March 25, 2018 – I first tasted Yorkshire pudding in London several years ago. It was served in the traditional manner as an accompaniment to roast beef. It was delicious.
When we in the United States think of pudding we most often think chocolate. Or banana. Or vanilla.
It’s not the same in the United Kingdom. In that country, a pudding can be one of several things. Yorkshire pudding, for example, is a dough that puffs up in the oven much like a soufflé.
Originally called dripping pudding, Yorkshire pudding has been a staple in the United Kingdom for centuries. No one knows for sure when it first appeared. It’s generally agreed that it originated in the Yorkshire district of England though other parts of the country challenge that.
The first written reference to dripping pudding is in a cookbook published in 1737. A woman named Hannah Glasse is credited with changing the name to Yorkshire pudding in her book, The Art of Cooking Made Plain and Simple, published ten years later.
Like so many now beloved dishes, Yorkshire pudding first served the purpose of utilizing every morsel of precious food. Even the drippings from roasting meat were used in making it.
It was served as an appetizer of sorts in the hope that diners would fill up on the bread-like pudding so they wouldn’t eat so much of the meat course. After all, meat was harder to come by than flour and water.
Times changed. Meat became easier to find and more affordable. Yorkshire pudding became the traditional accompaniment to a Sunday roast beef dinner. It is most often served with gravy or perhaps just a little of the jus from the roast.
Yorkshire pudding is not hard to make. The sine qua non, however, is high heat and a little hot oil in the cooking vessel. Hot to the point of smoking. Also all ingredients must be at room temperature. If not, the pudding likely will not rise.
The pudding can be made in one large oven-proof vessel or, as I chose, in smaller ramekins.
Here then is my take on Yorkshire pudding.
1 cup milk
1 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat the oven to 450.
Beat eggs and milk briskly.
Sift flour and salt into the egg and milk. Mix well.
Put one tablespoon of meat drippings into each ramekin. Put the ramekins in the oven. Let the oil heat to the point of smoking. Fill each hot ramekin about two-thirds full with the batter. Bake for 20 minutes.
The puddings should be puffed like a soufflé and nicely browned. Serve au jus with roast beef.