# 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:** 4
**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, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/61 "2024-06-29T00:39:03Z")
Hasty pudding. It used to be a big thing in Connecticut. It was mentioned in the lyrics of an old song from Connecticut. “Yankee Doodle.” It’s cornmeal mush with molasses. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/62 "2024-06-29T01:31:11Z")
But it’s not something Treebeard would ever eat. ---
**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 29, 2024, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/63 "2024-06-29T06:21:11Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > It’s cornmeal mush with molasses. In America. In England, it predates the colonies and was made with wheat flour or other grains. More like a farina. It’s part of a whole family of boiled grain dishes, like frumenty and groats. ---
**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 29, 2024, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/64 "2024-06-29T07:19:18Z")
Well we won’t go until we’ve got some. I thought we made that pretty clear… ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/65 "2024-06-29T07:52:50Z")
> [@jnglmassiv](#): > > There is also figgy pudding, which we insist is brought to us, several times, each Christmas. A few years ago I served a Christmas dinner which included Yorkshire pudding and figgy pudding. I had to explain to my mother several times that there would be no figs involved and that neither dish was actually made of pudding. ---
**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 29, 2024, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/66 "2024-06-29T11:08:06Z")
Angel Delight is mixed with cold milk and starts setting without any cooking - is that true of pudding mixes in the US (I suspect the answer is ‘sometimes’) ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/67 "2024-06-29T11:16:08Z")
Many boxed pudding mixes in the U.S. are labeled as “instant pudding,” and they do indeed involve simply mixing the powder with cold milk. You may refrigerate it after mixing if you want, but it’s not technically necessary. There are also cooked puddings, but I suspect the majority of people these days use the instant variety. ---
**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 29, 2024, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/68 "2024-06-29T12:12:06Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > is that true of pudding mixes in the US Yep, at least for the Jell-O ones. I don’t know about other brands but I doubt they vary much. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/69 "2024-06-29T12:22:04Z")
Jello has both instant and “cook and serve” . ---
**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 29, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/70 "2024-06-29T12:27:52Z")
aah, good to know, we only get the instant kind imported here. ---
**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, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/71 "2024-06-29T12:33:08Z")
Thanks, i was confused, as I’ve only ever bought the “cook and serve” kind. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/72 "2024-06-29T13:53:17Z")
When I was a young and lazy bachelor, I remember once buying a box of Jell-o pudding without looking at the label too carefully. I had been expecting instant, but when I actually started making it, I realized that it was the “cook and serve” kind. Being, as I said, a young and lazy bachelor, I thought “well, that’s too much damn work” and did without pudding that night. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/73 "2024-06-29T13:58:00Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Do you eat muffins with a fork? Sometimes. Especially if it’s something sweet and with fruit in it, like a blueberry or raspberry muffing served as a desert at a sit-down meal. If eaten on-the-go, like from a fast food place, generally not. I’d peel the paper wrapped back out of the way and just munch it out of hand. If it’s a corn muffin, as in, not sweet, I’d cut it in half, spread butter on it, and eat that with my hand, too. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/74 "2024-06-29T14:06:24Z")
Surely my best friend’s family weren’t the only ones to refer to male gentilalia as “pudding.” “Quit pounding your pudding and take out the trash.” ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/75 "2024-06-29T14:21:54Z")
In general, as an American, I consider puddings to be starch-thickened (whether flour or something like corn starch or arrowroot or whatnot) “slop” and custards to be egg-thickened, though I’ve seen some things labeled as “custard” to contain some starch for extra stability. But, for me, the primary thing that sets apart custard from pudding is that the former has lots of egg yolks in it, while the latter does not. That said, as with many things culinary, it’s not always that neat. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/76 "2024-06-29T14:31:36Z")
The bread pudding I’m aware of has the consistency of stuffing or dressing. In fact I might call it a sweet version of stuffing. You can kinda cut it into pieces, but they fall apart easily. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/77 "2024-06-29T14:36:23Z")
[A pudding reference from an old thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-your-name-puddin-tame/459210). My only real world recollection is Barney Fife on the Andy Griffith responding to “What’s your name” - “Puddin’ Tame. Ask me again and I’ll tell you the same.” Until now I had no idea what that was about. ---
**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 29, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/78 "2024-06-29T19:28:00Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > Being, as I said, a young and lazy bachelor, I thought “well, that’s too much damn work” and did without pudding that night. “Cook and serve” is fairly easy, maybe even easier than instant, if you do it in the microwave. But you do have to wait awhile for it to set, because it’s not… instant. ---
**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 29, 2024, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/79 "2024-06-29T19:29:26Z")
Just occurred to me… the other thing we would call it (what appears to be ‘pudding’ in the USA) is blancmange ---
**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, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445/80 "2024-06-29T19:43:10Z")
Do you not have chocolate pudding? I know that there are other flavors, any i have friends who like banana pudding. But for me, the default is chocolate, and that’s most of what i see in general. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-full-range-of-things-called-pudding-in-the-usa/1003445.md?page=5)