“The Proof Is In The Pudding,” Came Into Common Use In The 1950’s

The food holiday National Chocolate Pudding Day is observed each year on June 26th.  Chocolate pudding has been loved by children and adults for many years.  Usually eaten as a snack or dessert, chocolate pudding is also used as a filling for chocolate creme pie.

Historically, chocolate pudding is a variation of chocolate custard, using starch as a thickener instead of eggs.  The 1903 edition of Mary Harris Frazer’s Kentucky Receipt Book and the 1918 edition of Fannie Farmer’s Boston Cooking School Cook Book both have recipes for the earlier version, using both eggs and flour.

• In 1934, General Foods (Jello) introduced chocolate pudding mix as “Walter Baker’s Dessert.”
• In 1936, it was renamed “Pickle’s Pudding.”

Chocolate pudding is usually made with milk and sugar, flavored with chocolate and vanilla then thickened with flour or cornstarch.  Some recipes do use eggs when making the pudding.

Chocolate pudding can be purchased ready-made and sold in grocery stores, convenience stores and gas stations.  The popular brands include Jell-O by the Kraft Foods Corporation and Snack Pack by Hunt’s.

• The proverb “The proof of the pudding’s in the eating” dates back to at least the 14th century.
• This proverb dates back at least to the 14th century as “Jt is ywrite that euery thing Hymself sheweth in the tastyng”, and William Camden stated it in 1605 in Remaines of a Greater Worke, Concerning Britaine as “All the proof of a pudding, is in the eating”, per Rogers’ Dictionary of Cliche and the Oxford Dictionary of Quotations.
• A 1682 translation of Nicolas Boileau-Despréaux Le Lutrin (written between 1672 and 1674) renders it “The proof of th’ pudding’s seen i’ the eating.”
• The current phrasing is generally attributed to the 1701 translation by Peter Anthony Motteux of a proverb Miguel de Cervantes used in Don Quixote (1615), al freír de los huevos lo verá (“you will see it when you fry the eggs”)
• The shorter form the proof is in the pudding, which dates back to the 1920s and came into common use in the United States in the 1950s, is becoming increasingly common.
• Originally a British dish, this pudding could be made on very short notice
• Ingredients vary, but it was basically a sweetened porridge made from flour, tapioca or oatmeal and milk. The term originated in the late 16th century.
• In Colonial America cornmeal was cheaper and more readily available, so here, Hasty Pudding was a cornmeal mush (cornmeal added to boiling water and cooked) with molasses, honey, brown sugar or maple syrup and milk.
• There are both savory and dessert versions of this dish.  An example of a savory version would be a meat pudding.
• In the United States, pudding characteristically denotes a sweet milk-based dessert similar in consistency to egg-based custards, instant, or a mousse, though it may also refer to other types such as bread and rice pudding.
• The sweet and creamy confection we know as pudding emerged in the mid-19th century when an English chemist named Alfred Bird developed an egg-free custard powder. This remarkable invention made it very easy to produce a delicious pudding with the perfect consistency.
• The word pudding is believed to come from the French boudin, originally from the Latin botellus, meaning “small sausage,” referring to encased meats used in Medieval European puddings.
• As part of a promotion, Healthy Choice was offering 500 frequent flyer miles to anyone who purchased 10 Healthy Choice products. David Philips recognized that if he purchased individual cups of pudding at 25 cents apiece he could easily rack up a lot of miles. He ended up with 1.25 million frequent-flyer miles for roughly $3,000. That’s the equivalent of 31 round trip tickets to Europe, or 42 tickets to Hawaii! He also donated the pudding cups to the Salvation Army and local food banks, and was able to write off the donations on his taxes.

Sources:

National Day Calendar

Foodimentary

Mobile-Cuisine

Wiktionary