Advent Calendar Day 4 ~ A Festive Dish

Hi! Today’s Advent treats are a brass band, a vignette and a virtual bite of Christmas pudding and the festive dish that went before it.

Did you know that the Sunday before last (22 Nov) was Stir-up Sunday? That’s when families (those who still make their own Christmas pudding instead of buying it from the shop) are meant to gather in the kitchen and follow an old tradition:

“Every member of the household had to take a turn stirring the pudding mixture, and anyone was absent, the mix was put aside until they returned. Mothers began the stirring, followed by fathers, then the children in order of age, followed by any servants who lived in the house. The pudding had to be stirred clockwise, from east to west, following the sun and echoing the coming of the Magi, and a silent wish had to be made by each individual who stirred it.” (1)

Some added coins, a thimble, a ring, a button or miniature charms, which would tell the finders’ fortune. (1), ( 2). Would they marry? Would they travel in the coming year? And would they return safely?

With any luck, on Christmas Day the pudding would look like Mrs. Cratchit’s: “a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing in half of half-a-quartern of ignited brandy.”

But how about a festive dish fit for the king’s men? (Or the Prince Regent’s men, strictly speaking). Back in the days when we could travel, I saw this on display at Windsor Castle: 200 years earlier, for Christmas 1815, the Royal Household was served a Plum Broth made from:

90 lbs beef; 38½ lbs veal; 78 lbs currants; 78 lbs raisins; 12 oz. mace; 8 oz. cinnamon; 8 oz. cloves; 12 oz. nutmeg; 8 oz. ginger; 

4 oz. cochineal; 72 oz. prunes; 8 oz. Lisbon sugar; 50 oz. butter; 50 eggs

This great – great – great – … – grandfather of the Christmas pudding might shock our tastebuds. Even hundreds of years ago it apparently was an acquitted taste. An 18th-century cook, Martha Bradley, wrote that “the French laugh outrageously at this old English Dish.” Quite possibly 😆 . But, a few years ago, those who tried a slightly updated version of it said that it actually tasted better than it sounds. (3), (4)

With that sort of encouragement, I’m almost tempted to have a go at Martha Bradley’s recipe. I’ll let you know if I’m brave enough to try (and what my family thought of it 😉 ).

For now, this is a glimpse of Christmastime in Windsor…

(Windsor 2015 – Photo J Starnes)

… and the Queen’s men:

And here is Mrs Bennet embarrassing Elizabeth at Christmas (she’s bound to do that at any time of year, isn’t she?)

FROM THIS DAY FORWARD

(Excerpt from Chapter 3)

Elizabeth smiled at the passing recollection that it was on this very spot that they had stopped, one fine morning some weeks before Christmas, when her betrothed and Jane’s had come at a shockingly early hour to call. The family was already dressed, as it happened, but only because it was the morning of ‘pudding-stirring’ – and before they knew it, the unsuspecting gentlemen found themselves invited to join in.

“You might as well,” Mrs Bennet had declared with vigour, “since you will both be family ere long.”

Bingley had taken to the scheme with his habitual good cheer, but dear Fitzwilliam must have felt like a fish out of water, hard as he had fought to disguise it.

For the benefit of the visitors, Hill was asked to bring the accoutrements into the breakfast parlour, rather than the family following her to the pantry as they always had. Then each in turn, starting with Mr Bennet and followed eventually by everybody in the household, had stirred the Christmas pudding, for health, prosperity and good luck.

Elizabeth had entertained some concerns for Mr Darcy’s coat, his cuffs and his discomfort, yet everything proceeded in good order – that is, until Mrs Bennet found cause to intervene.

“Oh, nay, nay, nay, Mr Darcy, that will never do! The other way, Sir, pray! The – other – way! Not that we need fear for his prosperity,” she promptly added in hurried whispers intended for her husband but loud enough to be heard by everybody else. “Old tales aside, so ample a fortune cannot be overset by a mere Christmas pudding. Still, to my way of thinking, ‘tis best not to tempt fate.”

She had turned beet-red at her mother’s words; not for the first time and undoubtedly not the last. It was only after breakfast, when they finally went out – ostensibly to gather yew, rosemary, bay and holly to decorate the house – that she could gradually recover from her mortification. Once able to speak privately, she had begun to apologise for the most recent of her mother’s ill-judged comments – only to find herself silenced with a kiss. And then had nestled into his embrace and heard him whisper softly in her ear, ‘You taste of cinnamon and spice’…

(© 2019 Joana Starnes).

Thanks for reading, and see you again next Friday to stand under the Christmas Bough with Mr Darcy 😛 

Sources:

(1) http://from-bedroom-to-study.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-stirring-story-of-plum-pudding.html

(2) A Jane Austen Christmas: Regency Christmas Traditions – Maria Grace, White Soup Press 2014

(3) https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2009/dec/15/history-traditional-christmas-plum-porridge

(4) https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/wordofmouth/2009/dec/15/christmas-plum-porridge-recipe