted the Royal Icing and it was literally dripping out of the cake and all over the fridge. It was damned good, though…
@Ozziecatsmom9 ай бұрын
@@MudhooksI’d so much love to taste your mom’s fruitcake! It sounds wonderful.
@kaytiej83113 жыл бұрын
"I love the smell of [old] books. Does anyone else do that?" Why do you think I watch you? It's like walking into an historical library each week! I used to help make 2000 plum puddings for fundraising. It was done by hand from start to finish. The best part was pleating up the cloth and tying it off. We sat in the same room as 9 boilers, pleating up, in temperatures around 30 C.
@angolin93523 жыл бұрын
86 F in freedom units
@Bergkatse23 жыл бұрын
It’s still common in Scotland to make a light fruit pudding called “clootie dumpling”, “cloot” is Scots for cloth. My mum uses a clean pillow case.
@crimsonia0nightrayne3 жыл бұрын
Those are soooo good
@Abigail-hu5wf3 жыл бұрын
@@crimsonia0nightrayne I wanted to make a suet pudding for my partner while I was in the US with her but they don't sell like... half of the ingredients I needed for ANYTHING I wanted. Why do people not eat suet???
@raerohan42413 жыл бұрын
@@Abigail-hu5wf According to other replies: you can get it from a Mexican or Cajun grocery store. Other grocery store butchers might not have it on hand but may be willing to get it for you (could take a few days to get it). Apparently, small business type stores will be more likely to get it for you than larger retailers. And finally, you could look for a whole animal butcher.
@user-cr5nh4mv5j3 жыл бұрын
@@Abigail-hu5wf for some reason, we insist on feeding it to the birds. Whole foods carries tallow ( which is rendered and cleaned suet similar in colour to the fat in the video) and if you put the jar in the fridge you can scrape nice sized bits with a fork. I buy tallow cheaply online in 10lb tubs for making Pastry crust and cleaning leather clothing. It's even easier to scrape it from the pail and it doesn't have the issue of shattered glass from temperature shock. However it's best to keep it in the fridge because moisture from the air can cause surface mold. If it happens just scrape it off. Atora suet from the United Kingdom is also fairly inexpensive online but American tallow is much cheaper and far more versatile as it has no added ingredients. May I suggest using tallow to fry chips/fries? They stay golden yellow and take longer to get soggy. And it makes lederhosen more stretchy around the waist.
@avacatherine56463 жыл бұрын
The best is when you fry the leftovers in butter the following morning….
@LadySquall113 жыл бұрын
“Who’s that Pokémon?” Looks behind Max “It’s Christmas Pikachu!”
@stijn24723 жыл бұрын
Chrispachu?
@lauregami3 жыл бұрын
christmas pikachu is fine but i demand that everyone turn their attention to my sweet child Christmas Applin
@firenter3 жыл бұрын
Also Christmass Applin!
@Mazazamba3 жыл бұрын
There's some apple-looking thing behind the Pikachu too.
@katiestott14493 жыл бұрын
It's sugar plum clefairy!
@mzulfiqar35552 жыл бұрын
Just like RNGesus said: "You my child, you should be the one with all the figgy pudding"
@Your.Uncle.AngMoh3 жыл бұрын
**Holds hand up to being a book sniffer.** The odour even has a name: biblichor: Biblichor “Biblichor is the word that describes the particular smell that belongs to old books. Biblichor is a newly created word that combines the Greek words biblio (book) with ichor (the fluid that flows like blood in the veins of the gods), much the way petrichor was created." The term petrichor was coined by Australian scientists in 1964 to describe the unique, earthy smell associated with rain. It is caused by rainwater falling on dry soil, along with certain compounds like ozone, geosmin, and plant oils. Cooking things in an animal's stomach was widespread and gives us that Scottish dish haggis. A good way to start a fight north of Hadrian's Wall is to say that there is evidence that haggis existed in Lancashire, England before any record of it in Scotland. Traditionally, the best time to start making a Christmas pudding is Boxing Day (26th December) of the year before. Some advocate whisky, brandy, or rum as your alcohol. I suggest alternating between all three to get the grain, grape, and sugar flavours of them all. Soak the fruit in alcohol to rehydrate it so that it doesn't draw moisture from the pudding crumb. Our old three- and six-penny coins were made of silver and could be cooked in the pudding. Modern coins mostly contain copper and will poison you. Not a good move to kill your nearest and dearest while you're celebrating Jebus' birthday. Pulled over for a random breath test by the police: Have you been drinking today, sir? No, officer, but I did have a double helping of my Nana's Christmas pud!
@Corvinus_swe3 жыл бұрын
The biblichor is so pleasant because when lignin (one of the fibers in paper) breaks down it forms vanillin, one of the main flavour components of vanilla.
@eleni19683 жыл бұрын
@@Corvinus_swe Thank you also for justifying my weirdness for inhaling the scent of old books.
@eleni19683 жыл бұрын
Thank you for justifying my weirdness for inhaling the scent of old books.
