# In the UK people call cake "pudding" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 8, 2020, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365 "2020-04-08T18:27:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/181 "2020-04-13T15:51:42Z")
I understand. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/182 "2020-04-13T16:18:18Z")
There was a post I saw in my email, but not on the board involving a recipe of chopped pork wrapped in bacon. I understand that bacon means different parts in the USA than in Britain. I wonder how that came about, since we were eating bacon when we were British, before the revolutionary war. I think bacon in Britain is what we call Canadian bacon, which is more like ham than our fatty US bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/183 "2020-04-13T16:51:03Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > There was a post I saw in my email, but not on the board involving a recipe of chopped pork wrapped in bacon. I understand that bacon means different parts in the USA than in Britain. I wonder how that came about, since we were eating bacon when we were British, before the revolutionary war. I think bacon in Britain is what we call Canadian bacon, which is more like ham than our fatty US bacon. “Bacon” in the UK, as an unmodified, unqualified term, means a pork-chop shaped slice of cured, unsmoked pork (though cut much thinner, obviously). A round-ish piece of lean meat at one end, with fat-streaked strip at the other. It’s widely available smoked too, but that would be declared rather than assumed. It’s otherwise known as “back bacon”, when distinguishing it from “streaky bacon” - which is the cut that Americans would be familiar with as bacon. Streaky is also widely available smoked, but again, this would always be labelled as such. “Middle bacon” is rarer nowadays - essentially it’s both of the above, left unseparated. Back with streaky attached. While unsmoked (sometimes called “green”) back bacon is what you would assume British bacon to be unless specified, context can vary this very occasionally. Pigs in Blankets (sometimes “Kilted Sausages” in older recipe books) are small sausages (chipolatas) wrapped in bacon…but nobody would be likely to describe them as “sausages wrapped in smoked streaky bacon”, even though that’s what they tend to be. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/184 "2020-04-13T16:56:42Z")
Aw, **Yorkshire Pudding** , sending healing vibes your way. I have a question that came up while reading upthread about bread pudding. Most people were describing what I, an American, consider bread pudding, but in the UK they have something called bread and butter pudding. What is that? Because American bread pudding does not normally contain butter. ??? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/185 "2020-04-13T17:03:29Z")
There are many, many dishes described as “pigs in a blanket”. In the US, the “blanket” is most likely to be cabbage or another leaf, but can also be a bread-like substance. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a “blanket” made of more pig, but with all of the regions of this country, I wouldn’t rule out seeing it on this side of the Pond. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/186 "2020-04-13T17:10:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > There are many, many dishes described as “pigs in a blanket”. In the US, the “blanket” is most likely to be cabbage or another leaf, but can also be a bread-like substance. The only “pigs in blankets” I’ve ever seen have been hot dogs, li’l smokies, or some other sausage wrapped in bread/biscuit dough. And that’s the clear majority of what comes up when I google the phrase. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/187 "2020-04-13T17:23:17Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > Mash for a family of four: I can do raw to plate in quarter of an hour, tops. Even so, that’s fifteen times longer than it takes to make instant potatoes (though I agree nobody who cares much about the taste uses instant potatoes). ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/188 "2020-04-13T17:33:28Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The only “pigs in blankets” I’ve ever seen have been hot dogs, li’l smokies, or some other sausage wrapped in bread/biscuit dough. And that’s the clear majority of what comes up when I google the phrase. That is what I think of as pig in a blanket. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/189 "2020-04-13T17:49:20Z")
Hm, maybe the region of cabbage-blankets is smaller than I thought. But while bacon-wrapped meat is hardly unknown in the US, I’ve never seen it called “in a blanket”. Usually, we just unimaginatively call it “bacon-wrapped” whatever. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/190 "2020-04-13T18:54:50Z")
“Bacon” originates in a word meaning “back,” so from one point of view, “back bacon” should be redundant. The fact that the default American definition is smoked pork belly is more of a drift. Similarly, “ham” comes from a word meaning the leg behind the knee. I don’t know how much ham is really made from that cut. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/191 "2020-04-13T19:00:00Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Even so, that’s fifteen times longer than it takes to make instant potatoes (though I agree nobody who cares much about the taste uses instant potatoes). Can’t fault that, really! I might be able to get a pan of mash together pretty damn quick, but I’m no match for the speed of instant. But, to paraphrase… Now, my shit, I’ll take the Pepsi challenge with that instant shit, any day of the fuckin’ week. