Pudding Club

Proud me.

This post brought to you by my parents’ trip to Oxford, and by Lindsay’s failure to ever hear about Pudding Club in all the years she lived in Oxford.

My parents came to spend a couple of weeks with me last month, and stayed in an apartment, rather than a hotel, near where I live. Not only did this afford them enough room to sprawl out for the duration of their stay, but they also had enough room to entertain.  Just after they arrived, we had a dinner party for my housemates, where my Mom cooked a couple of my childhood favourites: sweet and sour sausage, and pink lady for dessert.  I think the sausage dish (basically, a bowl of sausage smothered in ketchup and curry sauce, and served over rice) might have been a touch too sweet for the delicate English palates of my housemates, but the pink lady (a proper graham cracker crust topped with a mixture of gelatin, rasperries and cream) hit exactly the right note.  Given that this was the first time I’ve eaten either of these dishes in approximately a hundred years, I felt like I was in heaven.  

Not only was my parents’ visit a chance to finally spend time with them after a year of being apart, and to enjoy the food they were able to smuggle carry into the UK, but it was also a chance to revisit my family’s food history.  I grew up on a grain farm, which did not translate into a taste for gourmet food.  What it did was lend itself to long hours of physical labour, and the development of a huge appetite for hearty stick-to-your-ribs food and big, stodgy desserts.  When I heard about Pudding Club, I knew this was something I would have to experience with my folks.  

Pudding club is an evening of entertainment smothered in custard and toffee sauce.  We spent the afternoon working up an appetite while adventuring in the Cotswolds.  When we finally arrived at the Four Corners House in Mickleton, it was already dark and we were starving.  We were greeted by a gregarious man wearing a pudding-print tie, and offering us glasses of elderberry fizz.  We were then treated to a speech about the history of steamed puddings and their social and cultural significance to the British way of life.  The menu was then described: we were to be served our choice of starter: braised beef, pasta, or crab cakes, followed by the glorious main event, the Parade of the Seven Puddings.  Each of the puddings was then named and briefly described:

I posed for this before we sat down.

The Pudding List:

Sticky Toffee and Date Pudding

Very Chocolate Pudding

Spotted Dick

Syrup Sponge Pudding

Lord Randall’s Pudding

Bread and Butter Pudding

Passionfruit Charlotte

We were led into the dining hall and seated at numbered tables. We sat next to two couples who were taking in the entire pudding experience: sleeping in one of the hotel's pudding-themed rooms, and looking forward to their full English breakfast (featuring black pudding) the next morning.

Beef and two veg.  Where's my pudding?!?

 

An air of anticipation filled the room as we finished our starter of braised beef and a few veggies.  The dishes were cleared away and the Parade of the Seven Puddings began.  Each pudding was announced and carried around the room for everyone to see, before being placed in the centre of the room next to oversized bowls of pouring cream, warm custard, chocolate sauce and toffee sauce. 

All of the pudding.  All in one place.

Bowls and spoons were distributed before we were called up one table at a time to collect our puddings.  Strict rules were followed: you were allowed to choose only one pudding at a time and you had to empty your bowl before being allowed a new pudding.  We were advised to get to know the people sitting next to us, in case we came across a pudding we didn’t like.  I didn’t come across a pudding I didn’t like.

Every time our table number was called, Dad and I raced to be first in line.  I let him win most of the time, because I know how to respect my elders.  Several of the other diners dropped off after about 4 or 5 servings of pudding, but we persevered until we’d tasted each of the seven puddings.  Then we went back for one more helping of our respective favourites.  

Eight servings of pudding... hoofta!  Me and my Dad with our sinning puddings.  Passionfruit Charlotte was my surprise favourite, while Dad liked the Syrup Sponge Pudding.  

Shortly after the certificates were distributed, we waddled out to the car.  Fat and happy.  And haggard.  That was a lot of spoon lifting for just one night, and more sugar than I ever thought I could consume at one sitting.  

Apparently, they change up their pudding menu for the summer.  Who’s up for a gluttony road-trip in June?

New Teaser

The Pudding Club was founded in 1985 to prevent the demise of the great British Pudding!

Here is my score card.  It's alphabetized, as you can see.  I numbered each pudding in the order that I consumed it, and put a check next to the number if I was able to have a second helping.  My scores are out of 10, and I put a star next to my score if a pudding was eaten and had to be replaced.

The Sticky Toffee Pudding won the popular vote, and I liked it quite a lot.  However, the Passionfruit Charlotte pulled out a surprise victory.

