Christmas pudding photos (Edg2s / Lachlan Hardy)‘Ode to a Christmas Pudding’: A Poem by Susan Jarvis Bryant The Society December 25, 2024 Beauty, Culture, Poetry 32 Comments . Ode to a Christmas Pudding O fragrant orb of dark and luscious depths Made with magic conjured every year By souls who know the spell—those tricky steps That summon plummy culinary cheer, You started as a heap of shriveled fruits Steeped in sticky sherry till imbued With zest of festive spirit to your core— A merry mix of boozy berry notes— A waft that wreathes the mind and lifts the mood To jig beyond the decked-with-holly door. O figgy sphere of glossy liquorice hue, Your touch of nuttiness smooths out the sweet. Black walnuts add a smack of crunch and chew— They make a spoon of you a treat to eat. Your spicy-clove and kiss-of-citrus zing Enswathes me in a hug from times long gone When Gran hid silver sixpences in you. O birthday dish to laud the barn-born King— The Way, the Truth, the Life—God’s sinless Son— Bliss flickers in your spectral blaze of blue. . . Susan Jarvis Bryant is a poet originally from the U.K., now living on the Gulf Coast of Texas. NOTE TO READERS: If you enjoyed this poem or other content, please consider making a donation to the Society of Classical Poets. The Society of Classical Poets does not endorse any views expressed in individual poems or commentary. Trending now: 32 Responses Warren Bonham December 25, 2024 When I saw the title, I was skeptical that you would be able to do much with it. I should have known better. I haven’t had a Christmas pudding for many years (not much call for them in Texas). I need to call my mother and get our ancient family recipe so we can have a proper birthday dish to mark the birth of the King. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Warren, I smiled as I read your comment. I was skeptical too – but my muse simply insisted upon this ode. It simply had to be Please do make that call to your mum for the recipe. I can say with the benefit of having indulged in this sumptuous delight that it was well worth all the effort I put in to it. I’ll be doing it again next year! Warren, thank you! Reply Paul Freeman December 25, 2024 Nicely done, Susan. You’ve nailed it. Funnily enough (considering where I live in West Africa), the last thing I’ve eaten today is Christmas pudding. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Thank you, Paul. You’ve now got me mulling over your Christmas menu with intrigue. Texas certainly feels like the land of far beyond during the Christmas season. Turkey is the main meal for Thanksgiving, so Christmas dinner is a little different over here – anything goes! I decided to go completely British with a fish pie (we can’t get smoked haddock, so I went with cod, salmon, scallops and shrimp) followed by Christmas pud and sherry trifle. My guests were uncomfortable… but only until they tasted my strange festive fayre. I’ve changed Christmas in Texas forever! Reply Jeff Eardley December 25, 2024 Susan, our cheap Christmas pudding from Aldi is no match for this beauty. The taste buds are all a-tingle. Didn’t folk break their teeth on those hidden sixpences or “tanners” as I recall? Best wishes to you and Mike for a great day. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Jeff, I’m sure you had a marvelous Christmas – Aldi shines for me during the festive season in Texas. I managed to pick up some Stilton, double Gloucester, English cheddar, and Brie for my cheese board… and some chocolate covered marzipan – my favourite. I am certain your Aldi Christmas pudding was delicious. I hope you didn’t burn the curtains when you lit it! Jeff, thank you. Reply Cynthia Erlandson December 25, 2024 This definitely made me smile, Susan! Merry (or Happy?) Christmas to a true Englishwoman! I’m really not even sure if there is a difference between Christmas pudding and fruitcake (or is “fruitcake” just a made-up American name for it?) Reply Joseph S. Salemi December 25, 2024 The American fruitcake is baked. The English plum pudding is boiled in a cloth wrapping. Also, the plum pudding has some beef fat (suet) in it. