This article was updated by the Great British Mag content team on 30 November 2021
There is that moment when you order your first Sunday roast in the UK and it comes out looking delicious and dripping with gravy…but wait, what is the strange circular thing on the side? You know, the pastry-looking cup that sits amongst your meat and veg. What is its purpose? It looks like an empty tart or something – did the chef forget to fill it? These are the mysteries of the Yorkshire pudding.
If you voice any of these queries to a British person they will immediately look at you as if you are an alien and vehemently defend the “Yorkshire pud.” But don’t worry, GB Mag is here to help.
A Yorkshire pudding is made from batter of milk, flour and eggs. The mixture is poured into a muffin tin to create the cup shape and is baked.
Yorkshire puddings are a staple of the British Sunday roast. Correct etiquette is to fill them with gravy and a bit of meat and veg, but everyone has their own way of devouring a Yorkshire pudding.
Named after the Northern English county of Yorkshire, the puddings were first made with the fat drippings from meat when cooking up a roast. The pudding would sit under the meat turning rack and absorb all of the fat. Nowadays it is a lot less fatty so no need to worry about that waistline. However many still maintain that the best Yorkshire puddings are made with some kind of rich fat such as suet or goose fat. Every British family has their own Yorkshire pudding recipe.
There is one more very important fact about the Yorkshire pudding. They must be at least four inches tall in order to be a real Yorkshire pudding – otherwise, it is just a bit of cooked batter.
And there you go! You now have the facts to get you through a roast dinner. But the best way to learn about Yorkshire puddings is to give one a taste!
