Bring Me Some Figgy Pudding

And what in the world is figgy pudding?

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This holiday season, one popular Christmas carol has been raising some questions here at NPR headquarters. Namely:

“Oh, bring us some figgy pudding, oh, bring us some figgy pudding, oh — ”

Wait. What is figgy pudding?

First of all, it’s “absolutely delicious,” says Debbie Waugh, who recently served the dish at a tea at the Historic Green Spring House in Alexandria, Va.

Figgy pudding — also known as plum pudding or Christmas pudding — is a staple of the British Christmas table, she says.

“I resembles something like a cannonball, and it maybe feels a bit like a cannonball when it hits your stomach, but it’s tradition and we love it,” Waugh tells NPR’s Michel Martin.

And despite its moniker, the dessert features neither figs nor plums.

“The ‘plum’ was a pre-Victorian generic term for any type of dried fruit, but most specifically, raisins,” Waugh explains. ” ‘Figgy’ — certainly at some time figs would have been incorporated into Christmas pudding recipes, but today, not traditionally.”

It’s also a pudding in the British sense, meaning dessert — not the creamy, custardy dish most Americans associate with the word. It’s a steamed cake full of with raisins, currants and brandy.

The traditions around the figgy pudding carry a lot of Christian symbolism, Waugh says. The classic dish had 13 ingredients — “representing Christ and the 12 apostles,” she says — and was served with a sprig of holly on top, standing in for the crown of thorns

“And, of course, the most important part of the Christmas pudding tradition: We set it on fire,” Waugh says. “We pour a bit of brandy over it and set it aflame to great applause.” That particular tradition represents the passion of Christ, she says….

Letting the pudding age allows the alcohol to draw out more flavors, Waugh says.

“You could make your pudding on Christmas Eve and I’m sure it would be just fine, but much better to start well ahead.”

Ah well. If you’re OK with a “just fine” version — or want to sample a figgy pudding in late January — Waugh did agree to share her recipe.