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Thank you, Joe. Have you ever made one? It really is a labor of love. Joseph S. Salemi December 29, 2024 Dear Susan — No, I haven’t tried to do that. But I have had several excellent ones when I was in England, and I never forgot how wonderful they were. I think every English family has its own special recipe for the pudding, so they can vary considerably in taste and texture. Some have a lot of spice, and some are more citrus-heavy. Here in America, at Christmas time we used to get imported English plum puddings that were made by Crosse and Blackwell. They were pre-cooked of course, and all you had to do was heat them in the oven and then steam them briefly in a double boiler. We always poured heated brandy over the finished dish, and then ignited it before bringing it to the table. There was a beautiful holly bush in the neighborhood, and we would go to it and cut off a nice sprig (with red berries) to stick into the top of the pudding. A few times in the U.K. the plum pudding was served with something called “hard sauce,” which was a blend of butter and sugar, with either rum or brandy added into the mix. You would spread this hard sauce over your slice of hot pudding. The Brits sometimes called it a “bag pudding,” meaning that it had to wrapped up in cloth and boiled. When I learned this, I suddenly understood an old nursery rhyme: When good King Arthur ruled this land, he was a goodly king– He bought a peck of barley-meal to make a bag pudding. A bag pudding the King did make, and stuffed it well with plums, And put in two great lumps of fat, as big as my two thumbs. The King and Queen did eat thereof, and noblemen beside, And what they could not eat that night, the Queen next morning fried. As a child, this made no sense at all to me — the only pudding I knew was chocolate pudding or rice pudding. But after hearing about “bag puddings” in England, I realized that King Arthur had made a Christmas plum pudding. He even put in suet, which all my British friends told me was essential. Your Ode to this dish is just as verbally piquant and sweet as the pudding itself. In a sane world, it would become as traditional and time-honored as the poem about “The Night Before Christmas.” Susan Jarvis Bryant December 30, 2024 Joe, I am thrilled with this comment. Your beautiful and informative words on my poem are most encouraging and invaluable to a poet who never feels worthy… but much more than that, your knowledge of and respect for the wonder of the humble Christmas pudding has filled my heart with immense joy – this year especially. Thank you! Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Cynthia, I am glad this had you smiling. Joe is there with his description – my pudding had a touch of suet in, and it was steamed… for eight hours, no less. This makes it moist, dark, rich and too good to miss out on. I made a brandy butter to melt over each piece. I’m having one every Christmas from hereon in. Cynthia, thank you for indulging me. Reply Yael December 25, 2024 Merry Christmas to everyone here. That sounds really delightful Susan and almost makes me hungry again even though I ate more than enough today. Hope you had a blessed Christmas day and I wish a happy Hanukkah to everyone who enjoys the feast of the Dedication. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 And a merry Christmas season to you too, Yael. I’m glad this poem spoke to your taste buds – that mean my poetic recipe is a success! Thank you! Reply Gigi Ryan December 25, 2024 Dear Susan, I confess I have never had a Christmas pudding. You certainly make it sound desirable in this delightful poem. I love how you bring it to a close with the true meaning of Christmas. Gigi Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Gigi, thank you very much for your generous comment. I am always aware that Christmas isn’t about consumerism – it’s about gathering to celebrate the greatest gift we have ever received. How we honor that is special and (for me) a feast in celebration of His wonder is dear to my heart. Reply Margaret Coats December 26, 2024 A lusciously tasteful salute to the birth of the King, Susan! The blazing bliss of the pudding outdoes the symbolism of meaty and liquorish mince pie, in earlier times baked in the shape of a manger. A plummy Christmas season to you and yours! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 A very happy Christmas to you too, Margaret! The Medieval Christmas pudding contained meat. It began as a type of “plum pottage” – by the eighteenth century, it became a rich and moist, no-meat sweet treat. Mince pies also contained meat and just like pudding they evolved over time. The name (a nod to their historical origins) is most confusing. Reply Mark Stellinga December 26, 2024 A PUDDING that induces ‘JIGGING’?? – Really, Susan!! What lengths some folks will go to to merryfy Christmas! Your impressive command of ‘wordery’ is in top form with this one! Sounds like U 2 made the most of a wonderful Christmas tradition. 