Puddings in comtemporary Mexico
One last post on this and I will shut up. In Ricardo Muñoz’s great Diccionaria enciclopedica de la gastronomía mexicana (2000), it’s clear that the budín/pudín distinction is no longer maintained in everyday speech.
In his entry on budín, he describes it as a “baked bread of English origin (the word comes from pudding) which they prepare in various regions of Mexico.” This is basically bread pudding made from stale sweet bread, milk, eggs, cinnamon, raisins.
And then he describes those of the Gulf and Mexico City where it is called “bread of bread” (I love this).
There are other budines. Budín azteca (maybe I will go back on that promise to shut up) a kind of Mexican lasagna, budín de calabaza, budín de chicozapote.
But the best, for me, is that he points to a category of tortas (no, not the sandwiches). I have to post again.
- Savory puddings (or the lack thereof) in 19th century Mexico
- Of sardines, sardine sandwiches, and much more
How do these bread “budin” differ to Capirotada or is no distinction made?
They are distinguished and come in different categories. But I will have to spend some time digging through the recipes to see what the differences are. And it may be that this has something to do with the rapid acceptance of bread pudding: a variant on a familiar category.
What you don’t seem to get in Mexico are the steamed farinaceous puddings so central to British tradition.
Fun post!
P.S. Budin azteca: layers of tortilla, shredded chicken, tomato sauce, topped with grated cheese, onion, cream and avocado slices. And all variations thereof. I suspect it’s like the Thanksgiving turkey in that everyone has their own “traditional” receipe.
Budín azteca’s antecedents are a bit of a mystery to me. The name is redolent of the 30s and 40s. Maybe it has roots in elaborate layered dishes that often went by names such as turk in the seventeenth and eighteenth century (turbans). It’s one of many detective puzzles to be solved.
Yes, everyone does have their own recipes. My friend Mari Lau who is excellent on Mexican cooking gets quite hot under the collar when it is suggested that tortillas should be used. Must be layers of masa harina.
I think that the lack of farinaceous puddings outwith Britain is due to suet. Suet was used a great deal in British puddings, but very few other countries seem to use suet at all.
There is a lot of comments to the effect that suet puddings are very heavy etc, but actually suet pastry is very light in texture. If you substitute butter then the pastry tends to be much more rich and heavier in texture. I’m pretty sure that lard would not work as a substitute.
So it comes back to beef again. Two English food terms that have been used as loan words in many other languages are “Roast beef” and “Beef Steak”. The other word is “Pudding”. Although the form that has spread to other countries lacks beef product (suet), the main groups of puddings in England contain suet.
I wonder if the England had improved its bovine stock in advance of most other European countries. Would be useful to know what percentage of cattle were produced for consumption (as beef not veal) v draught historically.