@scottydu813 жыл бұрын
@@Corvinus_swe Vanillin is found in a lot of places. Oak barrels, when charred, form a thin layer of vanillin. That’s what gives hwhiskey that color, as well.
@ariandynas3 жыл бұрын
@@Corvinus_swe So much so that it's the source of Imitation Vanilla extract.
@musicandbooklover-p2o3 жыл бұрын
Mum always made thirteen Christmas puddings each year - booked them in the old wash boiler over a two day period. Two large ones - Christmas day and New Year's day - and eleven small ones. We had one each month all through the year. Yes, we all like(d) Christmas pudding, and rich Christmas cake. She had four of those to bake as well, one for Christmas and one each for dad, my brother and me as birthday cakes. Happy, tasty, days.
@quacky18743 жыл бұрын
This is almost identical to my mum's Christmas pudding recipe. She would make a huge batch of it in October and feed it brandy over the weeks until Christmas, usually forgetting where she had put all of them so we would have one in the next summer when it was discovered.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣 I love that. Pudding surprises throughout the year.
@Queen-of-Swords2 жыл бұрын
Subbed. As an English person, let me tell you, my other half still puts £1 coins in our Christmas Pudding (which is what this pudding is called these days). It is an acquired taste, after a full Christmas dinner. If you all sit down for 2 hours it is best eaten at that type of interval, which of course, it never is. Children routinely hate this pudding, as it is nothing like modern desserts. In the old days, being boiled in a copper, it WOULD have smelled like laundry as that was the primary use for coppers - boiling washing. Infact, most houses would not have had a copper, as the fuel required to keep one going meant most could not afford it. So they took their washing to wash houses instead. Houses that had coppers usually had outbuildings in the garden, and some boarding houses had a copper in the yard that would be shared by several families. I am not sure whether people took their puddings to the wash house to cook 😆 sounds emminently possible. Wash houses were community places where women met to gossip, let alone do laundry. In much the same way as a bread oven used to be a community asset. Anyway, I'm 48, my Grandma would make this pudding around September and keep it under her bed until the big day. It was a matter of some boasting how soon before the event you made it. I'm afraid we buy ours from the supermarket, but I spend enough time cooking dinners from scratch without doing things like this. There is certainly no financial advantage to make your own given the expense of the ingredients.
@mary-janereallynotsarah684 Жыл бұрын
Well I was disappointed that foggy pudding is neither figgy or puddingy. Like, non British pudding which is soft and goopy.
@billysmith3841 Жыл бұрын
@@mary-janereallynotsarah684 I believe a pudding had to have suet in and be cooked in a stomach. Haggis is technically a pudding. Burns called it 'chieftain of the pudding race'. Our blood sausage we call 'black pudding'
@mary-janereallynotsarah684 Жыл бұрын
@@billysmith3841 oddly I always loved blood pudding. But now I can't eat it due to my beliefs.
@jessicawicks84533 жыл бұрын
The excitement on his face at lighting that pudding on fire made me holiday season.
@erinlong28723 жыл бұрын
Me (a self-identified grinch): Okay that pikachu and the joy of historic holiday baking are the only things that warm my heart. Maybe Christmas isn’t that bad after all...
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
😁 pikachu makes everything better
@mortisCZ3 жыл бұрын
What about brandy?
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
@@mortisCZ Brandy too; goes without saying : )
@kramermariav3 жыл бұрын
God bless us, every one!
@Lionstar163 жыл бұрын
Yes, someone else who loves the smell of books - the old ones are especially divine :)
@scaper83 жыл бұрын
When I saw him smell the book, my first thought was somewhere between, "Ha! I knew I wasn't the only one who does that!" and "Thank god! I'm not the only one who does that!"
@Lionstar163 жыл бұрын
@@scaper8 It's partly why I prefer to buy my reading material as a physical book rather than on my Kindle - it just smells so nice :)
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
It’s the best!
@bimscutney12423 жыл бұрын
Love that smell. I have a friend who was a librarian and the first thing he does when he opens a book is sniff it. Even did it with his comic books in college. I recently described a Scotch to someone as having a faint, musty, old book like aftertaste. 😂
@renpixie3 жыл бұрын
Hopefully that book was printed before arsenic was used to dye paper green.🤢
@enunya3 жыл бұрын
As a little tip: Zante Currants that are commonly found at a grocery store in the US aren't actually currents, they're raisins but from small grapes. It's very hard to find actual dried currants, either black or red. But well worth it if you can! That might be why the pudding was overly raisiny. That should be the dominant flavor, but you should be able to taste the currants. Love the episode!
@1rbroderi Жыл бұрын
Historically the Zante Currants would most likely actually be what the recipe ment.
@lainwired3946 Жыл бұрын
@@1rbroderi not on Britain, we have wild currants everywhere they're widely available for cooking.
@thenovicenovelist Жыл бұрын
I know in some states like Virginia it's illegal to grow currants because officials are concerned that the currants could spread some sort of disease/blight to certain trees. I haven't seen currants in my rural area, but heard about them when I was in the UK. My dad and I looked into growing some only to find out that our state was one of the states that banned growing them. I don't think I've ever seen currants or Zante currants in my region.
