Day 165

Spotted Dick: Yeah, yeah...I know. Before you make any jokes, just know that I've already thought of them all. My mind's probably way further down in the gutter than yours. Anyway, today's new food is something that I've seen in the international sections of many grocery stores. All I knew is that it was a British product, but past that, I knew nothing. I've had several people ask me if I've tried this stuff yet, and when I was at the Edgewood Kroger tonight doing some browsing, I stumbled upon it again. Since I wasn't finding much else, I decided to go ahead and give it a try.

Based on the ingredients (primarily water, sugar, wheat flour and raisins), I knew that Spotted Dick was some sort of dessert-like substance. The can stated that it was "sponge pudding," so I wondered if it was going to be closer to cake or a dense pudding. After choosing the microwaving option for cooking (it was either that or steam it in the can for 30 minutes, no thanks), I opened the can and emptied the contents onto a plate, and it more resembled cake or bread, not pudding.

Once heated for about a minute, I dug in. The texture was more like a dense bread or cake, but fairly moist. It reminded me of raisin bread, but maybe a bit sweeter and spongier than that. Pretty good, but I couldn't handle eating much of it due to its weight. I'm not sure if it's usually eaten alone or with something else, but I'll definitely finish the rest of it later.

In case you're wondering where the name came from, Wikipedia states that "spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots), and dick may be a contraction or corruption of the word pudding or dough." Hmm, so that explains it.

Aside from the suggestive name, I can't think of much else about it that's too memorable. You could probably recreate it easily at home, and not pay the somewhat exorbitant import grocery store price. Maybe it's a dish that better enjoyed as a British tradition.