The Savannah morning news. (Savannah, Ga.) 1900-current, 1902-01-04
GIANT PLUM ruDDINGs.
Record Breakers Baked in England
TO supply whole Parishes.
From the New York sun.

10 SUPPLY MnOIe fHrtEbeb.
From the New York Sun.
Plum pudding is as closely associ-
ated with an English Christmas as the
holly and mistletoe. No Christmas din
ner would be complete without it,
Occasionally we read Of monster plum
buildings large enough to feed an en-
tire parish. In the village Of Paign-
ton, in Devonshre. the old charter pro-
vided that on each fiftieth Christmas
Day the village should provide plum
pudding large enough to feed all the
poor
In accordance with the provisions of
that charter on the first Christmas of
the nineteenth century a pudding was
made which weighed 800 pounds The
ingredients included more than
bushel OF eggs. 100 pounds Of suet. a like
weight of raisins, and 500 pounds Of
flour.
Such a monster pudding required
good deal OF boiling aud large brow
ing copper was utilized for that pur-
pose. IL was kept boiling from Sat
urday morning to Tuesday evening.
and when those in charge thought i
sufficiently cooked it was drawn by
three horses to the village green, and
there served out to the people, not
only to the poor, but to every person
who liked to participate. Unfortu-
nately, IL had not been boiled long
enough, for the heat had not penetra-
ted to the center of the vast mass
A few years later there was mon
ster pudding made in Southwark, then
a suburban borough of London. The
pudding was carried through the
streets in procession, headed by a
band, playing alternately Christmas
music and popular tunes.
In 1858 the village of Paigton was
connected with civilization by means Of
railroad and to celebrate the event.
the people. remembering the old char
ter, thought we'll to have a monster
pudding Ms part of the festivities The
preparations cost $225, the ingredients
considerably more.
These consisted OF 800 pounds of
flour, 400 pounds OF raisins, 1870 pounds
OF carants, 400 pounds of suet, 1877
pounds of breadcrumbs 95 pounds of
sugar, 300 lemons, l44 nutmegs and $50
quarts OF milk.
Remembering the previous failure.
the persons who undertook the prepar-
alton of the pudding made IL IN parts
building Dc up into the usual round
shape after the cooking had been done
This pudding weighed nearly ton
and a half and eight horses were en-
ployed to take 1t TO the village green
with all befitting ceremony. Thousands
were there to welcome IT,
At a church fair held about ten years
ago a monster pudding formed part or
the attraction. 1t was not nearly so
large as the giants just referred e.,
though 1t stood four feet high and
weighed $50 pounds
The ingredients consisted OF u eggs
81 pounds OF -four curants and rafsins,
q pounds OF sugar. "a pounds OF bread
. pounds of candied lemon peel
and pounds OF mixed spice. This was
also boiled in sections and erected aft
err being cooked
In some parts Of England the pud-
ding eaten on Christmas Day is a year
old, the good wife making enough pud-
dings to last over several family cell
ebration days, but reserving one pud-
ding for the following Christmas If
a genuine English pudding Is boiled
long enough 1t grows richer with age,
hence the custom.
Many housekeepers boil the puddings
twenty-four hours. and then let them
cool until one is wanted, the selected
one being boiled from four to six hours
longer previous to being placed on the
table.