@AliceLiddell-xb1ob10 ай бұрын
The currants called for in this pudding recipe ARE small raisins.
@LynetteTheMadScientist8 ай бұрын
Do you think craisins would work instead? I hate raisins so much
@jamesterwilliger31763 жыл бұрын
I'm trying to bring back the word "overmorrow", which means "the day after tomorrow". I will take up the cause of bedight as well!
@caro1ns3 жыл бұрын
Overmorrow - I love that! Where did you find it?
@jamesterwilliger31763 жыл бұрын
@@caro1ns It was in some post I saw a couple of months ago on Facebook about "why do we have a word for throwing someone out a window (defenestration) but not one for the day after tomorrow" and someone was like "oh but there is". I guess the word for "the day before yesterday" is "ereyesterday", which doesn't quite have the same ring to it.
@coffeesquirrel13 жыл бұрын
Ohhh yes i’m totally down for both if we can also bring back “Anon” 🤓
@estoy10013 жыл бұрын
Sennight (seven-night) is an archaic term for a week, the precursor to fortnight (fourteen nights). Friend Boy/Girl (as opposed to Boy/Girl Friend) is your friend (with gender descriptor). Jigger is a word with 27 different definitions, some contradictory (it tends to be a catch-all word like whatchamacallit). Tsujigiri is a Japanese word that describes the act of testing out a new sword on an innocent passer-by. It means "cross-road killing". Jay is a bumpkin, which is a possible origin of the term 'jaywalking'.
@Nightmster3 жыл бұрын
We still have this in german: Übermorgen is the day after tomorrow
@DemeterMedi3 жыл бұрын
My favourite part would be the the lazy days. With lots of leftovers, days spent in pyjamas, watching movies and playing board games with the family.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
That’s been much of my life for 10 months.
@DemeterMedi3 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory I'm not sure I'm jealous of that.
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory This is why my head-canon for 2020 is that the evil genie granted everyone's wishes all at once. No work, no social engagements, no need to do our hair, dress up or even wear a bra/underwear/shoes...nothing expected of us but to stay at home in our pjs playing video games and watching tv. Never bet against the evil genie. They always play dirty.
@QueenCityHistory3 жыл бұрын
I recommend Dr Lucy Worsley’s “12 Days of Christmas “ and explains an authentic Tudor Christmas. Very very different than Christmas today.
@MossyMozart3 жыл бұрын
@Kevin Eaton - I adore that episode of Dr Worsley's! I could watch it any time of the year.
@QueenCityHistory3 жыл бұрын
@@MossyMozart I have seen all her docs multiple times. She’s absolutely amazing
@PunkyPink853 жыл бұрын
Yes, I love her work. She is so likable!
@leotheoreganoman3 жыл бұрын
Dr. Worsely is my queen
@BenjaminWeimer3 жыл бұрын
its been some time since i've seen them but the bbc historic farms, christmas episodes where interesting and enjoyable.
@lynchie2073 Жыл бұрын
i live in aus, but my family always does an old fashioned english christmas dinner every year (which is unusual, its summer during so everyone eats summery foods for christmas instead) and we always have a christmas pudding. we've never made it ourselves, we order in advance. dunking it in brandy and setting it alight is compulsory lmao, it looks so magical and makes a wonderful smell. we eat it with custard, vanilla ice cream, or thick cream, often all three at once
@gundamthatateataco47293 жыл бұрын
Anyone else just laughing at him screaming, "No Christmas, No Christmas, No Christmas."
@cazadoo3393 жыл бұрын
Reminded me of peaky blinders, no fighting!
@kalendea3 жыл бұрын
I laughed so hard and kept rewatching that part
@JerryB5073 жыл бұрын
He did rather sound like the Governor of California.
@Sammie10533 жыл бұрын
For anyone looking for that part: 10:08
@mikegallant8113 жыл бұрын
@@JerryB507 Christ, another Cromwell in the making!
@ladywithasword45873 жыл бұрын
"A good plum pudding should last for a thousand years" so a proto-Twinkie, got it
@Li_Tobler3 жыл бұрын
LMAO
@Ajehy3 жыл бұрын
But with booze.
@scottydu813 жыл бұрын
There was a guy who actually saved twinkies for ten years. Solid as a rock lol. He shattered them with a hammer.
@cjpowers93302 жыл бұрын
A good fruit cake is best when years old. The best one I ever are was 50 years old and enjoyed with a good Hunting Port. The slice was small, but the impression it made was immense and lasting. No Fox hunting involved by the way.
@sheenachristina23853 жыл бұрын
Pikachu looks so dapper in his top hat! I’m so excited to see this. I know how much of a bear it was for you. Also- anyone else hear the voice of Scrooge McDuck and Donald in that scene from A Christmas Carol? 😂
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Isn’t he fancy! Yes, it was a trial, yet maybe my favorite episode yet.
@stijn24723 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory We are proud of you!
@xneurianx3 жыл бұрын
My head always goes to the Muppets for A Christmas Carol.
