To be angry at this arrogant pudding prat!

[BigHouseLittleHouse]

Article on Guardian today by a snide journalist wondering if we should abandon traditional puddings.

AIBU to find this article very aggravating? A bad cook blaming his incompetency on the recipes. He lost me at jam roly-poly which if made well (using a high-fruit content home made jam) is a clever dessert - the sweetness compensated well by a creamy vanilla custard (similar to the perfect ratio of fat and sugar represented by eating a jam donut).

By the time I got to rice pudding I felt positively violent. Rice pudding can be absolutely luxurious (as cooked by my neighbour) or it can be comforting and delicate (as cooked by my nutmeg-loving mother). How dare this pudding prat award only 3.5 to the taste of rice pudding? All he has done is evidence his pathetic inability to use his cook’s instinct to make a good version of a timeless classic.

If I asked my 7 year old to make these puddings they’d taste awful. That doesn’t mean the pudding itself is bad - just that the cook lacks skill.

Link:
www.theguardian.com/food/2025/sep/23/steam-stodge-suet-endangered-british-puddings-are-any-worth-saving

I'm sure I have seen a recipe (but not recently) for a savoury suet roll, containing chopped ham or bacon, onions and possibly other vegetables, (carrots?) spread over an oblong piece of suet pastry, then rolled up swiss roll style, put in paper and foil and steamed for hours.
Not so different from a steak and kidney pudding really, albeit without the delicious gravy.
Both are real cold-weather dishes and I suspect our winters tend to be milder than they were 50+ years ago.

@BigHouseLittleHouse
bread and butter pudding is easy
1 egg
half pint milk
table spoon sugar or how sweet you like it
buttered glass dish
buttered bread
raisins/currants
spred the bread, cut into slices/ squares
layer butter side down, raisins, bread raisins
warm milk ,egg &sygar mix to dissolve sugar
pour over, leave to soak for a while
bung in oven for half hour

All of those puddings would be my worst nightmare, tbh. My husband however (born in 1970, thinks it was 1930) would love all of them. He’s very sentimental about nursery type stodgy puds. I’ve never known him to actually order one, but his goes misty eyed at the thought.

YABU for still reading the grauniad.

I think its his style, did not realize he was American as I dont read him regularly but have always found him annoying when I have. Suet puddings are wonderful when done properly but like a lot of American food, if you dont grow up wth them, I can see why you wouldnt take to them.

Similar to a couple of PP, I'm not a big fan of most of those puddings. I can eat rice pudding if I have to but it's nothing special. Jam roly poly is edible but nothing more. I can appreciate when it's been done well but it's just not my thing.

I know, I know 😂

The Sussex Pond sounds amazing though! Malvern Pudding sounded nice too - but I'd have to replace the cinnamon with something else as I'm not a fan.

In the comments though, someone mentioned a pudding called Hollygog which does sound really good! I've actually got some shortcrust pastry in the fridge that I bought and didn't use so tempted to give this a go..... I'm wondering if the milk makes it soggy?

We sometimes had bacon and onion suet rolypoly for lunch in my primary school in the 1960s.

Pardon? What have I missed?

Whether or not he’s serious he misses the point of these puddings. They were high calorie to fill people up cheaply and in some cases using up stale bread. One of my favourites as a child was bread pudding.

This, probably
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/womens_rights/5400595-i-blame-jkrowling?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

Thank you!

I’ve not RTFT but I love the OP’s passion on the subject.
And I’m not going to set much store by whatever this man may say, coming as he does a country where ‘pudding’ means some sort of blancmange-like substance. eww.

I live alone but I still make puddings. Crumble is very easy and I like making pastry. I've got tons of apples to get through this year (donations from friends with bumper crops) so I'll be looking out for any apple-based puddings to make.

Yes I thought that too - a bad workman blaming his tools more like. Should have got Felicity Cloake on the case who knows her stuff.

It's just rage bait for clicks. Ignore and move on

They have that in Finland as well, but with syrup also added. Had many horrifying hours as kid turning the handle on a liver mincer. It’s served as a savoury dish though rather than a dessert. Interesting it’s in Iceland too.

I found it weird that he was put off by the sweetness of some puddings when pumpkin pie is sooo sweet.

He writes tongue in cheek articles, 'humorous' articles, usually quite deprecating which is unusual for Americans

However he might have missed the mark there or Im oversensitive about how British cuisine is portrayed, because people will buy into the 'its a load of stodge' narrative.

You go to other countries and they're proud of their food heritage and eat stinky, stodgy, fried, fresh, home grown foods. But we dont. We eat American, UPF crap and anything bland and beige. Im particularly thinking about fish which obviously forms no part of puddings.

You rarely hear about bread pudding these days. Its all bread and butter pudding. And lots of people dont understand the difference.

And gross.

But I hate squashes.

He didn’t say he likes pumpkin pie either. Americans are allowed to like a range of stuff!

Never heard of it but really want to try this. Of course the milk will make it soggy, Im guessing that is the point. I really like soggy pastry personally, I love stodge and heaviness.

My mum used to do traditional puddings - I wasn't a fan, other than of her apple pie which was delicious. Too much milk for my liking, and I absolutely loathe and despise custard. I'd rather have a slice of cake than a pudding.

Fun fact - I once worked in an office with a chap with the surname King who said Queen of Puddings was his favourite pudding.

The person I'm replying to does mention pumpkin pie. I thought instantly about pumpkin pie when read the article because we used to live in the US.