Teaser

Calista and I have had a history with Ethiopian food.  A few years ago, an Ethiopian restaurant opened in Regina when we still lived there, and we discovered how fantastic it is.  Similar to Indian food, but less spicy, we tried everything on the menu at Selam in Regina and then hit up Ethiopian joints in London and wherever else we could get it.  We discovered that beef is amazing served spiced and raw, that you can do phenomenal things with lentils, and that Ethiopian cabbage and carrot stirfry makes a delicious hangover cure.

There is no Ethiopian food in Barrie.  Adam and I make the odd trip to Toronto to get our fix, but it's not terribly convenient, so I finally decided to make it at home.  What we do have in Barrie is Bulk Barn, and they carry Teff flour, which is the basis of Injera, a flatbread that forms the the plate, tablecloth, and utensils that you use to eat the rest of the meal.  I started three days ago, when I made a sourdough starter for Injera.  I had been warned by the Internet that Injera takes time to master and doesn't necessarily work terribly well in North America.  I threw caution to the wind and...well, you'll notice there is no Injera recipe posted here.  My Injera was edible but not shareable.  I'll keep trying and post when I get it.

The rest, however, came out really well.  I did Kik Alecha, which is a mild split pea paste, and Mesir Wot, which is a spicy red lentil paste, along with Cabbage, Carrots, and Potatoes.  I used way less butter than was called for in the recipes because I'm in recovery mode from Christmas, and though it was less creamy the result was still pretty good.  The great thing about it this way, too, is that it's crazy healthy - low in fat and high in protein and fibre.

If you'd like to try, you can get Berbere at any Ethiopian or African grocery.


All of the recipes below are for two to four people, but they would double easily.

Ethiopian Cabbage, Potato and Carrot Stir-Fry

(Adapted from http://www.howtocookgreatethiopian.com/ethiopian-cabbage-potato-and-carrot-stir-fry)
Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp butter
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, thinly sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1-inch piece fresh, peeled ginger chopped, or 2 tsp jarred ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 head cabbage, chopped
• 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into cubes
• berbere to taste

Heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat.  Add the onion, ginger, and garlic and cook until the onion is softened.  Add the carrots and potatoes and cook and for another 5 minutes.  Add the cumin, turmeric, berbere, salt and cabbage and stir to coat the cabbage with the spices.  Add a small amount of water if needed, cover, and allow to sweat until the potatoes and carrots are softened.

Mesir Wot (spicy red lentils)

(Adapted from http://stephfood.com/tag/berbere/#MesirWat)


Ingredients

• 1 onion or 3 shallots, chopped
• 3 cloves of garlic, crushed or finely minced
• 2 tsp ginger, peeled and minced or grated
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 and a half teaspoons berbere
• 1 cups red lentils, rinsed
• 1/2 small can of tomato paste
• 3 water or broth
• salt to taste

Place the onion, garlic and ginger in a food processor or blender and puree. Add a little water if necessary.  Melt the butter in a pan over medium flame.  Add the berbere and stir for about 30 seconds to cook the spices and colour the butter.  Let it get all frothy.  Ad the onion puree and saute for about 5 min until the onion is cooked.  Add the lentils and water or broth, bring to a boil, and cook, covered for about 40 min until the lentils are cooked and start to get mushy.  About halfway through, add the tomato paste.  This is best if made early in the day and then reheated just before you eat it.

Kik Alecha (mild yellow split peas) 

(Adapted from http://www.howtocookgreatethiopian.com/alitcha-aterkik-yellow-split-peas-2)

• 3 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup dried yellow split peas
• 1 tbsp water
• 1/2 small onion or 3 shallots, chopped
•  4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 inch of fresh ginger peeled, finely chopped, or about 1 tbsp jarred
• 1 tsp or more ground turmeric
• salt

Place 3 cups water (or a stock if you wish) and the yellow split peas in a pot and bring to a boil on high heat.  Once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until most of the water has absorbed, about 40 minutes.  Drain the split peas and mash a little in their pot.

Place the onion, garlic, and ginger in a food processor or blender and puree.  Melt the butter in a frying pan and add the turmeric.  When frothy, add the onion puree and cook for 5 min.  Add to the split peas
Saute your onion until clear, 5 minutes. Then add ginger, garlic, and turmeric and cook 1 minute.   Add to the cooked peas.  Add a little more water and simmer again until the peas are very soft.  Add salt to taste.  As with the Mesir Wot, this is best if you make it in the afternoon, then add water until it's soupy and re-boil it until it gets thick again.
 

Going clockwise starting from the bottom:  Cabbage, potatoes, and carrots, Mesir Wot, Kik Alecha.