A dessert worth setting aflame — intentionally. Amy shares how this dense, boozy pudding survived Victorian scandals and continues to ignite British tables today (sometimes literally).
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🎧 The Strange History Podcast Love bizarre true stories, forgotten scandals, and history’s most unhinged moments?
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New episodes regularly. History gets weird here.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome back to the Strange History podcast and
day twenty three of our Victorian Christmas countdown the twenty
five Strangest Days of Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and
that means we have two days left in this advent
of podcasts. Today we travel to the UK. In the UK,
(00:20):
Christmas dinner ends with the grand lighting of the Christmas pudding,
a dense, boozy dessert soaked in brandy and set on fire.
The tradition dates back to the fourteenth century, when puddings
were savory meat dishes. Over time, they evolved into sweet
concoctions loaded with dried fruit and enough alcohol to outlast
an apocalypse. In eighteen forty five, Queen Victoria's cook famously
(00:44):
used a brandy flame so large that it charred the
tablecloth at Windsor Castle, Royal or Not. Putting related arson
has been a national pastime ever since British cuisine setting
dessert and expectations on fire since eighteen hundred. Oh people
of the UK US Americans are jealous of your rich,
(01:05):
quirky history.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Truly flame on brandy for when your pudding deserves drama
and your eyebrows don't, please use responsibly sold, we're prohibited.
The Strange History Podcast is not responsible for charred tablecloths
or facial hair or poor choices after eating, or Grandma
getting run over by a reindeer.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Don't forget to subscribe. The elves would approve.
Hello, and welcome back to the Strange History podcast and
day twenty three of our Victorian Christmas countdown the twenty
five Strangest Days of Christmas. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, and
that means we have two days left in this advent
of podcasts. Today we travel to the UK. In the UK,
(00:20):
Christmas dinner ends with the grand lighting of the Christmas pudding,
a dense, boozy dessert soaked in brandy and set on fire.
The tradition dates back to the fourteenth century, when puddings
were savory meat dishes. Over time, they evolved into sweet
concoctions loaded with dried fruit and enough alcohol to outlast
an apocalypse. In eighteen forty five, Queen Victoria's cook famously
(00:44):
used a brandy flame so large that it charred the
tablecloth at Windsor Castle, Royal or Not. Putting related arson
has been a national pastime ever since British cuisine setting
dessert and expectations on fire since eighteen hundred. Oh people
of the UK US Americans are jealous of your rich,
(01:05):
quirky history.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
Truly flame on brandy for when your pudding deserves drama
and your eyebrows don't, please use responsibly sold, we're prohibited.
The Strange History Podcast is not responsible for charred tablecloths
or facial hair or poor choices after eating, or Grandma
getting run over by a reindeer.
Speaker 1 (01:27):
Don't forget to subscribe. The elves would approve.
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