🙂 Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Mark, the Christmas pudding, together with a large helping of sherry trifle, has been known to induce jigging. I’ve witnessed it and even joined in with this extraordinary post-pudding tradition. The funniest story I ever heard was that of a gentleman driving home from Christmas celebrations with his parents was stopped and breathalyzed by the police and found to be over the limit by a considerable degree… such is the potency of English festive fayre. Reply Roy Eugene Peterson December 26, 2024 This took me back to the refrain in the song, “Oh, give me some figgy pudding.” Where I come from, I never had any such pudding. In my case it was pecan pie. I have always wondered about what went into it, but you have shown me the recipe for something that must be treasured every Christmas by those who have it. Your alliterations are always masterful and vividly portray your subject. Merry Christmas to you and Mike! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Roy, thank you so much. I love pecan pies and always enjoy a piece at Thanksgiving. In our house we do Thanksgiving Texas style and Christmas English style. This year I craved a pudding – not to be found in any Texas superstore… I simply had to make one. The recipe was so good, I’m going to make one every Christmas. Reply Mary Jane Myers December 26, 2024 Susan Yummy! boozy figgy plummy! This is a delightful poem. Your marvelous wordplay is on festive display. And today, another British custom: Boxing Day. When I was a wee little thing, I concluded that the Brits all must attend boxing matches on this day. (I always came to rather strange conclusions–I thought Aladdin had a wonderful lamb–I conflated him somehow with the shepherdess Mary!) Merry Christmas! Sincerely Mary Jane Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Mary Jane, thank you very much for this wonderful comment that takes me straight back to England, boxing day, and the great British custom of pantomimes starring Aladdin with a lamp and no lamb. LOL Boxing Day is a couch-potato day of cold meats, bubble and squeak and pickles. People often watch sport (which may include a boxing match) and old films, or a family fight might break out as kith and kin get fed up with one another’s company – another reason for calling the day after Christmas “Boxing Day”. I like this story best: A box of leftover food was given to each member of staff who waited on lords and ladies in mansion houses on the day after Christmas, and they were sent home for to celebrate Christmas with their families. Reply Adam Sedia December 26, 2024 Written with a gusto that I imagine only a true Briton could feel about pudding. This is some A-1 advertising for a lovely traditional Christmas dish — and a reminder to appreciate the small things. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 You’re spot on with your observation on the gusto front – I could barely contain my excitement at every stage of making this British delight – which I shared with unbridled enthusiasm. It is those little things that mean the most. Adam, thank you very much indeed! Reply C.B. Anderson December 26, 2024 I want me some o’ that luscious stuff, Susan. The fruit cake we get here is more candied than brandied, and doesn’t get the bells tolling. I’m working on a recipe of my own that I hope will bang the gong. But what of plums? The pudding made therefrom must be something more than reconstituted prunes. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 C.B., if you lived nearer to me, I would take great delight in serving you a scrumptious piece of my pudding. As for the “plums” – this word was used to describe any and every fruit in the pudding, much like the word “coke” is used to describe any and every soda in Texas. This is probably why it’s also known as “plum pudding”. The fruits I used were currants, sultanas, prunes and a grated cooking apple. These puny, pruny fruits were soaking up cognac for a fortnight until plumptious with party-time spirit. Wishing you all the very best with your recipe. