My First Time #1 Spotted Dick

As much as I love ‘things’, it’s experiences that I think need to be collected. There are so many things I’ve never done, seen or tried, so I thought it was about time I started to change that. 

I don’t really have a list, let alone a bucket list. This is more a case of, when opportunity arises, I’m going to choose the option I’ve never gone with before. A lot of the time, these might be small silly choices, but there are obviously a huge amount of places in the world I’ve never been, and things I’ve never seen! 

This all started when I was food shopping and noticed that steamed puddings were on special. I love a steamed pudding when it’s cold outside... definitely a good winter warmer. Thing is, I’d never had Spotted Dick before, and wasn’t even entirely sure what it was. I mean obviously I’d heard of it before, and I still snigger a little bit like the child I am, but beyond that, I was pretty clueless... so I thought it was about time to try it... I mean it was on special anyway right? 

Now I’m sure there are many spotted dick purists out there that will tell me that a a shop bought microwave pudding is not the real thing, but I don’t fancy the idea of googling for ‘spotted dick in London’ Haha. Plus this was an impulse thing, and is more about the idea of trying things I’ve never done, as and when the situation arises. 

Spotted Dick Sponge Pudding

So how was it? It was actually pretty damn good! I mean essentially, it’s just a steamed sponge pudding with currants in it. What’s not to love? I also put a dollop of custard on top for good measure, which made it even better! 

I’d probably say I like it about as much as Sticky Toffee pudding. I know that’s probably controversial, but I found it to be much lighter and easier to eat. Sticky Toffee pudding can often be a bit too heavy and overly sweet. 

Spotted Dick Sponge Pudding Custard

To save you the time (because I know you’re wondering), this is what Wikipedia has to say about the name...

The name has long been a source of amusement and double entendres, to the point that the catering staff of Flintshire County Council decided in 2009 to rename it to "Spotted Richard" because of all the jokes they were receiving. While "spotted" is a clear reference to the dried fruit in the pudding (which resemble spots), "dick" is more obscure. The word was widely used as a term for pudding in the 19th century; in late 19th century Huddersfield, for instance, a glossary of local terms described "Dick, plain pudding. If with treacle sauce, treacle dick." It could alternatively be a corruption of the word pudding, evolving through puddink, then puddick, then finally dick. Another possibility is that it is a corruption or variant of "dough". For example, "deeg" is the Dutch word for "dough.

So now you know why it might be called Spotted Dick... and I’ve now experienced the pleasure of it in my mouth! (Snigger).

I’m planning on making this the first of many firsts. That won’t just mean food, but many other things. There’s a whole host of classic films I’ve never seen, so expect random movie reviews! 

What are some of the things that you’ve never tried, but feel like you should have?