17^th century

Rice Pudding in Skins

This type of rice pudding first appeared in late Elizabethan times. It is made, like white and black puddings, in sausage skins. Stuffing the sausage skins was a tedious task: at first all people had to work with was a funnel, then a large wood-and-metal sausage forcer was used in which you had to place the pudding mixture and force it through the nozzle. The recipe below is by John Murrell; I have chosen it because it uses barberries, a berry that was also frequently used to colour food, and also because I like the way Murrell writes. The recipe is, however, incomplete. He ends his recipe with the instructions to parboil – which, even back then, meant partly boil – and let the pudding cool.

Puddings were usually sliced and then fried or roasted in front of the fire, and it was no different with this rice pudding. We find the clue for that in a book from 1660, Robert May’s The Accomplisht Cook. May gives two recipes for rice pudding: one in skins like this one, and one in a pudding cloth. At the end of the second recipe, he adds: ‘If in guts, being boild, tost them before the fire in a silver dish or tosting pan.’

A Ryce Pudding.

Steep it in faire water all night: then boyle it in new Milke, and draine out the Milke through a Cullinder: mince beefe Suit handsomely, but not too small, and put it into the Rice, and parboyld Currins, yolkes of new layd Egges, Nutmeg, Sinamon, Sugar, and Barberryes: mingle all together: wash your scoured guttes, and stuffe them with the aforesaid pulp: parboyle them, and let them coole.

John Murrell, A Newe Booke of Cookery, 1615

The same year as John Murrell’s book was published, Gervase Markham also published a recipe for rice pudding in his book The English Huswife. He used dates instead of barberries, added cloves and mace instead of nutmeg, and also added a pinch of salt and pepper.

Unlike a modern rice pudding, this recipe uses suet as in most boiled puddings. As we can use arborio or pudding rice today, we don’t need to steep the rice overnight. I find arborio rice gives a better result if you’re going to stuff the pudding into sausage skins. If you are making this as a regular rice pudding without using sausage skins, you may use pudding rice, and use a knob of butter instead of the suet. Barberries can be found in organic grocers; they are very tart but are delicious in this pudding.

Makes 4 rice puddings

220 g (7¾ oz/1 cup)arborio rice

750 ml (26 fl oz/3 cups) milk

1 mace blade

1 cinnamon stick

a tiny pinch of salt and pepper

50 g (1¾ oz) shredded suet

20 g (¾ oz) sugar

25 g (1 oz) currants, soaked in water overnight, drained

a large handful of barberries, dried or fresh (if you can’t get barberries, use cranberries)

2 egg yolks, beaten

sausage casing, soaked in salted water overnight (or as instructed on the pack)

butter, for frying

Boil the rice in the milk with the spices, salt and pepper in a large saucepan over low heat. When the rice is soft and the mixture is thickened, add the suet, sugar, currants, barberries and finally the egg yolks. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly.

Place the sausage casing over a funnel with a wide opening. You can tie the casing around the funnel if you like. I make a homemade funnel from the top of a plastic bottle; this works best to keep the sausage casing in place.

Scoop the pudding batter into a piping (icing) bag with a large plain nozzle roughly the same size as the funnel opening. Put the piping bag inside the funnel and start squeezing out the pudding mixture. It is quite runny so it will go down easily. Help the mixture along the casing by squeezing slightly with wet hands to force it down.

Make links by pushing the mixture down gently and tying a piece of kitchen string around the casing to fasten it off. Then tie another piece of string beside the first and cut between the two so you have separate sausages. Alternatively, tie the sausage casing in a knot.

Heat a large saucepan of water to boiling and place the puddings in the water. Gently simmer for 30 minutes, then lift them out of the water and allow them to cool.

To serve, cut thick slices and fry them in a frying pan with butter, or fry the puddings whole. I prefer the latter method, as it’s very entertaining to serve your guests sweet sausages. Serve with raspberry vinegar, maple syrup, honey or a dusting of sugar.