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Reply Isabella December 27, 2024 As the pudding is crammed and stuffed with fruit and all good things, so too your poem; a veritable feast of festive,wonderful words mixed together beautifully! Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 What a beautiful and poetic comment. Thank you very much, Isabella! Reply Brian A. Yapko December 28, 2024 This is an absolutely delightful ode, Susan. I read it several times simply to get my mouth watering and to fantasize about the gastronomic bliss of which you rhapsodize. Your description of ingredients and ultimate result beats anything I’ve heard or seen on the Food Network! Writing about food is extremely hard and you’ve managed to do it with great aplomb — as well as a plum. I’ve never had a Christmas pudding and am anxious to sample one! I hope you and Mike had a very Merry Christmas and that 2025 will be a healthy, happy, prosperous year for you both. Reply Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 Brian, I’m thrilled this poem hit the right note. The making of the pudding stirred my muse, and I simply couldn’t help but pay poetic tribute (with a plum (lol) or two) to a favorite traditional dish. I have a feeling my love of Christmas pudding may have rubbed off on a few readers, which delights me. Everyone should try one. Brian, thank you! May 2025 bring you health, happiness, prosperity… and a Christmas pudding! Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Δ This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Warren Bonham December 25, 2024 When I saw the title, I was skeptical that you would be able to do much with it. I should have known better. I haven’t had a Christmas pudding for many years (not much call for them in Texas). I need to call my mother and get our ancient family recipe so we can have a proper birthday dish to mark the birth of the King. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Warren, I smiled as I read your comment. I was skeptical too – but my muse simply insisted upon this ode. It simply had to be Please do make that call to your mum for the recipe. I can say with the benefit of having indulged in this sumptuous delight that it was well worth all the effort I put in to it. I’ll be doing it again next year! Warren, thank you! Reply
Paul Freeman December 25, 2024 Nicely done, Susan. You’ve nailed it. Funnily enough (considering where I live in West Africa), the last thing I’ve eaten today is Christmas pudding. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Thank you, Paul. You’ve now got me mulling over your Christmas menu with intrigue. Texas certainly feels like the land of far beyond during the Christmas season. Turkey is the main meal for Thanksgiving, so Christmas dinner is a little different over here – anything goes! I decided to go completely British with a fish pie (we can’t get smoked haddock, so I went with cod, salmon, scallops and shrimp) followed by Christmas pud and sherry trifle. My guests were uncomfortable… but only until they tasted my strange festive fayre. I’ve changed Christmas in Texas forever! Reply
Jeff Eardley December 25, 2024 Susan, our cheap Christmas pudding from Aldi is no match for this beauty. The taste buds are all a-tingle. Didn’t folk break their teeth on those hidden sixpences or “tanners” as I recall? Best wishes to you and Mike for a great day. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Jeff, I’m sure you had a marvelous Christmas – Aldi shines for me during the festive season in Texas. I managed to pick up some Stilton, double Gloucester, English cheddar, and Brie for my cheese board… and some chocolate covered marzipan – my favourite. I am certain your Aldi Christmas pudding was delicious. I hope you didn’t burn the curtains when you lit it! Jeff, thank you. Reply
Cynthia Erlandson December 25, 2024 This definitely made me smile, Susan! Merry (or Happy?) Christmas to a true Englishwoman! I’m really not even sure if there is a difference between Christmas pudding and fruitcake (or is “fruitcake” just a made-up American name for it?) Reply
Joseph S. Salemi December 25, 2024 The American fruitcake is baked. The English plum pudding is boiled in a cloth wrapping. Also, the plum pudding has some beef fat (suet) in it. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Thank you, Joe. Have you ever made one? It really is a labor of love.