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/192 "2020-04-13T19:10:21Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Aw, **Yorkshire Pudding** , sending healing vibes your way. > > I have a question that came up while reading upthread about bread pudding. Most people were describing what I, an American, consider bread pudding, but in the UK they have something called bread and butter pudding. What is that? Because American bread pudding does not normally contain butter. ??? Thanks man. So, pudding… It’s essentially the same: slices of bread in a dish with a sweetened, spiced egg & milk mixture poured over it, often with dried fruit added, and baked. It’s bread and _butter_ pudding as it uses buttered slices of bread. I presume that’s because it was to use up leftover bread & butter - historically served routinely alongside a meal - but I have nothing to base this on beyond supposition. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/193 "2020-04-13T19:17:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Hm, maybe the region of cabbage-blankets is smaller than I thought. > > But while bacon-wrapped meat is hardly unknown in the US, I’ve never seen it called “in a blanket”. Usually, we just unimaginatively call it “bacon-wrapped” whatever. I think I thought our bacon-wrapped sausages being termed pigs in blankets was maybe an American import, possibly because - as I say - I’ve seen them by other names in older cookbooks. That might still be the case, of course, and be based on a mistaken interpretation of the name by Brits who heard the American term, or on an adaptation of the recipe. Or maybe the leaf/bread/pastry wrapped versions resulted from a poverty-stricken workaround during a period of austerity? Or the bacon wrapped version from a special-occasion treat? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/194 "2020-04-13T20:30:00Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > …I’ve lost my job, and my asthmatic, chronic-fatigue-suffering wife has just gone down with Covid-19. I’m probably judging everybody’s jokes - including my own - very badly. > > Pax. Oh shit, I’m really sorry to hear that. I hope things improve. > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > The only “pigs in blankets” I’ve ever seen have been hot dogs, li’l smokies, or some other sausage wrapped in bread/biscuit dough. And that’s the clear majority of what comes up when I google the phrase. Ditto – it’s always been a hot dog or something sausage-y wrapped in something bready. A friend makes them with beef franks and calls them cows in comforters. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/195 "2020-04-13T20:59:53Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Bacon” originates in a word meaning “back,” so from one point of view, “back bacon” should be redundant. The fact that the default American definition is smoked pork belly is more of a drift. Similarly, “ham” comes from a word meaning the leg behind the knee. I don’t know how much ham is really made from that cut. I imagined that ‘ham’ was related to ‘jamón’, as the pronunciation anglicises so easily to ‘hammon’. Obviously there’s the French ‘jambon’ (clearly the same idea), and much English food terminology comes from French. The still-in-use ‘Gammon’ is the obvious link there, but it’s not a stretch to see ‘ham’ too. I’m not disputing the ‘leg behind the knee’ origin though - it just always seemed like a ‘jamón’/‘jambon’ origin was pretty likely. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/196 "2020-04-13T21:03:11Z")
> [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](#): > > I imagined that ‘ham’ was related to ‘jamón’, as the pronunciation anglicises so easily to ‘hammon’. Obviously there’s the French ‘jambon’ (clearly the same idea), and much English food terminology comes from French. The still-in-use ‘Gammon’ is the obvious link there, but it’s not a stretch to see ‘ham’ too. > > I’m not disputing the ‘leg behind the knee’ origin though - it just always seemed like a ‘jamón’/‘jambon’ origin was pretty likely. Ham, jamón, jambon, and gammon are essentially all the same word. They go back to a root word meaning “bend,” referring to the bend in the leg that is the knee. “Jambon,” for example, is derived from “jambe,” that is, “leg.” So all these words refer to the leg joint. ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/197 "2020-04-13T21:17:34Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Ham, jamón, jambon, and gammon are essentially all the same word. They go back to a root word meaning “bend,” referring to the bend in the leg that is the knee. “Jambon,” for example, is derived from “jambe,” that is, “leg.” So all these words refer to the leg joint. It was knowledge of French that suggested it to me: “jambe” meaning “leg” implied that “jambon” is leg meat. Which it is, of course; I just hadn’t realised there was a specific part of the leg implied by it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/198 "2020-04-13T22:19:32Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Ham, jamón, jambon, and gammon are essentially all the same word. _Gammon_ is uncured ham, is it not? ---
**Author:** ![Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/59ef9b/32.png) [@Yorkshire\_Pudding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yorkshire_Pudding)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/199 "2020-04-13T22:26:54Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > _Gammon_ is uncured ham, is it not? Gammon’s like bacon but made from leg: cured but requires cooking. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [April 13, 2020, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-the-uk-people-call-cake-pudding/851365/200 "2020-04-13T23:19:38Z")
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