Yorkshire pudding
{{short description|Traditional English side dish}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2021}}
{{Infobox food
| name = Yorkshire pudding
| image = Yorkshire-puddings.jpg
| image_size = 270
| caption = Yorkshire puddings
| alternate_name = Yorkshire
| country = England
| region = Northern England
| type = Pudding
| served =
| main_ingredient = Milk or water, flour and eggs
| variations =
| calories =
| other =
}}
File:Traditional Yorkshire Pudding.jpg
Yorkshire pudding is a baked pudding made from a batter of eggs, flour, and milk or water.{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Yorkshire-pudding|title=Yorkshire Pudding|encyclopedia=Encyclopaedia Britannica|last=Siciliano-Rosen|first=Laura|date=22 October 2014|access-date=2 July 2018}} A common English side dish, it is a versatile food that can be served in numerous ways depending on its ingredients, size, and the accompanying components of the meal. As a first course, it can be served with onion gravy. For a main course, it may be served with meat and gravy (historically roast beef but in recent years with other meats), as part of the traditional Sunday roast, but can also be filled with foods such as bangers and mash to make a meal. Sausages can be added to make toad in the hole. In some parts of England, (especially the Midlands) the Yorkshire pudding can be eaten as a dessert, with a sweet sauce. The 18th-century cookery writer Hannah Glasse was the first to use the term "Yorkshire pudding" in print.
Yorkshire puddings are similar to Dutch baby pancakes,{{cite news|url=https://www.foodandwine.com/news/dutch-baby-yorkshire-pudding-controversy|title=Dutch Baby or Yorkshire Pudding? Brits Argue Their Savory Dish Should Never Go Sweet|last=Campbell-Schmitt|first=Adam|date=15 May 2018|work=Food & Wine|access-date=27 September 2018 }} and to popovers, an American light roll made from an egg batter.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bKVCtH4AjwgC|page= 551|title=On Food and Cooking: The Science and lore of the Kitchen|isbn=9780684800011|last1=McGee|first1=Harold|date=16 November 2004|publisher=Simon & Schuster}}
History
File:Traditional.Sunday.Roast-01.jpg]]
File:Yorkies in cast iron frypan.JPG
When wheat flour began to come into common use for making cakes and puddings, cooks in northern England (Yorkshire) devised a means of making use of the fat that dropped into the dripping pan to cook a batter pudding while the meat roasted. In 1737, a recipe for "a dripping pudding" was published in Sir Alexander William George Cassey's book The Whole Duty of a Woman:{{cite book | last1 = Lady | first1 = A | first2 = William |last2 = Kenrick | title = The Whole Duty of a Woman | year = 1737 | location = London | pages =468–9 | url =https://archive.org/stream/wholedutyawoman00unkngoog#page/n477/mode/2up |access-date=7 December 2017 |via=archive.org}}
{{blockquote|Make a good batter as for pancakes; put in a hot toss-pan over the fire with a bit of butter to fry the bottom a little then put the pan and butter under a shoulder of mutton, instead of a dripping pan, keeping frequently shaking it by the handle and it will be light and savoury, and fit to take up when your mutton is enough; then turn it in a dish and serve it hot.}}
Similar instructions were published during 1747 in the book The Art of Cookery made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse, with the name 'Yorkshire pudding'. It was she who renamed the original version, known as Dripping Pudding, which had been cooked in England for centuries, although these puddings were much flatter than the puffy versions made in modern times.{{cite book | last=Glasse | first=Hannah| title=The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy | publisher=Applewood Books | date=1998 | orig-year=1747 |isbn=978-1-55709-462-9 }} William Sitwell suggests that the pudding got the name 'Yorkshire' due to the region's association with coal and the higher temperatures this produced which helped to make the batter crisper.{{cite book|last=Sitwell|first=William|title=A History of Food in 100 Recipes|publisher=William Collins|year=2015|isbn=978-0-00-741200-6|page=136}}
Originally, the Yorkshire pudding was served as a first course with thick gravy to dull the appetite with the low-cost ingredients so that the diners would not eat so much of the more expensive meat in the next course.{{cite web|url=http://www.food.com/recipe/old-england-traditional-roast-beef-and-yorkshire-pudding-263751|title=Old England Traditional Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding|publisher=food.com|access-date=15 October 2015}} Because the rich gravy from the roast meat drippings was used with the first course, the main meat and vegetable course was often served with a parsley or white sauce.{{cite news |title=Secret of a perfect Yorkshire pud |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/7729470.stm |work=BBC News |access-date=14 November 2008 |date=14 November 2008}} In poorer households, the pudding was often served as the only course. Using dripping,{{cite web |title=The history and origins of the Yorkshire Pudding |url=https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Yorkshire-Pudding/ |access-date=26 June 2022 |website=Historic UK }} a simple meal was made with flour, eggs and milk. This was traditionally eaten with a gravy or sauce, to moisten the pudding.