Joseph S. Salemi December 29, 2024 Dear Susan — No, I haven’t tried to do that. But I have had several excellent ones when I was in England, and I never forgot how wonderful they were. I think every English family has its own special recipe for the pudding, so they can vary considerably in taste and texture. Some have a lot of spice, and some are more citrus-heavy. Here in America, at Christmas time we used to get imported English plum puddings that were made by Crosse and Blackwell. They were pre-cooked of course, and all you had to do was heat them in the oven and then steam them briefly in a double boiler. We always poured heated brandy over the finished dish, and then ignited it before bringing it to the table. There was a beautiful holly bush in the neighborhood, and we would go to it and cut off a nice sprig (with red berries) to stick into the top of the pudding. A few times in the U.K. the plum pudding was served with something called “hard sauce,” which was a blend of butter and sugar, with either rum or brandy added into the mix. You would spread this hard sauce over your slice of hot pudding. The Brits sometimes called it a “bag pudding,” meaning that it had to wrapped up in cloth and boiled. When I learned this, I suddenly understood an old nursery rhyme: When good King Arthur ruled this land, he was a goodly king– He bought a peck of barley-meal to make a bag pudding. A bag pudding the King did make, and stuffed it well with plums, And put in two great lumps of fat, as big as my two thumbs. The King and Queen did eat thereof, and noblemen beside, And what they could not eat that night, the Queen next morning fried. As a child, this made no sense at all to me — the only pudding I knew was chocolate pudding or rice pudding. But after hearing about “bag puddings” in England, I realized that King Arthur had made a Christmas plum pudding. He even put in suet, which all my British friends told me was essential. Your Ode to this dish is just as verbally piquant and sweet as the pudding itself. In a sane world, it would become as traditional and time-honored as the poem about “The Night Before Christmas.”
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 30, 2024 Joe, I am thrilled with this comment. Your beautiful and informative words on my poem are most encouraging and invaluable to a poet who never feels worthy… but much more than that, your knowledge of and respect for the wonder of the humble Christmas pudding has filled my heart with immense joy – this year especially. Thank you!
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Cynthia, I am glad this had you smiling. Joe is there with his description – my pudding had a touch of suet in, and it was steamed… for eight hours, no less. This makes it moist, dark, rich and too good to miss out on. I made a brandy butter to melt over each piece. I’m having one every Christmas from hereon in. Cynthia, thank you for indulging me. Reply
Yael December 25, 2024 Merry Christmas to everyone here. That sounds really delightful Susan and almost makes me hungry again even though I ate more than enough today. Hope you had a blessed Christmas day and I wish a happy Hanukkah to everyone who enjoys the feast of the Dedication. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 And a merry Christmas season to you too, Yael. I’m glad this poem spoke to your taste buds – that mean my poetic recipe is a success! Thank you! Reply
Gigi Ryan December 25, 2024 Dear Susan, I confess I have never had a Christmas pudding. You certainly make it sound desirable in this delightful poem. I love how you bring it to a close with the true meaning of Christmas. Gigi Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Gigi, thank you very much for your generous comment. I am always aware that Christmas isn’t about consumerism – it’s about gathering to celebrate the greatest gift we have ever received. How we honor that is special and (for me) a feast in celebration of His wonder is dear to my heart. Reply
Margaret Coats December 26, 2024 A lusciously tasteful salute to the birth of the King, Susan! The blazing bliss of the pudding outdoes the symbolism of meaty and liquorish mince pie, in earlier times baked in the shape of a manger. A plummy Christmas season to you and yours! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 A very happy Christmas to you too, Margaret! The Medieval Christmas pudding contained meat. It began as a type of “plum pottage” – by the eighteenth century, it became a rich and moist, no-meat sweet treat. Mince pies also contained meat and just like pudding they evolved over time. The name (a nod to their historical origins) is most confusing. Reply
Mark Stellinga December 26, 2024 A PUDDING that induces ‘JIGGING’?? – Really, Susan!! What lengths some folks will go to to merryfy Christmas! Your impressive command of ‘wordery’ is in top form with this one! Sounds like U 2 made the most of a wonderful Christmas tradition. 🙂 Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Mark, the Christmas pudding, together with a large helping of sherry trifle, has been known to induce jigging. I’ve witnessed it and even joined in with this extraordinary post-pudding tradition. The funniest story I ever heard was that of a gentleman driving home from Christmas celebrations with his parents was stopped and breathalyzed by the police and found to be over the limit by a considerable degree… such is the potency of English festive fayre. Reply
