Yorkshire Pudding Day

It is National Yorkshire Pudding Day this Sunday. So, what have they got to do with Yorkshire? Were they ever really served as a pudding? And how does Gordon Ramsay make them?

Originally Yorkshire puddings were a starter, served with gravy, to fill you up so that you wouldn’t eat as much meat.

They began as a starter not a pudding at all. In fact, traditionally, the word “pudding” referred to any homely and rustic dishes that could be either sweet or salty such as that other savoury ‘pudding’ steak and kidney pudding.

Yorkshire puddings were originally made by tipping the batter into the fat around the roasting meat, so they were rather messy. The smaller circular puddings we know today, date back to the cookery writer Hannah Glasse’s recipe from the 1700s, in which spoonful’s of batter were dropped into fat surrounding the meat – and were then often referred to as Yorkshire puffs. 

Some historians think they were called Yorkshire puddings because that region of North England is associated with easy access to coal and that helped cooks create higher temperatures, which helped to make the batter crisper.

And if you want a go-to recipe, here is how Gordon Ramsay does them.