The Yorkshire pudding is meant to rise. The Royal Society of Chemistry suggested in 2008 that "A Yorkshire pudding isn't a Yorkshire pudding if it is less than {{convert|4|in|cm|0|spell=in|disp=sqbr}} tall".{{cite web |url=http://www.rsc.org/aboutus/news/pressreleases/2008/perfectyorkshire.asp |title=Yorkshire pudding must be four inches tall, chemists rule |date=12 November 2008 |publisher=Royal Society of Chemistry|access-date=8 January 2014}}
Baking method
Yorkshire pudding is made by pouring a batter — made from milk, flour and eggs — into hot beef dripping, lard, or other rendered fat, (from which it gains its flavour), in a preheated baking pan (ramekins or muffin tins in the case of miniature puddings) and baking in a hot oven. They can also be baked in cast-iron frying pans or similar.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/9020/best-yorkshire-puddings|title=Best Yorkshire Puddings|publisher=BBC Good Food|date=February 2009}}{{cite web |title=Yorkshire pudding isn't for dessert |url=https://www.thegazette.com/food-drink/extra-ordinary-food-dig-in/ |access-date=24 November 2022 |website=www.thegazette.com }}
A basic equal-part batter recipe uses 200 ml flour and 200 ml milk with four eggs (also 200 ml).{{cite web |title=Best Yorkshire puddings |url=https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/best-yorkshire-puddings |website=BBC Good Food |access-date=8 March 2021 }} Sometimes a small quantity of baking powder is added to aid the pudding to rise during baking. Replacing the milk with water produces a lighter, crisper, but less sweet pudding.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/11377277/Yorkshire-puds-arent-just-for-roasts-theyre-a-cracking-dessert-too.html|title=Yorkshire puds aren't just for roasts – they're a cracking dessert, too|work=The Daily Telegraph|first=Xanthe |last=Clay|date=30 January 2015|access-date=20 December 2017}}
A 1926 recipe involves covering the pudding with greaseproof paper to steam it and then serving it with jam, butter and sugar.{{cite web|url=http://recipespastandpresent.org.uk/1926puddings.php|title=1926 Recipes – Puddings and Pastry|publisher=Recipes Past and Present|access-date=16 May 2018}}
Yorkshire Pudding Day
National Yorkshire Pudding Day has been celebrated on the first Sunday in February in Britain since 2007.{{cite web|last=Lindsay|first=Duncan|date=7 February 2016|title=National Yorkshire Pudding Day: 9 delicious and easy yorkie dishes to blow your taste buds|url=https://metro.co.uk/2016/02/07/national-yorkshire-pudding-day-9-delicious-and-easy-yorkie-dishes-to-blow-your-taste-buds-5663313/|access-date=20 December 2017|website=Metro}}{{cite news|last=Gorringe|first=Anne|date=4 February 2016|title=Don't get in a stew about Yorkshire puddings: Find out everything about the delicacy|work=Sunday Express|url=https://www.express.co.uk/travel/articles/641387/Yorkshire-pudding-facts|access-date=17 May 2018}}{{cite web|url=http://yorkshiresbestguides.co.uk/national-yorkshire-pudding-day-sunday-4-february-2018/|title=National Yorkshire Pudding Day – Sunday 4 February 2018|publisher=Yorkshire's Best Guides|date=29 January 2018|access-date=17 May 2018}} It is celebrated on 13 October in the United States.{{cite book|title=FoodFest 365!: The Officially Fun Food Holiday Cookbook|first=Yvan|last=Lemoine|year=2010|publisher=Simon & Schuster|page=39|isbn=9781440510007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dxfrDQAAQBAJ&pg=PP39|access-date=20 May 2018}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Portal|Food}}
- {{Cookbook-inline|Yorkshire Pudding}}
- {{Commons category-inline|Yorkshire pudding}}
{{Puddings}}
{{English cuisine}}