# The full range of things called 'pudding' in the USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 28, 2024, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445 "2024-06-28T14:00:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [June 28, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/41 "2024-06-28T20:16:05Z")
I’ve never heard of buttering the bread in a bread pudding, though. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/42 "2024-06-28T20:20:11Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > My bread pudding is cubed stale bread with egg, milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, poured over and baked. …which is then just an excuse to drench the whole concoction in whiskey sauce. Mmmm, yummy. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2024, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/43 "2024-06-28T20:20:58Z")
> [@kferr](#): > > Mention having biscuits and gravy for breakfast will get you disgusted looks from Brits. Yes, the Jolly boys did a video with their schoolboys eating biscuits and gravy. Not surprisingly, the boys thought it sounded and looked disgusting. But IIRC they all loved it. > [@Mangetout](#): > > Bread pudding (as opposed to bread and butter pudding) is something that you can cut into squares and pick up. O.k. this reminds me of something that catches my eye every time I see it. I watch plenty of TV shows/movies from the UK, and I almost never see anyone eating a piece of cake on a plate with a fork. They just pick up a piece of the cake in their hand and eat it that way. I was wondering if that’s why a lot of British cakes (cf. Victoria Sponge) have no frosting on the sides – too messy when you’re picking it up in your hands. Is this really common? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/44 "2024-06-28T20:30:01Z")
Also: Brit → US Bacon → Ham Fat → Bacon ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/45 "2024-06-28T20:38:12Z")
You are right, there are no plums involved. It’s a steamed pudding made with fruit, spices, and suet. It’s served hot with brandy butter, brandy sauce, or cream. Sometimes it is soaked in brandy and set alight. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/46 "2024-06-28T20:43:39Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@TriPolar](#): > > > > a pudding filled pie. > > The boxes of pudding mix are labeled as being “pudding and pie filling,” suggesting that it’s “pie filling” if it’s in a pie and “pudding” if it’s eaten separately. It’s also possible to have “pudding pie” without a crust. We had DoorDash deliver for a BBQ place on Juneteenth; dessert was individual mud pies – chocolate pudding and whipped cream layered in a plastic take-out container, topped with Oreo cookie bits. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/47 "2024-06-28T20:51:06Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Corn pudding is relatively popular in the South, and is [a staple side dish at many barbecue joints](https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/nashville-bbq-pro-corn-pudding-recipe). Corn pudding looks to be a relative of tomalito [![](https://d1yfn1dfres2va.cloudfront.net/009/ab/5e/ab5efddffc895662d4819664afeca539_social01.jpg) ](https://d1yfn1dfres2va.cloudfront.net/009/ab/5e/ab5efddffc895662d4819664afeca539_social01.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/48 "2024-06-28T21:19:37Z")
Yeah, if you eat cake with a fork in England, you’re probably a bit posh. If it’s a messy sort of cake - like, say Black Forest gateau, served as a dessert course, a spoon or spoon plus fork would be fairly normal though. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/49 "2024-06-28T21:22:01Z")
But even without the frosting your hands will get sticky. Ick. > [@Mangetout](#): > > If it’s a messy sort of cake - like, say Black Forest gateau, served as a dessert course, a spoon or spoon plus fork would be fairly normal though. Thanks for that! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/50 "2024-06-28T21:24:25Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > But even without the frosting your hands will get sticky. Ick. Do you eat muffins with a fork? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/51 "2024-06-28T21:27:08Z")
I get a similar sort of feeling when I hear Americans talking about pie or pudding without any qualifiers or additional descriptors - it’s like "I’m eating sandwich’ ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/52 "2024-06-28T21:37:02Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Corn pudding is relatively popular in the South Is that the same as [Indian pudding](https://theviewfromgreatisland.com/indian-pudding/)? ---
**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:** [June 28, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/53 "2024-06-28T21:50:32Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Do you eat muffins with a fork? Sometimes. I thought Indian pudding was made with cooked down corn meal. The corn pudding other people have pictured above looks like it’s made with whole kernels of corn. ---
**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:** [June 28, 2024, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/54 "2024-06-28T22:02:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I get a similar sort of feeling when I hear Americans talking about pie or pudding without any qualifiers or additional descriptors - it’s like "I’m eating sandwich’ Is that about the lack of individual descriptors, or about the lack of articles? We wouldn’t say “I’m eating sandwich,” but we certainly might say “I’m eating a sandwich.” Americans probably wouldn’t talk about “a pudding,” since to Americans, pudding is a substance and not a discrete object. (In this sense, it’s similar to “ice cream.” It’s possible but rare to talk about eating “an ice cream”; it would be far more common to say that we were eating ice cream.) We could say “I’m eating pie” or “I’m eating a pie,” but the latter would imply that we were eating a whole pie, whereas when we think of pie we most commonly think of the kind where you’d just eat one slice at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/55 "2024-06-28T22:12:00Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Is that about the lack of individual descriptors, or about the lack of articles? We wouldn’t say “I’m eating sandwich,” but we certainly might say “I’m eating a sandwich.” Either, I suppose - I was just reaching for an example phrase that conveys how vague and empty it sounds (to me) when someone just talks about ‘pie’ or ‘pudding’ - pudding especially because the term is so broad here as to be meaningless without qualifiers (unless it is being used in the sense where it is a synonym for dessert) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/56 "2024-06-28T22:21:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I know that ‘pudding’ in the USA typically means the one thing it _never_ means in the UK. I think it’s usually more akin to Angel Delight than custard. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/57 "2024-06-28T22:37:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > It’s possible but rare to talk about eating “an ice cream”; it would be far more common to say that we were eating ice cream. Here (in South Africa) if someone says they’re “eating ice cream”, they would mean they’re eating a bowl of it. If they’re “eating an ice cream”, they’re having either a soft-serve cone or what I believe is called an ice cream bar in the US. ---
**Author:** ![jnglmassiv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f07891/32.png) [@jnglmassiv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jnglmassiv)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/58 "2024-06-28T23:59:07Z")
There is also figgy pudding, which we insist is brought to us, several times, each Christmas. ---
**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:** [June 29, 2024, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/59 "2024-06-29T00:06:21Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > It’s possible but rare to talk about eating “an ice cream”; it would be far more common to say that we were eating ice cream. > > Here (in South Africa) if someone says they’re “eating ice cream”, they would mean they’re eating a bowl of it. If they’re “eating an ice cream”, they’re having either a soft-serve cone or what I believe is called an ice cream bar in the US. Exactly the same here in the ice cream capital of the US. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/60 "2024-06-29T00:31:19Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “We’re having potato chips for beer.” In the American tradition, “low beer” is just that, potato chips (maybe pretzels). “High beer” takes the place of the evening meal and involves pizzas and wings. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445.md?page=4)