St George fought a dragon and rescued a princess, and in doing so became forever known as a saint renowned for over exaggeration with a saint’s day that no one really remembers. St. Patrick, on the other hand, chased a bunch of snakes out of Ireland and is celebrated the world over with copious amounts of Guinness and the disturbing sight of people wearing large silly leprechaun hats and adopting bizarre Irish accents despite the fact they were born in Slough, but having a jolly good time in the process.
To redress this balance, the ever lovely Sam at Becks and Posh suggested a celebration of all that is best in English cookery, a joyous occasion where we could put old George back on the culinary map and actually remember St. Georges Day in a manner befitting that great killer of giant lizards. With pudding.
When it boils down to it, the English have a fine tradition of boiling meat and vegetables. As a proponent of all things English this blog has celebrated that heritage at every turn. Yet, the one thing that we are very good at, the one thing that we have over those other more refined culinary traditions is pudding. Frankly, the sight of a huge steaming treacle pudding or spotted dick lathered in bright yellow custard or a golden brown bread and butter pudding is more pleasing to me than any Frenchy French tart au pomme or crème caramel. Rib sticking and satisfying they are truly the pinnacle of any dessert.
So, ladies, I have been charged by Sam with gathering your St Georges Day pudding recipes. The good lady herself will be collating the men in this noble task. Find and create the finest English puddings you can muster and on the day itself, celebrate the least remembered of British saints with a post worthy of his slightly dubious claim to fame. Send me your links and I’ll compile a list of English “afters” across the globe.
The rules of engagement are here:
To join in, all you have to do is make something sweet and English and post about it on your blog on Sunday April 23rd. You could include photographs, recipes, history or stories about the dessert, the choice is yours. Read the full entry guidelines here which includes details about where to send your post in order to be included in the roundup. English puddings - oh yes - this is going to be more than yummy!
9 comments:
Hello, Monkey Gland!
I am here via the lovely Sam; as I told her, I think this is a really splendid idea that you two have engineered. I am a big fan of English desserts, as evidenced by the rubber bands holding my Mary Norwak cookbooks together. :) I'm off to read the rules and start making a shopping list!
Sweet! count me in! It's on my birthday too!! I spent my last birthday in England, this one I'll settle for English puddings.
Sticky sweet!
Fantastic idea Sam and MG. Only problem will be which pudding to make. Might have to honour the day with a day long baking and eating celebration. I can't wait to see what everyone comes up with, and what is the favourite pudding to be made.
St George's day is April 24th this year!
"Festivals falling on a Sunday are to be kept on that day or transferred to the Monday [...] But a Festival may not be celebrated on Sundays in Advent, Lent or Eastertide."
So the 23rd April, is the 2nd Sunday of Easter (and in Eastertide), therefore St George's Day is transfered to the Monday.
Actually, Anna raises a good point. Do we need to confine ourselves to a single pud, or can we make a couple different kinds if the siren call is just too strong?
bakerina: post about as many as you like, but you'd make my job a lot easier if you post about them all in one post!
Oh, of course I'll put them all in one post. I may be compulsive, but I am certainly not cruel. :)
i read up on that chainging the date to the 24th thing and it may be only in orthodox churches. I am not too worried about it.
Post a Comment