@TheHopperUK3 жыл бұрын
@@xneurianx There goes Mister Humbug, there goes Mister Grim!
@Camurgladius3 жыл бұрын
I forget if I've commented this before, but Max Miller brings the pitch-perfect level of manic to this history and food, and he's just delightful. Also I am always thrown by official art of the Cratchits because they are locked into my head as Muppets forevermore.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Thank you 🙏 And yes, the Muppet Christmas Carol is definitive 🤣
@suzannestauffer77613 жыл бұрын
I can so relate to your sniffing that book. One of my fondest childhood memories is the smell of the library-- all leather and paper and glue mixed with furniture polish. So comforting!
@MossyMozart3 жыл бұрын
@Suzanne Stauffer - I also love the feel of the paper in my hands and heft of a book. Plus, you can see all the bookmarks at once and even use a stack of books as a footstool or stepping stool. You can't do that with an ebook reader! And real books make a great interior design accessory.
@rejoyce3183 жыл бұрын
I love that, in the tradition of Julia Child , you show us your mistakes & genuine reactions.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
There are so many mistakes 😆
@Myzelfa3 жыл бұрын
You learn more from a mistake than a success, after all, especially if it's someone else's.
@TheRealNormanBates3 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory as Bob Ross or my parents would say, there are no mistakes.. just happy little accidents.
@ffsake13613 жыл бұрын
"Whoo that's Alcoholic" then giggles like he has already had a few slices lol XD
@sarahnewton27593 жыл бұрын
My thoughts exactly. 😂
@mathewmikolas1492 Жыл бұрын
Couple years late making this one. Put it together a couple weeks ago and will be serving it at a party in a couple of days. Smells bland hanging in its cloth. I'm sure the addition of all the booze and boozy sauce will make a huge difference. Will update soon!
@jrmckim Жыл бұрын
How'd it go?
@mathewmikolas1492 Жыл бұрын
@@jrmckim Much like a fruitcake bread pudding. I liked it. Not everyone did. Served it with the punch sauce, and it was very boozy! Some said that it might be better with a heavy cream. I tried some leftovers with eggnog ice cream and thought it was great. If you like fruit cake, you'll like this. Either way, it was fun and a great conversation piece! Merry Christmas!
@darriendastar39413 жыл бұрын
Of course you've missed out on the best part of a Christmas pudding - having a slice fried in brandy butter on Boxing Day morning...
@RayIveySeriously3 жыл бұрын
"Gaily bedight A gallant knight In sunshine and in shadow Had journeyed long Singing a song In search of El Dorado" -- Edgar Allen Poe The only other place I remember seeing this word!
@Pattilapeep2 жыл бұрын
It is also in the lullaby Lullabye and good night with roses bedight.
@somethingillregret3 жыл бұрын
If a core childhood memory of yours isn't desperately trying to hide the fact nana's Christmas pudding was so boozy you felt a little giddy so you can have more, did you even Christmas?
@cazadoo3393 жыл бұрын
Exactly and sherry trifle!!
@Lionstar163 жыл бұрын
@@cazadoo339 It's not trifle without the sherry, no question :)
@javeedn3 жыл бұрын
@@cazadoo339 it's not trifle without beef sautéed with peas and onions!
@somethingillregret3 жыл бұрын
@@javeedn I see what you did there. Bravo
@javeedn3 жыл бұрын
@@somethingillregret thank you hahaha
@kellywalker7127 Жыл бұрын
Sorry this is so off schedule but it is October and getting closer to the time to make these again. My grands were British and we always had plum pudding at Christmas. Fruitcake too. Our fruitcakes were more sauced than the plum puddings were though. We enjoy the pudding with a lemon sauce, but many put a hard sauce on it which seems like a loose powder sugar frosting with brandy. We always flame the pudding and the fresh Holly. Coins were hid underneath rather than in but we also own silver charms that could be baked inside. The fruitcake used to get marinated with a jigger of whatever booze was hanging around, about every month or more. It was made a year in advance. Tastes amazing. Thanks for the history of it all. Looking forward to this Christmas' videos!
@maryanneslater9675 Жыл бұрын
I have a couple of great recipes for fruitcake and they are well and truly sauced or soused. I dropped gave one to a client along with some cookies for their Christmas party and warned them about waiting an hour after eating cake to drive. When he called to thank me, he said he thought I was joking about the alcohol content until he tried a slice. They toasted each other with it. :)
@erinsjourney315 Жыл бұрын
Oooo, yes! My childhood also included ‘hard & soft sauce’ with our pudding 🥰
@vikkirobinson4131 Жыл бұрын
They should be made the week before advent. The collect for the Sunday before Advent in the Book of Common Prayer starts "Stir up we beseech thee oh Lord..." This was considered a reminder to make your pudding! LOL
@AndrewVelonis Жыл бұрын
The hard sauce that my mother made was different than what you describe. It was white and had the consistency of paste.
@Jay-ln1co3 жыл бұрын
"Figgy pudding" sounds like an insult from a Guy Ritchie movie. "Check it out, guv'nor, got ourselves a couple of figgy puddin's, don't we luv?"
