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Spotted dick is a traditional
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
steamed
pudding Pudding is a type of food which can either be a dessert served after the main meal or a Savoury (dish), savoury (salty or sweet, and spicy) dish, served as part of the main meal. In the United States, ''pudding'' means a sweet, milk-based des ...
, historically made with
suet Suet ( ) is the raw, hard fat of beef, lamb or mutton found around the loins and kidneys. Suet has a melting point of between and solidification (or congelation) between . Its high smoke point makes it ideal for deep frying and pastr ...
and
dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...
(usually currants or
raisin A raisin is a Dried fruit, dried grape. Raisins are produced in many regions of the world and may be eaten raw or used in cooking, baking, and brewing. In the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia and South Afri ...
s) and often served with
custard Custard is a variety of culinary preparations based on sweetened milk, cheese, or cream cooked with Eggs as food, egg or egg yolk to thicken it, and sometimes also flour, corn starch, or gelatin. Depending on the recipe, custard may vary in con ...
. Non-traditional variants include recipes that replace suet with other fats (such as butter), or that include eggs to make something similar to a sponge pudding or cake.


Etymology

''Spotted'' is a reference to the
dried fruit Dried fruit is fruit from which the majority of the original water content has been removed prior to cooking or being eaten on its own. Drying may occur either naturally, by sun, through the use of industrial dehydrators, or by freeze drying. ...
in the pudding (which resembles spots). The word ''dick'' refers to pudding. In late 19th century
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
, for instance, a glossary of local terms stated: "''Dick'', plain pudding. If with
treacle Treacle () is any uncrystallised syrup made during the refining of sugar.Oxford Dictionary The most common forms of treacle are golden syrup, a pale variety, and black treacle, a darker variety similar to molasses. Black treacle has a distinctiv ...
sauce, treacle dick." This sense of ''dick'' may be related to the word ''dough''. In the variant name ''spotted dog'', ''dog'' is a variant form of ''dough''.


History

The dish is first attested in Alexis Soyer's ''The Modern Housewife or, Ménagère'', published in 1849, in which he described a recipe for "Plum Bolster, or Spotted DickRoll out two pounds of paste ..have some
Smyrna Smyrna ( ; , or ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek city located at a strategic point on the Aegean Sea, Aegean coast of Anatolia, Turkey. Due to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence, and its good inland connections, Smyrna ...
raisins well washed". The name "spotted dog" first appeared in 1855, in C.M. Smith's "Working-men's Way in the World" where it was described as a "very marly species of plum-pudding". This name, along with "railway cake", is most common in Ireland where it is made more similar to a
soda bread Soda bread is a variety of quick bread made in many cuisines in which sodium bicarbonate (otherwise known as "baking soda", or in Ireland, "bread soda") is used as a leavening agent instead of yeast. The basic ingredients of soda bread are flo ...
loaf with the addition of currants. The ''
Pall Mall Gazette ''The Pall Mall Gazette'' was an evening newspaper founded in London on 7 February 1865 by George Murray Smith; its first editor was Frederick Greenwood. In 1921, '' The Globe'' merged into ''The Pall Mall Gazette'', which itself was absorbed i ...
'' reported in 1892 that "the Kilburn Sisters ..daily satisfied hundreds of dockers with soup and Spotted Dick". The name has long been a source of amusement and
double entendre A double entendre (plural double entendres) is a figure of speech or a particular way of wording that is devised to have a double meaning, one of which is typically obvious, and the other often conveys a message that would be too socially unacc ...
s; reportedly restaurant staff in the
Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...
decided to rename it "Spotted Richard" so it was "less likely to cause a stir".


See also

* Clootie dumpling, a similar Scottish Traditional Pudding * Figgy duff, a bag pudding from Newfoundland * Poutchine au sac, Métis bag pudding from Western Canada * List of fruit dishes * List of steamed foods


References


Bibliography


External links


Alexis Soyer's original 1849 recipe for Spotted Dick
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spotted Dick British puddings English cuisine Custard desserts Steamed foods Raisin dishes