Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding

“We wish you a Merry Christmas…so bring us some figgy pudding…we won’t go until we get some…”

“Mom, what’s figgy pudding?” asked my youngest.

“I haven’t the faintest, dear,” I replied, “but it must have been good for those chilly carolers to ask for it by name.”

“Well, can I try some?”

Selina Stockley at Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe in Mission Hills (619-683-2748; ukcornershoppe.com) warned me that my search might prove tricky, carol or no carol.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“The song goes, ‘So bring us some figgy pudding.’ But ‘figgy pudding’ means that it’s got figs in it, and over the years that’s kind of been blended into plum pudding. People stopped putting the figs in because of the expense. They used plums instead.”

And plum pudding, she’s got. “I actually sell them throughout the year. We get them in at Christmas and run out around August or September. We have a classic version, which is made with cider and sherry [$2.99 for 3.5 ounces; $12.95 for a pound; $19.95 for two pounds]. A pound will serve 6 to 8, and the two-pounder will serve at least 12 — it’s so rich. Then we have a luxury version, which is made with brandy and rum [$4.95 for 3.5 ounces; $17.95 for a pound; $31.55 for two pounds]. We also have a Guinness Christmas Pudding, infused with Guinness beer [$25.95 for 15.9 oz.], and a little two-pack of Aunt Betty’s Christmas Plum Puddings [$4.40 for 8 oz.]. You warm them up because they have suet in them. If you don’t warm it, it’s really weird. Then you serve it with brandy butter [$3.99 for 3.5 ounces] or rum or brandy sauce [$4.99 for about 20 ounces]. You warm the sauces, but with the butter I just put a knob on top and let the heat from the pudding melt it.”

Undaunted and full of Christmas cheer, I pressed on. I had some luck with Iris Food & Spirits in Del Mar (858-259-5878; irisfoodandspirits.com). Tommy Golden, who owns the store with his brother Edd, told me, “We do a nontraditional figgy pudding. A traditional figgy pudding is very dense. It’s like a fruitcake, except it’s wetter — dense, heavy, and alcoholy. It was originally for the rich, who could afford the dried fruits and the alcohol. Ours is not so much a bread pudding as it is a custard with bread in it. It’s soft, light, and delicate. We have the eggs and the cream and the sweetener — I use an agave syrup from San Diego County. We toss those with the bread and the Mission figs and some vanilla bean and vanilla extract, and we put it in a pan, cover it with foil, and bake it in a water bath. Then we serve it warm with a little bit of loosely whipped cream. It’s always on our dessert list. It’s our best-selling dessert [$8.50].”

It sounded lovely. Still, I pressed on, hoping to find just what those chilly carolers were asking for — and I did. But first, I got a bit of history. “The figgy pudding had several antecedents in medieval and Elizabethan times,” said Bill Jaynes at All Things Bright & British in La Mesa (619-464-2298). “Originally, it would have been essentially a bread pudding. You would take white bread with the crusts removed, along with milled nutmeg, salt, eggs, and suet. [Every version had suet — specifically, beef-kidney suet — but post mad-cow disease, they use vegetable suet.] Then you just pack it with currants and raisins — and if you wanted a figgy pudding, you’d add figs.”

But, said Jaynes, the pudding “kind of died out for a while. Most of what we associate with Christmas came out of the Victorian resurrection of some of those traditions…the modern version is more of a custardy type. The newer ones would use flour and bread crumbs instead of bread and then raisins, currants, apples, orange peel, nutmeg, suet, brandy, orange peel….”

And…he’s got them! “The ones we have will vary anywhere between $10 and $30 depending on size, varying from a pound to about four or five pounds. You heat them in the oven, and some people take a little brandy or rum, pour it over, and light it right before serving.” Jaynes said that this year he will also offer fresh figgy puddings made by a local baker. Call for availability.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Taco Taco Poway still has 99-cent fish tacos

Tacotopia prizewinner is well known among Powegians
Next Article

Hip-hop artist Don Elway makes movies for his music

Not Ordinary EP tells a story of life on the streets

“We wish you a Merry Christmas…so bring us some figgy pudding…we won’t go until we get some…”

“Mom, what’s figgy pudding?” asked my youngest.

