Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2018 September 4

= September 4 =

Steamed School Pudding
Could someone from Britain explain to this American the practice/concept/item that is steamed school pudding? Thank you, † dismas †|(talk) 00:43, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Spotted Dick and suet pudding would be good places to start. DuncanHill (talk) 00:47, 4 September 2018 (UTC)


 * I don't think these delicacies with an acquired taste have been on school menus for several decades. I, as a septuagenarian, have never before heard the term "steamed school pudding" Richard Avery (talk) 07:15, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * I'm in my late forties, and well remember spotted dick, roly-polies, and the like at school. DuncanHill (talk) 14:19, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * @Duncan Hill, I certainly remember those things as well and we generally ate them keenly because we were hungry. It is the term "steamed school pudding" that I don't recall. I also remember something called "mock cream" that seemed to have no discernible taste. Richard Avery (talk) 07:12, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * I'd agree that "steamed school pudding" is not a native formation. I recall two types of mock cream, one had a slightly gritty texture, I think made from dried milk and sugar, the other was called "Dream Topping" and came from a packet. Neither had any currency in my family. We had custard (Bird's) and clotted cream (from Mrs Daniels). DuncanHill (talk) 12:46, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Aah, nostalgia isn't what it used to be. ;-) Richard Avery (talk) 14:16, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

I've heard School Pudding used in various places but only in passing. What caused me to finally ask is a challenge of one of the episodes of The Great British Bake Off. In the episode, they talk about how it was originally rather terrible, having been made in the intestines of an animal and then eventually sugar got added and they then cooked it in a bit of linen instead of intestine. They mention a couple times that it's this big British tradition but don't go into why or anything like that. I guess they assume that all their British viewers already know about whatever tradition they're referring to. † dismas †|(talk) 14:50, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * We still have puddings made in intestines, such as black pudding and hog's pudding. Other puddings, steak and kidney pudding for example, are encased in a suet pastry. DuncanHill (talk) 14:54, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * And don't forget the chieftain of the pudding race. Alansplodge (talk) 11:27, 6 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Suddenly, I'm not hungry anymore. 2606:A000:1126:4CA:0:98F2:CFF6:1782 (talk) 18:02, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Why ever not? DuncanHill (talk) 04:01, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Presumably because he's using the US English def of pudding as a dessert item, and a dessert with blood and kidneys in it does seem disgusting. For comparison, how does a Cadbury Egg filled with blood and kidneys sound ? It might actually be tasty, in something like the shell of a pasty, but still would sound bad if called that.  If such puddings were called something like "casseroles", that would sound better to Americans. SinisterLefty (talk) 15:44, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * It sounds better than crunchy frog. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 21:55, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * If you put steak and kidneys in a shortcrust or flaky pastry shell, it would be a steak and kidney pie. DuncanHill (talk) 16:14, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

And these are served in modern schools? Or does it get the name from having been developed at a school? † dismas †|(talk) 18:29, 4 September 2018 (UTC)


 * We used to have steam pudding at school, and everyone knew what it was.  It wasn't "steamed school pudding", just "steam pudding" - although that might have been "steamed pudding" loosely pronounced. 2.28.95.203 (talk) 18:37, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Or "team pudding". Anyone who didn't know could ask what it was and learn "It's team pudding". Soon everyone would know it's steam pudding, because that's the one that sounds less preposterous. Meanwhile, the team just eventually accepts its pudding is everyone's now, and never speaks of it again. Granted, I'm no expert, haven't been near a British school. InedibleHulk (talk) 19:51, 4 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Yes, steamed puddings used to be served regularly as the second course of school meals, presumably because they were cheap and filling. They often contained suet.   Dbfirs  20:27, 4 September 2018 (UTC)

Was this during the lower grades? What I would call elementary school. Or at university? † dismas †|(talk) 23:51, 4 September 2018 (UTC)
 * Here's an article concerning Wycombe Abbey (girls' boarding school; ages 11 to 18): 107.15.157.44 (talk) 02:16, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * In my experience primary school, secondary school, and at university. At VIth form we bought pasties and the like in town. School, in British English, never means university. DuncanHill (talk) 03:59, 5 September 2018 (UTC)


 * To quote George Orwell, recalling his St Cyprian's preparatory school experience in 1915 (from an essay published after his death):


 * "[It] had been common for school dinners to start off with a slab of unsweetened suet pudding, which, it was frankly said, 'broke the boys appetites.'"
 * 107.15.157.44 (talk) 04:59, 5 September 2018 (UTC)
 * 107.15.157.44 (talk) 04:59, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

Never had it at school, but my mum's "steamed pudding" ( WP:ORWP:POV ) was a cakey thing, with big fat raisins in it, enjoyed with custard, cream or, best of all IMHO, Golden syrup. It was a real treat. It was made, upside down, in a special flowerpot-shaped metal mould. --Dweller (talk) Become old fashioned! 08:50, 5 September 2018 (UTC)

Thank you all for the responses! This has been quite an education (pun intended). † dismas †|(talk) 14:18, 5 September 2018 (UTC)


 * And finally, there exists a cousin of the spotted dick (which was always politely referred to as "spotted dog" at my council primary school in London) which is called college pudding: "A traditional pudding served to students in the halls of Oxford and Cambridge".
 * Also, nobody has mentioned that other suety delight, Christmas pudding. Alansplodge (talk) 11:35, 6 September 2018 (UTC)