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣
@mark3141583 жыл бұрын
Not even Guy Ritchie would use such "Hollywood cockney" dialogue.
@rachelfields92483 жыл бұрын
When you mentioned the traditional stuffing of festive choking hazards, I laughed so hard I had to pause the video and my husband came in to see if I was okay.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣
@ragnkja3 жыл бұрын
Don’t worry, those are in the Twelfth Night cake.
@williammassey87613 жыл бұрын
Instructions not clear currently being scolded by Mrs. Crocombe
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣 she’s wise and always uses a basin.
@denji7693 жыл бұрын
lol, I could hear her like she was standing beside me when you said "candied peel"
@tysonperna88443 жыл бұрын
@@denji769 I immediately paused the video to come find who mentioned Avis Crocombe in the comments.
@miekekuppen92753 жыл бұрын
@@tysonperna8844 XD Same here. Their figgy pudding video was just as much fun!
@francesrockett41433 жыл бұрын
She would give the Crocombe side eye.
@KSt-nv8eb Жыл бұрын
I literally made this over the weekend, for Christmas 2022, exactly as you directed. My pot was "singing," and it turned out great! Damn man, you are wonderful! As a "historical foodie buff", I am so thrilled to have found your channel and am binge-watching your episodes. Keep up the great work!
@micaylabirondo8363 жыл бұрын
Will you please do medieval mincemeat pies for Christmas? I really want to see how they're done and how they taste because I'd love to make some!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
It’ll have to be next year. My Christmas schedule is full up.
@lisakilmer26673 жыл бұрын
@Micayla Birondo - go to the YT channel English Heritage at Audley End House. A re-enactor makes a traditional mince pie. kzbin.info/www/bejne/n5OvlomibtCDf7M. I have heard that the meat flavor pretty much goes away and is covered by the fruit.
@cazadoo3393 жыл бұрын
I make a pear version of mincemeat for our pies as I have a couple of pear trees , it's really quite nice and not as full of currants or booze and definitely no tongue in it but I might have a go at the traditional version
@micaylabirondo8363 жыл бұрын
@@lisakilmer2667 ok thanks!
@breadcrumbhoarder3 жыл бұрын
“Some think it should have coins and other _choking hazards_ cooked inside” lmao
@VidyaAntics3 жыл бұрын
Irish barmbrack does this and is an important tradition. Don't knock it til you find that ring in your slice and get to feel #blessed haha
@blinder33053 жыл бұрын
:D "as little prices for good luck" it killed me too
@musicandbooklover-p2o3 жыл бұрын
Silver sixpence, and a gold ring are the traditional items.
@daniels57803 жыл бұрын
Sounds like Mardi Gras king cake, which has a little plastic baby in it.
@theresedavis25262 жыл бұрын
Well, you're not supposed to hork it down in chunks. You're supposed to chew it.
@digitropic31823 жыл бұрын
Your bell ringing English "No Christmas!" is such a mood, I love it!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
It’s my favorite part 🤣
@SquiddyHiggenbottom3 жыл бұрын
Me walking through Walmart on October 29th looking for Halloween candy and seeing that they already had Christmas trees on display
@bitsnpieces11 Жыл бұрын
My father had made something sort of like this, he used a fruitcake with a lot of dried fruit, wrapped it in tin foil then soaked with whiskey and put it in the fridge. Every week or so he would take it out and add more whiskey. When he had used the entire fifth of whiskey to soak it with he left it in the fridge until Christmas when we partoke of it. It was absolutely delicious.
@orion8835 Жыл бұрын
That is pretty much exactly what this is. Except the spices are far more generous and it is has stout in the baked product. And it was brandy not whiskey which is more Scottish.
@theMoporter3 жыл бұрын
"Don't try this at home!" Oh, dude, we still do this every year in the UK lol. The coins thing, too.
@nightsong813 жыл бұрын
Was England severely overpopulated at some point in history, and they just decided they needed more ways to introduce accidental death to the populace?
@gmaxe35613 жыл бұрын
@@nightsong81 thats the whole reason why we are only allowed to breed on certain days of the year or face the queen in a duel. they had it so good back then.
@nightsong813 жыл бұрын
@@gmaxe3561 This is now how I believe things work in the UK, and nobody is going to convince me otherwise.
@gmaxe35613 жыл бұрын
Who are these blasphemous heathens spouting indecent lies? We English shall cast them down the royal tea mines for this transgression.
@quietdavedevon3 жыл бұрын
The Royal Mint still produce silver sixpences that you can order online. Though obviously they do cost a bit more, £30 for this year's.
@SiddharthS963 жыл бұрын
The Brits say "Happy Christmas" today because it used to be "merry" in the past, with copious amounts of drinks, but then the Puritans came along 😂
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
“...but then the Puritans came along” is how so many stories about good things going away start.
