Christmas Pud Trivia Quiz

Answer: Currants

Zante currants are dried berries of the small seedless Black Corinth grape (Vitis vinifera). These small fruit are sweet and popular in cooking and baking. In Great Britain the Zante Currants are simply called "currants" and are a prime ingredient in Christmas Cake, mincemeat, scones, and of course Christmas puddings.

Answer: Suet

The primary usage of suet is in the manufacture of tallow. However, any British housewife will tell you that it is one of the more invaluable ingredients in the Christmas pudding. Now the question often becomes, why would you use mutton fat from a sheep's loins in a Christmas pudding? Ah, well, the secret is in the high melting point of suet. It remains intact through the slow steaming of the pudding ensuring retention of tiny air holes and a light and smooth creation. Butter and margarine tend to make the pudding heavy and greasy.

Incidentally, Jewish religion forbids the consumption of suet due to a clause concerning ritual altar sacrifices. So, if you are going to have Jewish folk over for Christmas pudding, make sure that you don't use suet.

Answer: Lemon

The top lemon producing countries in the World are India and Mexico. It is a popular citrus fruit used in cooking and no Christmas pudding would be complete without the zesty punch of its grated peel. Of course, I also usually grab an orange and apple and grate them too. By the way, would you be interested to know that pickled lemons are a huge delicacy in Morocco?

Answer: Eggs

Eggs are a popular staple food across the world. Commonly consumed eggs include duck, quail, roe, and caviar. In Africa, I even got to partake of an ostrich egg (now that was a filling breakfast). In most Western countries, the chicken egg is by far the most popular for eating and baking.

The egg itself is made up of the protective shell casing, the albumen (egg white) and the vitellus (egg yolk). For the Christmas pudding we throw in albumen and vitellus.

Answer: Maraschino cherries that have been candied in sugar syrup

Glace cherries are indeed Maraschino cherries that have been pitted and candied. The process usually begins with the fruit being soaked in a preservative before being placed in sugared glucose syrup. Unfortunately, artificial preservatives and dyes are used in the process. Therefore, Grandma always had us go down to the local cherry orchard in late Spring to get her fresh cherries straight off the branch.

Answer: Almonds

The United States of America produces almost four times more almonds than the second largest exporter which is Spain. The almond tree (Prunus dulcis) which produces the edible nut is actually native to South Asia and the Middle East. Almonds are used in making almond milk, almond, butter, almond oil, all kinds of desserts, and even as a significant serving of protein eaten whole. Once, I built a 3-D owl birthday cake for my daughter and used almond slices for its feathers.

A very eclectic nut!

Answer: Carrot

The carrot (Daucus carota) is a root vegetable usually orange in color and native to Europe and Southeast Asia. Yellow, white, red, and even purple varieties of carrot exist, but Grandma definitely is partial to the orange kind. One large grated carrot provides almost 100% of the daily needed Vitamin A and beta-carotene required in our diet. Grandma is very health conscious.

Answer: Breadcrumbs

Checking online, it seems that many Christmas Pudding recipes agree with Grandma and use breadcrumbs in the mix. I still do not know why a loaf of bread makes it into the mixing bowl though. I do know that Hovis Bread is a brand that has been around in the UK since 1886, specializing in wheatgerm wholemeal flour.

Answer: Milk

Milk is the white liquid generated from the mammary glands of certain animals. Grandmas run-in with a dairy cow is a story of legend amongst the Norfolk Broads, but perhaps not appropriate for this quiz. Five ounces of whole milk are included in the mixing bowl along with some flour, mixed spice, and a pinch of salt.

India is the largest producer and consumer of milk but does not import or export milk. Australia and New Zealand are two of the world's largest exporters of milk. Growing up in the United Kingdom, the milkman was a regular sight on the way to school. Milk for cereal and hot tea regularly appeared on the doorstep before 7a.m. every morning in tall glass bottles with silver foil tops.

Answer: Brandy

Brandy is an alcoholic spirit produced through distilling wine. It is also produced from fermenting other fruits besides grapes. Many brandies are colored with caramel coloring and aged in wooden casks. Brandy is a frequent addition to culinary creations including soups, pies, crepes, sauces, meat dishes, and of course as a flavoring for Christmas puddings. One of Grandma's favorite traditions was to pour brandy over the top of the Christmas pudding and light it on fire.

The dessert would glow with an eerie bluish hue and look quite ghostly with the lights off.