YORKSHIRE PUDDING

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22934, 12 January 1938, Page 4

YORKSHIRE PUDDING

FAMOUS NATIONAL DISH SECRETS OF A HOME COOK RECIPES FOR TWO VARIETIES Visitors from afar, it will be found, are interested keenly in making firsthand acquaintance with Yorkshire pudding during their stay in England, states a London writer.

Overseas Britishers in particular have heard much of its peerless perfection. It has become a culinary legend as it were, and present-day cooks who have tried their hand at its production have found usually that their best efforts have been challenged by puddings that lingered as happy memories of earlv youth in the homeland.

Arrived in -England, these overseas visitors are puzzled. They find two forms of pudding are served with their roast beef.

One is crisp and golden brown and so light-hearted that it appears literally to jump out of its tin as it emerges from the hot oven. The other kind ifc of a solid consistency, creamy in colour, and decidedly filling. Both puddings have thdir ardent supporters, but the Yorkshire-bred would declare ihat the first variety is the true Yorkshire pudding. When the old fashion is followed the pudding appears before the joint is served and is eaten with the gravy. A Yorkshire Farm Beclpe Take 4 oz. plain flour, pinch of salt, 1 large egg, 4 tablespoonfuls cold water, } pint milk, 2oz. dripping or lard. Sift the flour and salt into a basin make a well in the centre. Add the egg and a little milk, draw in the flour from the sidt?s to the centre,, add a little more milk and beat the lumps thoroughly. Do this lightly, but flrrnlv. fierce and spasmodic beating will not give satisfactory results. Stir in the rest of thf) milk by degrees, beating as long as this is practicable. Then beat in the 4 tablespoonfuls of water. Put dripping into tin and heat till blue smoke rises, then stir the batter and pour in. rapidly. Bake in very hot oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Do not remove from oven till the moment of serving. The addition of water makes the batter cook much more lightly and it is also slightly crisper than when made with milk alone. Cooked Before Open Fire Eighty years ago, I remember this pudding made in its home county, served with roast beef and cooked under the joint, which was turning on a "Jack" before an open fire. This is the way the pudding is prepared: Take three or four tablespoonfuls of flour. Put in bowl, and by slow degrees mix with milk to a batter like cream, not too thick. Next, add two well-beaten eggs—three

if a richer pudding is desired. Beat up well with a good pinch of salt and allow to stand for one or two hours.

Put a baking-tin to get hot. under the roasting meat. When this is halfroasted, let some of the fat grease the tin. Then well beat up the batter and pour into the tin, rather less than half-inch thick. Put under the meat to catch the drips, before a good roasting fire. Turn about so each side w equally browned. A real Yorkshire pudding is never turned over. When all is ready, cut in squares and send in with the meat. Formerly, it was often eaten before the meat with the gravy. A Savoury Variation

The secret of lightness in Yorkshire puddings is to use quite half water with the milk for the mixing and plenty of eggs—a tablespoonful flour to each ferson and ono egg to every three ablespoonfuls flour.

We use the following seasoned pudding with stews and other savoury meat dishes. '

Three tablespoonfuls flour, one egg, a little pepper, a pinch of salt, one small onion chopped and lightly boiled, one tablespoonful fine oatmeal, a good pinch or two of sage, and sufficient milk and water to mix to creamy consistency.