@yungboy42163 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory "But everything changed when the puritan nation attacked"
@Isalukich3 жыл бұрын
Don't worry, we drove the Puritans out long ago so now we're all s***-faced at Christmas again! So "Merry Christmas" is the norm, at least it was last year. I have heard rumours the Puritans could be back though....
@Lucius19583 жыл бұрын
@@TastingHistory In New England, where I live, the antipathy towards Christmas outlasted the Restoration by many years; it wasn't until the 19th century that Puritan strictures began to relax.
@pcurd3 жыл бұрын
We say Merry Christmas today - although Happy Christmas is also acceptable it clashes with “and a Happy New Year” so we say Merry most often.
@Tecrogue3 жыл бұрын
A tip for finding suet in the US: look for a local whole animal butcher.
@l.m.24043 жыл бұрын
I buy suet to make my own bird food bricks and I have no problem finding it at my local butcher. He puts it aside for me in his freezer. I live in Vancouver , Canada.
@generedwine68633 жыл бұрын
You can also ask your grocery store butcher. Many will get it for you. May take a few days and be pricey. But worth it for authentic flavor and textured in many recipes. Note many local mom and pop stores are exceptionally good at and willing to get things like this for you.
@nono-fb8tr3 жыл бұрын
Go to a Mexican market
@mwater_moon28653 жыл бұрын
You also want to get real currents, what he shows are small raisins LABELED as "currents" in pretentious foodie stores. Currents are even harder to find the in the US (they're illegal for commercial cultivation in some states-- for disease reasons) but you CAN grow them personally. They're super sour and LOADED with pectin, the only jam I added not a drop of extra pectin to and still had it set right was was a black current and red plum jam. So REAL currents would affect the gelling properties and balance the sugar.
@svenkollskegg38123 жыл бұрын
Or for a place with bird feeder supplies, not certain you'd want to eat it though
@simonfrost7094 Жыл бұрын
The BBC documentary series "The Victorian Farm at Christmas" (which shows three historians living as Victorian farmers during the Christmas period) demonstrates using the laundry copper to boil a traditional Christmas pudding.
@FoxgloveWanderer3 жыл бұрын
I remember first hearing about Snapdragon from one of my favorite Agatha Christie books, Hallowe'en Party. It was written as a nonchalant bit of dialogue going over the party's itinerary, but hearing them be so cheerful about leaving children to play with a bowl of flaming alcoholic fruit (unsupervised of course) gives me the giggles every time I read it.
@lordgarion5143 жыл бұрын
I was born in 1970, and I've long thought we had a tougher childhood, mostly in good ways, but a lot more dangerous overall, than the younger generations. Apparently, my childhood was a cakewalk compared to the *really* old days. Lol
@barbarachieppo9603 Жыл бұрын
I just watched that episode the other day with my favorite, David Suchet.❤
@Shadeadder Жыл бұрын
@@barbarachieppo9603 We did too!
@bridgetanne82423 жыл бұрын
The washing kettle was used to cook the pudding. That’s why it would smell like washing day
@araincs3 жыл бұрын
I thought it was because of the cloth being boiled
@bridgetanne82423 жыл бұрын
@@araincs Yes. That too. But they had a laundry area they used. Check out Victorian Christmas on Prime.
@elizabethmcglothlin54063 жыл бұрын
Until very recently I made the boiled in a bag pudding. 2 things to consider: 1 walnuts added for a somewhat less cloying sweetness, and 2 Hard sauce, which is basically butter and powdered sugar flavored with sherry, brandy, or whisky!
@SputnikDeb Жыл бұрын
My family makes persimmon pudding, which is similar to plum pudding. It contains the pulp of two Hachiya persimmons, a cup of raisins, and a cup of chopped pecans. Originally, it was supposed to be either steamed or put into a bain-marie, but my Mom (who acquired the recipe from my Dad's mother) quickly decided that was too much work with four little ones underfoot, so she just decided to bake it instead. We eat it every year at Christmas, and occasionally at Thanksgiving as well. It is served with "hard sauce" that is hard only as it relates to alcohol, because it is loose and runny (made with butter, sugar, an egg, and as much bourbon, whiskey, or sherry as you please). The hard sauce was something Mom's grandmother made for canned plum pudding every Christmas, so the combination of the pudding and the sauce are an amalgamation from both sides of my family.
@DJ-fn3jm3 жыл бұрын
Who doesn't love a dessert filled with choking hazards? King Cake anyone?
@hah34563 жыл бұрын
I was thinking the same but then again I’ve only seen them sold in Alabama/Mississippi/Louisiana
@dtulip13 жыл бұрын
Ahh pre Health n safety days...the natural culling of humans >.
@briannelson38303 жыл бұрын
Plastic toys hidden inside your cake what could be better
@valentinewiggin77823 жыл бұрын
I like the French king cake with puff pastry and frangipane.
@MossyMozart3 жыл бұрын
@@hah3456 - One can send for a King Cake online from several sources. "America's Test Kitchen" had a tasting segment one episode that compared them.
@kimspringfield41803 жыл бұрын
Sauces were extremely alcoholic... hence the term 'getting sauced'.