Roy Eugene Peterson December 26, 2024 This took me back to the refrain in the song, “Oh, give me some figgy pudding.” Where I come from, I never had any such pudding. In my case it was pecan pie. I have always wondered about what went into it, but you have shown me the recipe for something that must be treasured every Christmas by those who have it. Your alliterations are always masterful and vividly portray your subject. Merry Christmas to you and Mike! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Roy, thank you so much. I love pecan pies and always enjoy a piece at Thanksgiving. In our house we do Thanksgiving Texas style and Christmas English style. This year I craved a pudding – not to be found in any Texas superstore… I simply had to make one. The recipe was so good, I’m going to make one every Christmas. Reply
Mary Jane Myers December 26, 2024 Susan Yummy! boozy figgy plummy! This is a delightful poem. Your marvelous wordplay is on festive display. And today, another British custom: Boxing Day. When I was a wee little thing, I concluded that the Brits all must attend boxing matches on this day. (I always came to rather strange conclusions–I thought Aladdin had a wonderful lamb–I conflated him somehow with the shepherdess Mary!) Merry Christmas! Sincerely Mary Jane Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 28, 2024 Mary Jane, thank you very much for this wonderful comment that takes me straight back to England, boxing day, and the great British custom of pantomimes starring Aladdin with a lamp and no lamb. LOL Boxing Day is a couch-potato day of cold meats, bubble and squeak and pickles. People often watch sport (which may include a boxing match) and old films, or a family fight might break out as kith and kin get fed up with one another’s company – another reason for calling the day after Christmas “Boxing Day”. I like this story best: A box of leftover food was given to each member of staff who waited on lords and ladies in mansion houses on the day after Christmas, and they were sent home for to celebrate Christmas with their families. Reply
Adam Sedia December 26, 2024 Written with a gusto that I imagine only a true Briton could feel about pudding. This is some A-1 advertising for a lovely traditional Christmas dish — and a reminder to appreciate the small things. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 You’re spot on with your observation on the gusto front – I could barely contain my excitement at every stage of making this British delight – which I shared with unbridled enthusiasm. It is those little things that mean the most. Adam, thank you very much indeed! Reply
C.B. Anderson December 26, 2024 I want me some o’ that luscious stuff, Susan. The fruit cake we get here is more candied than brandied, and doesn’t get the bells tolling. I’m working on a recipe of my own that I hope will bang the gong. But what of plums? The pudding made therefrom must be something more than reconstituted prunes. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 C.B., if you lived nearer to me, I would take great delight in serving you a scrumptious piece of my pudding. As for the “plums” – this word was used to describe any and every fruit in the pudding, much like the word “coke” is used to describe any and every soda in Texas. This is probably why it’s also known as “plum pudding”. The fruits I used were currants, sultanas, prunes and a grated cooking apple. These puny, pruny fruits were soaking up cognac for a fortnight until plumptious with party-time spirit. Wishing you all the very best with your recipe. I’m sure you won’t be disappointed. Reply
Isabella December 27, 2024 As the pudding is crammed and stuffed with fruit and all good things, so too your poem; a veritable feast of festive,wonderful words mixed together beautifully! Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 What a beautiful and poetic comment. Thank you very much, Isabella! Reply
Brian A. Yapko December 28, 2024 This is an absolutely delightful ode, Susan. I read it several times simply to get my mouth watering and to fantasize about the gastronomic bliss of which you rhapsodize. Your description of ingredients and ultimate result beats anything I’ve heard or seen on the Food Network! Writing about food is extremely hard and you’ve managed to do it with great aplomb — as well as a plum. I’ve never had a Christmas pudding and am anxious to sample one! I hope you and Mike had a very Merry Christmas and that 2025 will be a healthy, happy, prosperous year for you both. Reply
Susan Jarvis Bryant December 29, 2024 Brian, I’m thrilled this poem hit the right note. The making of the pudding stirred my muse, and I simply couldn’t help but pay poetic tribute (with a plum (lol) or two) to a favorite traditional dish. I have a feeling my love of Christmas pudding may have rubbed off on a few readers, which delights me. Everyone should try one. Brian, thank you! May 2025 bring you health, happiness, prosperity… and a Christmas pudding! Reply
