The Mangan Aussie Christmas

Well, it's Christmas again. Christmas can and usually is a great family, fun and feast time for most. A time of traditions. A time for giving and receiving. A time for eating and drinking — usually too much.

When I was growing up we always had the traditional stuff, including opening presents while sitting around the tree and the obligatory Christmas lunch (feast). The meal usually consisted of a huge array of prawns and oysters, followed by roast turkey, cranberries, baked ham, vegetables, gravy, roasted spuds, with plenty of wine, beer and good humour. Then, we'd finish off with this amazing plum pudding which, when I think of it, was like dropping anchor to ensure the vessel didn't move anywhere after!

We would all wait in anticipation for the pudding. It was the grand finale of the meal. My mum would pour over warmed brandy, light it up — where it would then burst into flames — portion it up, then smother it with the richest, creamiest brandy sauce you could imagine! It was magnificent.

The history of the plum pudding goes back centuries, to Old England medieval times, when they made plum (dried prune) cakes and puddings, while not specifically for Christmas. Somehow and for some reason, plums were replaced by raisins, yet the plum pudding kept its name. Some recipes today include plums, but the bulk of the fruit is actually made up of raisins.

My mum would make those puddings (and still does) in about June or July, so that all the fruit and spice macerate would mature to this rich and wonderful product. The thing that often amazed me, and still does, was that we had this feast in the middle of summer, with the temperature sometimes well into the 30s. This hot, rich, steamed pudding really makes sense on a freezing cold day, but I wonder why we hold on to this very English tradition?

Here is our family's traditional Christmas plum pudding.