Yorkshire Pudding

The first person to use the term "Yorkshire pudding" was the 18th century cookery writer Hannah Glasse.

Yorkshire Pudding
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Learn the keywords, read the article, answer the questions, and then book a lesson with a language tutor.

Key words

  • End up: to finally be in a particular place or situation

After working her way around the world, she ended up teaching English as a foreign language.

  • Batter: a mixture of flour, eggs, and milk or another liquid, used to make pancakes or to cover food before frying it

Crepes and pancakes are made with different batters.

  • Dripping: the fat that has come out of meat during cooking

Beef drippings contain healthy oils.

  • Fast: a period of time when you eat no food

Fasting is good for you.

  • Service: a formal religious ceremony

A memorial service is being held on Sunday for victims of the explosion.


Read the article to find the answers

  1. What is Yorkshire Pudding made from?
  2. What are they an essential part of?
  3. What does a Sunday Roast consist of?
  4. Where did the tradition of eating a Sunday Roast come from?

What is a Pudding?

The word pudding comes from the Latin word botellus, which means sausage. The British developed the Roman recipes and cooking methods for sausages and ended up with pudding - a very British invention.

Traditionally, puddings were boiled or steamed. Christmas pudding and sponge cake are examples of sweet puddings, while Steak and Kidney pudding is an example of a savory one. Yorkshire Pudding breaks the rules as England's favourite baked pudding.

Yorkshire Pudding

By the late 18th century, puddings were no longer made from meat like the original puddings, also known as sausages. Meat was expensive and was replaced by other ingredients such as batter. Yorkshire Pudding is made from a batter of eggs, flour and milk or water and is an essential part of any traditional English Sunday Roast.

The batter pudding was cooked under the beef as it roasted over a fire, absorbing the fats and juices from the meat as they dripped onto the batter, adding flavor and color. The original name for cooking a batter this way was "dripping pudding." This also meant that these drippings, essential to the diet, were used rather than lost to the fire.

Today, like the Sunday Roast, it is usually cooked in an oven rather than a fireplace, but the ingredients remain the same. Meat drippings are poured into a metal tray and then heated at a high temperature (over 200°C [400°F]) until almost smoking. Then the batter is poured into the tray and baked for 15-20 minutes.

Sunday Roast

The tradition of having a Sunday Roast is common throughout the Anglosphere. It usually consists of roast pork, beef, lamb, or chicken, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, and a variety of vegetables such as cauliflower and broccoli, creamed spinach, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, parsnips, and peas, which may be boiled, steamed, or roasted along with the meat, potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.

The tradition originated as a meal to be eaten after church on Sunday. It was traditional for Anglicans and English Catholics to fast before the Sunday service, with a large meal to break the fast afterward.


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Discussion questions

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  • What's your favourite English food?
  • Do you have special days for certain foods?
  • Do you ever fast?

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