@stephenpmurphy5913 жыл бұрын
That appeals to my Irish DNA.....I'm not joking.
@teaves82512 жыл бұрын
Maybe why the warning to fair ladies not to partake of the cake.
@lhfirex3 жыл бұрын
Steeped in brandy? A very merry Christmas indeed!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
Amen! 🤣
@jonathantillian65283 жыл бұрын
Really English Figgy Pudding is fruitcake, it seems.
@e.urbach77803 жыл бұрын
@@jonathantillian6528 I've found recipes for Figgy Pudding that actually contain figs, and are a lot simpler than Christmas pudding or Plum Pudding. I'm convinced that they're two different things!
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
@@e.urbach7780 English Heritage just put out a video about that and made the one out of Miss Crocombe's cookbook! Although they take care to differentiate between figgy pudding ("no figs"), plum pudding ("no plums"), plum cake ("absolutely no plums") and fig pudding ("has figs"). :-D kzbin.info/www/bejne/m3XQhnx6ed2Dgtk
@AD_AP_T3 жыл бұрын
@@jonathantillian6528 Noooooo, figgy/plum/Christmas pudding is a suet pudding, and is very distinct in both taste and texture from even a dense fruitcake. They're different enough that my family make *both* every year.
@lorrainemcdonald73322 жыл бұрын
Here in Newfoundland and Labrador Canada, Puddings are often boiled in a pudding bag, made of unbleached cotton. Both sweet and savoury puddings are cooked this way.
@catherineescobar31233 жыл бұрын
The Snapdragon game also appears in Agatha Christie’s book, “Halloween Party”.
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
Also, there's an excellent enactment of the scene in the classic Poirot episode of the same name, with a bunch of kids playing the game and chanting the verse in a dark room. Very cool looking!
@stillhuntre553 жыл бұрын
Here it is on KZbin: go to time 6:59 .... kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2jJfImkqZJ5rtE
@AmoCultumAlo3 жыл бұрын
I was looking for this comment! The first time I heard of it was from the adaptation @sonipitts mentioned. Very ominous version indeed....
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
@@stillhuntre55 Yes! Such a creepy scene. Of course, a group of children chanting anything in unison sounds creepy af, lol. Direct link to the video timestamp: kzbin.info/www/bejne/l2jJfImkqZJ5rtE
@MHS-us1qv3 жыл бұрын
Max, if you like bedight, try "defenestrate" for another fun historical word. It means to push someone out of a window from a high height.
@snazzypazzy3 жыл бұрын
Someone or something! De- = out, fenestra = window in latin. One of my favourite words.
@SmartyPoohBear3 жыл бұрын
Dang, how often were people pushing someone out a window that they needed a word specifically for this act. XD
@faceless23023 жыл бұрын
Ah yes, another classic word perfect for the Christmas season
@anophelesnow39573 жыл бұрын
@@SmartyPoohBear There is famous episode in Czech history known as the Defenestrations of Prague. That's where the word grew its (relative) popularity.
@sarahmeyers17733 жыл бұрын
🤣😂😅 I’m so concerned about this whole thread 😆
@Djinn_Entonic3 жыл бұрын
In my country we do something called "Pan de Pascua" (literal translation: Easter bread). It is like a fruit cake, but it has a particular flavour that is typical and unique.
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
I’ll have to look that one up
@IeshiAke3 жыл бұрын
I lived a few years in Uruguay, and from what I've seen it seems very similar to Italian panetonne, which makes sense
@Djinn_Entonic3 жыл бұрын
@@IeshiAke it's similar, but here we use something called "chancaca" it gives it a darker colour and a richer taste. Also (at least in my recipe) we use rum.
@Djinn_Entonic3 жыл бұрын
@@IeshiAke and it is the Chilean one.
@rebelcolorist3 жыл бұрын
Hmmm... It also reminds me of Carribean Black Cake, swimming in overproof rum and red wine... Delicious!!
@ZalthorAndNoggin Жыл бұрын
Oh and while I'm commenting: you should have cut into the centre of your pudding and created a wedge, not a slice. Christmas Pudding doesn't hold together massively well unless you make it 6 months or more ahead of Christmas. As an aside, I used to make my own Christmas Puddings back in the 1970s. I used a Pyrex bowl to hold them with cloth and string around the top. Here in England I had an old Victorian copper for boiling clothes which was in the outhouse to the place I lived. It was literally heated by burning wood underneath it. The laundry smell came from the residue of soap suds remaining in the copper from previous washdays. Hence Dickens was perfectly correct with his colourful explanation.
@Tymdek3 жыл бұрын
"It may be served with German" Me, a German: 👀
@MrBlueManCole2 жыл бұрын
What is meant by that? Is it a wine or a Sauce?
@Tymdek2 жыл бұрын
@@MrBlueManCole In the recipe it says: "It may be served with German, wine or punch sauce." So German sauce, actually (whatever that is). I just took away the sauce (joke's on you, Mr. Ramsay) to make a joke.
