Yorkshire pudding BEFORE meal -anyone else?

[Bluesheep8]

My DP insists on having a Yorkshire pudding in a bowl with gravy BEFORE a roast beef dinner. I'd never heard of this before I met him and I've always had mine with the meal and still do. Does anyone else do this or recognise this? I wonder if it's a regional thing (he is from yorkshire) interested to hear...

I think it was a way of ensuring that the meat stretched further by filling people up a bit first.

Nope, never heard of this! My Yorkshire pudding goes on my plate with my dinner! It’s not a starter?!

I'm from Yorkshire and have had Yorkshire pudding as a starter. I think it's a traditional thing, back in the days where people had large families and not much money for food, a slab of stodgy pudding with gravy would fill you up so you didn't need to eat so much meat and veg.

My dad did this when we were younger. Also a very weird combo of Yorkshire pud, mushy peas and gravy as starter. Said it was traditional. (We’re in Yorkshire if that’s relevant).

Yep, when we were small (in the 80's) my mum and both sets of grandparents served their Yorkshire puddings first

Yes having it as a starter is a Yorkshire thing.

I'm from the North East - always had Yorkshire pudding or suet pudding and gravy served first before the meal.

I'm lazy, it goes on the same plate these days

This used ti be the way in working class Durham in my dad's day and as already said it was a way of filling up as the rest of the meal would have been very modest proportions.

Yes, always this way when we ate at my Nanas when I was a child. Pretty sure it was so the roast and veg could be a much smaller portion for feeding us more economically.

It's not a regional thing btw - it's called Yorkshire pudding. Everyone else (including me) is doing it wrong

Yes, normal. I was brought up to always have it on it's own with gravy first, although not in a separate bowl, just on the plate uou were going to use for the rest of the meal. We rarely have roasts at home now, but I still wince a bit when it is served with the rest of the food instead of on its own.

It's a Yorkshire thing. Local tradition.

It is their Yorkshire pudding after all and those from Yorkshire get to say how it's eaten.

When we got married (in Yorkshire) we had a roast dinner. The Yorkshire pudding was served first which confused some of our guests from further afield! My son was made up to find that in the local pub near my cousin's house in Yorkshire he could have a whole big Yorkshire pudding as a starter

It's done in Yorkshire. Traditionally to fill up the family and stretch the meat. DH's parents did it because they were mean. They revelled in their stinginess.

Yep, Yorkshire pudding as a starter is quite a regular feature on menus up here in Yorkshire.

I don't have starters when I cook a dinner (unless it's Xmas!) so it just goes on the same plate.

My dad also used to fill them with cream and jam, which sounds disgusting but it's really not

What I really don't get though is people who have a roast dinner and no yorkie!!

My MIL always used to say she had her Yorkshire Pudding with jam as a child... never tried it, I suppose I should.

I eat it for breakfast...the yanks make a version called popovers which are essentially small yorkies...eaten with butter and/or jam...

so eaten a long time before dinner!

Yorkshire pud with treacle on - don’t knock it til you’ve tried it

It's not 'mean', it's perfectly normal and traditional and as others have said, stems from the days when meat was a luxury and people filled up on it before the main meal.

And tbh, my lot would eat it over meat any day of the week!

I don't do it but it is what they were originally made for - Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy to start filling you up for cheap before the rest of the meal. Technically everyone not doing it this way (me included!) is wrong!

Per James Herriot books: them as eats most pudding gets most meat! Oh, and it is the same as pancake mix, so could go with jam.

'...regional thing...'

You can't call a traditional dish eaten as per the original purpose a regional variation. The variation is everyone who DOESN'T have it first.

Yorkshire pudding in Yorkshire traditionally before the meat and veg. We used to have it like this as children. Best part of the dinner!

When we used to visit my grandparents in Sunderland my grandad always cooked the Yorkshire puddings on a Sunday and served them before the main meal. I used to love it. It's one of my favourite memories of him and reading this post has made me think of him which I'm ashamed to say I haven't in a long while as he's been gone for nearly 30 years now 😢

I'm from Yorkshire but I've not ever heard of that! All goes down whatever way you do it though :D

Yep. Born in Yorkshire, some restaurants/pubs still do it as starter.