CHRISTMAS PORRIDGE.

Otago Witness, Issue 3275, 20 December 1916, Page 63

CHRISTMAS PORRIDGE.

Christmas pudding (writes a correspondent) had its rival at Court even as late as the reign of George 111 m the oldfashioned Christmas or plum porridge. For the benefit of any housewife who would like to try it this' Christmas I will mention that it was made by boiling beef or mutton into broth which was thickened with brown bread. When half-boiled, raisins, currants, prunes, mace, and gingerbread were added, and after the whole was thoroughly boiled it was served hot in a semi-liquid state. Sir Roger de Coverlev, a staunch Churchman, testified his approval of it by saying that "there was some hone of a Dissenter when he saw him enjoying his plum porridge." A REMARKABLE PUDDING. One of the most remarkable Christmas puddings on record was the one made by the late Lord Wolseley and a brother officer to celebrate the Christmas spent in the Crimea. These are the details: A box of figs did for fruit. Suet was unobtainable, so they used rancid grease. There was' no flour to be had, so they made some by pounding up ship's biscuit with a pestle and mortar. The latter articles were also improvised—a j*r.j-sia-i round shot and a piece of an exploded shell. When the mess was properly mixed it was tied in a towel and placed to boil. An order to hurry to the trenches cut short this operation* however, and the fate of the pudding hung for a moment in doubt. Either it had to be wasted or eaten half cooked. It was eaten, and Wolseley had to retire some time later from the trenches under doctor's orders. A RECORD MINCE PIE. Perhaps the biggest mince, pie of which English history feears record was that sent from Berwick* to London in 1770 for Sir Henry Grew It contained two bushels of flour,* 201 b 'of butter, four geese, two turkeys, two rabbits, four wild ducks, two woodcock, six snipe, four partridges, two Meats' tongues, two curlews, seven blackbirds, and six pigeons. Furthermore, it was 9ft in circumference, weighed 1681 b, and was wheeled about by two men "to facilitate its use to every 'guest that inclines to partake of its contents at table." The " four-and-twenty blackbirds baked in a pie," of classic fame, could hardly have proved a daintier dish than this! MEANING OF HOLLY. Do yon know why you adorn your house with holly? This "pious and ancient custom is supposed to be a survival of an old Teutonic practice of hanging the in-' terior of houses with evergreens as a shelter for sylvan spirits in bad weather. And in the old days holly was considered beneficial to men as well as spirits. The leaves were supposed to cure rheumatism and fever, and a decoction made from them never failed to relieve pain in the side. And even to-day holly has its value. For a small piece that has helped to adorn a church is an infallible brhiger of good luck, as any Herefordshire man Mill tell ycu. THE BOAR'S HEAD. The boar's head was once the indispensable adornment of our festive board, and on-the Continent even to-day the pig eaiily holds first place as the favourite Christmas dish. In Denmark and Sweden pig's head usually has the place of honour table; in Rumania and Russia pig's trotters arc the piece de resistance ; in Serbia each family strives to have a pig roasted whole for the occasion. In rural Germany it is customary to kill a pig for Christmas, and there is :i general belief that the bones and entrails of the anima' selected will produce extraordii ary fertility if scattered upon the land.