@celinek.6849 Жыл бұрын
@@Tymdek As a German, I'm also really curious what German sauce is/was
@fedra76it3 жыл бұрын
Choking-hazard stuff inside, inflamed alcohol outside... Victorian parents had a quite strong confidence in good luck. Loved the video, as always. Terrific job.
@emma79333 жыл бұрын
We still do these things still in Britain sometimes lol.
@mr.hanfblatt91523 жыл бұрын
Q: how many times was Nutmeg mentioned? A: 2 times. Townsend will watch this video
@sonipitts3 жыл бұрын
If you say it three times in a darkened room, Jon Townsend himself will appear behind you in a mirror and attempt to capture your soul using a birch twig whisk, a pottery mug and half a cup of sac.
@tillybinkieking7258 Жыл бұрын
In England, the suet we use is a brand called ATORA. It has been used for years and years and years!
@Alizudo9 ай бұрын
Surprisingly, that brand exists in America as well. I'll need to take note of it.
@hospitalgal1013 жыл бұрын
Can we start a petition for Max to have his own TV show?
@Entiox3 жыл бұрын
"Does anyone else do that?" Yes, I do. I love the smell of books, especially older books, as long as they're not moldy. My absolute favorite that I own is a copy of Pipesmoking: A 21st Century Guide by Richard Carleton Hacker that had been sitting in a tobacconists, in the pipe section for about a decade before I bought it. It has an amazing smell of book, pipe tobacco and rich tobacco smoke from pipes and cigars.
@doubtful_seer3 жыл бұрын
I think it’s actually a mold that makes old books smell good if I’m not misremembering.
@generedwine68633 жыл бұрын
A 21st century book? Mmm max age 20 years not old at all. Me bethinks thou hast mispoken the century perhaps ... lol
@user-nr3sd4dg3y3 жыл бұрын
Here in Greece in new years day we make a cake that has inside a golden coin (most people putt fake coins nowadays) and supposendly if you get the piece with the coin you will have good luck , it is called the St. Basil's pie
@phoebelong75132 жыл бұрын
This episode was bedight with a copious plethora of wonderful information. Thank you Max and God bless us everyone!
@helenhunter45403 жыл бұрын
Yes, I always smell old books and sometimes new ones. Bless you for a fellow bibliophile!
@jannis_in_3d7743 жыл бұрын
"Can be served with German..." Me(German): Entschuldigen Sie bitte?!
@axelhopfinger5333 жыл бұрын
Meaning: you gotta shout BITTESCHOEN UND GUTEN APPETIT! in an aggressive military command tone when serving.
@stargirl76463 жыл бұрын
😂😂😂 I know, I had to read that part three times before I realized it meant a German sauce... not an actual German lol. “BITTE NEIN”
@CaptainRasmot3 жыл бұрын
Hanz . . . get ze Schnapps B]
@caramelypoops3 жыл бұрын
Many british christmas traditions are actually german in origin and came about in the same historical period as this; the victorian period was actually very much about queen Victoria and particularly her husband who brought with him many german traditions including christmas trees and christmas cards so danke schon to you germans
@axelhopfinger5333 жыл бұрын
@@caramelypoops If only he had also brought German Christmas foods and baked goods to Britain, hmm? Then you wouldn't have to suffer with mince pies.
@jamiereid21123 жыл бұрын
Love the 'Don't try this at home kids', when it's always the kid in every British household who ends up setting fire to the pudding xD
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣
@violetskies143 жыл бұрын
At least in my experience we are as a nation quite lax about fire safety and children. Also alcohol and children. My mum puts it best "eh they'll be fine".
@jamiereid21123 жыл бұрын
@@violetskies14 exactly we know how to have fun. None of that being 21 years old nonsense😂
@cazadoo3393 жыл бұрын
Many a christmas cracker hat has been set on fire by a flaming pudding 😂
@lesliejabine17832 жыл бұрын
My mother always served with "hardsauce" basically butter/powdered sugar with a touch of brandy. A higher caloric density cannot be found.
@mythiclords31753 жыл бұрын
My wife is a certified book smeller and loved you mentioned that!
@TastingHistory3 жыл бұрын
🤣 yay!
@kana0kitsune3 жыл бұрын
I just absolutely adore how excited you get when you talk about these things. You face lights up and one can really tell you enjoy it. I love seeing people like that.
@michyoung773 жыл бұрын
You actually CAN find Suet in the US. However, you’ll need to be in a largish city, and you’ll need to go to your local butcher and specify that you need cow kidney suet.
@aj3833 жыл бұрын
Anecdote from a largish town/smallish city... Just go to the butcher and ask. If they don't have it now, they will once they know someone is looking for it.
@aprilbennett41613 жыл бұрын
I end up settling on tarrow.
@jayteegamble3 жыл бұрын
I'm from non-metro Minnesota and we had a suet feeder (for birds) growing up. My dad would just ask for it at the grocery store and they'd give it to him for free.
@scottydu813 жыл бұрын
Large megamarts have them, as well as several flavors of ethnic stores. I found it when I made haggis in Kentucky (albeit with pig organs and not sheep- seriously who has goddamn sheep in 21st century US?!)