“I haven’t the faintest, dear,” I replied, “but it must have been good for those chilly carolers to ask for it by name.”

“Well, can I try some?”

Selina Stockley at Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe in Mission Hills (619-683-2748; ukcornershoppe.com) warned me that my search might prove tricky, carol or no carol.

Sponsored
Sponsored

“The song goes, ‘So bring us some figgy pudding.’ But ‘figgy pudding’ means that it’s got figs in it, and over the years that’s kind of been blended into plum pudding. People stopped putting the figs in because of the expense. They used plums instead.”

And plum pudding, she’s got. “I actually sell them throughout the year. We get them in at Christmas and run out around August or September. We have a classic version, which is made with cider and sherry [$2.99 for 3.5 ounces; $12.95 for a pound; $19.95 for two pounds]. A pound will serve 6 to 8, and the two-pounder will serve at least 12 — it’s so rich. Then we have a luxury version, which is made with brandy and rum [$4.95 for 3.5 ounces; $17.95 for a pound; $31.55 for two pounds]. We also have a Guinness Christmas Pudding, infused with Guinness beer [$25.95 for 15.9 oz.], and a little two-pack of Aunt Betty’s Christmas Plum Puddings [$4.40 for 8 oz.]. You warm them up because they have suet in them. If you don’t warm it, it’s really weird. Then you serve it with brandy butter [$3.99 for 3.5 ounces] or rum or brandy sauce [$4.99 for about 20 ounces]. You warm the sauces, but with the butter I just put a knob on top and let the heat from the pudding melt it.”

Undaunted and full of Christmas cheer, I pressed on. I had some luck with Iris Food & Spirits in Del Mar (858-259-5878; irisfoodandspirits.com). Tommy Golden, who owns the store with his brother Edd, told me, “We do a nontraditional figgy pudding. A traditional figgy pudding is very dense. It’s like a fruitcake, except it’s wetter — dense, heavy, and alcoholy. It was originally for the rich, who could afford the dried fruits and the alcohol. Ours is not so much a bread pudding as it is a custard with bread in it. It’s soft, light, and delicate. We have the eggs and the cream and the sweetener — I use an agave syrup from San Diego County. We toss those with the bread and the Mission figs and some vanilla bean and vanilla extract, and we put it in a pan, cover it with foil, and bake it in a water bath. Then we serve it warm with a little bit of loosely whipped cream. It’s always on our dessert list. It’s our best-selling dessert [$8.50].”

It sounded lovely. Still, I pressed on, hoping to find just what those chilly carolers were asking for — and I did. But first, I got a bit of history. “The figgy pudding had several antecedents in medieval and Elizabethan times,” said Bill Jaynes at All Things Bright & British in La Mesa (619-464-2298). “Originally, it would have been essentially a bread pudding. You would take white bread with the crusts removed, along with milled nutmeg, salt, eggs, and suet. [Every version had suet — specifically, beef-kidney suet — but post mad-cow disease, they use vegetable suet.] Then you just pack it with currants and raisins — and if you wanted a figgy pudding, you’d add figs.”

But, said Jaynes, the pudding “kind of died out for a while. Most of what we associate with Christmas came out of the Victorian resurrection of some of those traditions…the modern version is more of a custardy type. The newer ones would use flour and bread crumbs instead of bread and then raisins, currants, apples, orange peel, nutmeg, suet, brandy, orange peel….”

And…he’s got them! “The ones we have will vary anywhere between $10 and $30 depending on size, varying from a pound to about four or five pounds. You heat them in the oven, and some people take a little brandy or rum, pour it over, and light it right before serving.” Jaynes said that this year he will also offer fresh figgy puddings made by a local baker. Call for availability.

Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Pacific Beach – car thief's paradise

Take photos of your automobile and license plate
Next Article

Tyler Farr, Blue Water Film Festival, Mustache Bash

Events March 21-March 23, 2024
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.