National Yorkshire Pudding Day in the UK Date in the current year: February 4, 2024

Yorkshire pudding is a traditional English baked pudding made from a batter of flour, eggs, and milk or water. It is a savory pudding that is typically served as a first course or a side dish. Yorkshire pudding is an integral part of the Sunday roast, alongside roasted meat, roasted or mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, vegetables, and various condiments.

Yorkshire pudding was invented when wheat flour became more affordable and came into common use for making puddings and cakes. Cooks in Yorkshire and other northern English counties devised it as a means to make use of the fat and juice dripping from the roasting meat; instead of a dripping pan, they put a pan of batter under the meat so that the fat dripping from the meat help cook the batter.

The first recipe for “a dripping pudding” was published in 1737. It was included in the book entitled The Whole Duty of a Woman by Alexander William George Cassey. The name “Yorkshire pudding” was used for the first time a decade later. Dripping pudding was renamed by Hanna Glasse, who authored the book The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy, which was the best-selling cookbook of the 18th century.

Yorkshire pudding with thick gravy was a cheap and hearty dish that was served as a first course to dull the appetite, allowing cooks to serve less of the more expensive meat as the main course. Today, it can be served as a first course with gravy, as a main course with gravy and meat, and as part of the traditional Sunday roast, as we’ve already mentioned above. When served as a main course, Yorkshire pudding can be filled with foods such as sausages and mash. Very rarely, it is served as a dessert, topped accompanied with jam, butter and sugar, golden syrup, ice cream, etc.

Modern Yorkshire pudding isn’t cooked under roasting meat; it is simply baked in the oven. A basic recipe for Yorkshire pudding batter calls for 200 ml flour, 200 ml milk or water, and four eggs. Yorkshire pudding made with water is lighter and crisper, but less sweet than Yorkshire pudding made with milk.

Yorkshire pudding is supposed to rise well. In 2008, the Royal Society of Chemistry even ruled that a true Yorkshire pudding should be no less than four inches (10 centimeters) tall. But how is this achieved given that the batter is unleavened? The secret is simple: sizzling hot oil. A little vegetable oil or melted fat is poured into a cast iron pan, ramekin or muffing tray, which is placed into the pre-heated oven. The batter is poured into the hot oil and baked at 220–230 °C.

Yorkshire pudding is one of the best-known dishes of English cuisine, so it is not surprising that there is a holiday celebrating it. National Yorkshire Pudding Day has been observed every first Sunday of February since 2007. It should not be confused with its American counterpart, which is celebrated on October 13.