One of the great old traditions of British cooking are the puddings, or desserts as they are more commonly called these days. For me there’s something quite emotive about these old recipes, transporting me back to my school days, when pudding was one of the highlights of an otherwise bland school menu. The only positive about school food in those days, is that the diet was constructed around a culture of ‘meat and two veg’ (and/or potatoes), but without any fried food whatsoever, and not a greasy chip in sight. Perhaps unwittingly much healthier than some of the ‘fast food’ dishes offered by schools these days – this type of convenience food was simply not an option, and the only menu choice was take it or leave it!

The puddings were great (possibly because I have a ‘sweet tooth’), and included many an old favourite, such as jam roly-poly, apple crumble, baked custard tart, rice pudding, chocolate sponge and many others. Included within that list you will notice a quintessentially British and very traditional dish – crumble. Crumble can be made with any number of different fruits: apple, rhubarb, peach, pear, gooseberry, apricot or any number of different berry fruits – the possibilities are almost endless, and suffice to say that they are all delicious when made correctly.

I am not sure of the exact origin of the crumble, but I do know that they became very popular during the Second World War when there was food rationing in the UK. Cooks were obliged to economise and cut corners wherever they could, and the simple crumble topping of fat, flour and sugar was apparently easier to ‘eek out’ than the more usual pastry topping.

I think I read recently that crumbles are actually enjoying something of a renaissance, and springing up on many a fashionable restaurant menu. Having said that, I was still quite surprised to find a crumble recipe featured in a recent mailing from ICEX – Food & Wines from Spain –  crumble de frambuesas y melocotones. The wine recommended by ICEX was either riesling or gewürztraminer, which could work (although they would probably require a degree of residual sugar) – I’m afraid to admit that our own albariño is far too dry for this hearty British pudding.One of the great old traditions of British cooking are the puddings, or desserts as they are more commonly called these days. For me there’s something quite emotive about these old recipes, transporting me back to my school days, when pudding was one of the highlights of an otherwise bland school menu. The only positive about school food in those days, is that the diet was constructed around a culture of ‘meat and two veg’ (and/or potatoes), but without any fried food whatsoever, and not a greasy chip in sight. Perhaps unwittingly much healthier than some of the ‘fast food’ dishes offered by schools these days – this type of convenience food was simply not an option, and the only menu choice was take it or leave it!

The puddings were great (possibly because I have a ‘sweet tooth’), and included many an old favourite, such as jam roly-poly, apple crumble, baked custard tart, rice pudding, chocolate sponge and many others. Included within that list you will notice a quintessentially British and very traditional dish – crumble. Crumble can be made with any number of different fruits: apple, rhubarb, peach, pear, gooseberry, apricot or any number of different berry fruits – the possibilities are almost endless, and suffice to say that they are all delicious when made correctly.

I am not sure of the exact origin of the crumble, but I do know that they became very popular during the Second World War when there was food rationing in the UK. Cooks were obliged to economise and cut corners wherever they could, and the simple crumble topping of fat, flour and sugar was apparently easier to ‘eek out’ than the more usual pastry topping.

I think I read recently that crumbles are actually enjoying something of a renaissance, and springing up on many a fashionable restaurant menu. Having said that, I was still quite surprised to find a crumble recipe featured in a recent mailing from ICEX – Food & Wines from Spain –  crumble de frambuesas y melocotones. The wine recommended by ICEX was either riesling or gewürztraminer, which could work (although they would probably require a degree of residual sugar) – I’m afraid to admit that our own albariño is far too dry for this hearty British pudding.