There is one thing that as a nation we don’t have to argue about: Yorkshire puddings are great. On that we unanimously agree. For me, it’s one of our most iconic dishes and is the main reason I would be driven to make a roast dinner — with beef, but we’ll come on to that.
Although the simple side dish has long been loved by the British public, it seems that our appetite for its golden goodness has grown even stronger. For frozen Yorkshire puds have made it into the Office for National Statistics’ “shopping basket” for the first time. The shopping basket illustrates what we’re buying and what we’re not buying as a nation. Suits, thanks to working from home, have dropped off but premade Yorkies have won a place, along with meat-free sausages and canned pulses.
This is a little surprising to me. In my opinion the frozen type can never come anywhere close to the majesty of a homemade, hot-out-of-the-oven, risen-to-staggering-heights, perfect Yorkshire pudding, but if it’s impatience to eat them that we’re driven by then I have no choice but to respect that.
So, why the new-found need for Yorkshire puddings? For me, it’s in the same category as things like pasta, pancakes and all the types of bread. They’re foods with very few ingredients but high levels of deliciousness, which never fails to be a thrilling combination. It’s magical to me that you can make something so incredible from the most unassuming of ingredients.
Although these days we’re branching out with all kinds of wacky variations. BBC Good Food has a list of five “next-level” Yorkshire pudding recipes, which includes a questionable-looking Yorkshire pudding pizza, a giant Yorkshire pudding to encase your entire Sunday lunch and an interesting Yorkshire pudding wrap to “cocoon” your leftovers.
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It’s a far cry from the recipe’s origins. The first recipe was published in 1737 in Sir Alexander William George Cassey’s book The Whole Duty of a Woman, Or, An Infallible Guide to the Fair Sex — the closest the 18th century came to Nigella’s How to Be a Domestic Goddess — and was meant as a means of not wasting dripping. By the 20th century, “they were a postwar Sunday ritual in Yorkshire”, says Shaun Rankin, a Yorkshireman and Michelin-starred chef. “After a long week, coalminers would head to the working men’s club to pay their thrift, which would go towards family holidays and Christmas presents, along with having a pint to unwind, paired with a large Yorkshire pudding as a starter before heading home for their beef roast — a classic heritage combo which is still known and loved today.”
Despite, of course, making his own, Rankin can see why premade ones may have shot up in popularity. “Yorkshires are an essential element to the Sunday roast, so naturally in frozen form it’s easier and quicker to get food on the table for the kids,” he says.
● The best Yorkshire pudding recipes
Our renewed love for Yorkshires can also be seen in restaurants. Going out for a roast with friends has become a staple Sunday activity among my millennial peer group and, when it comes to the Yorkshire pud, it seems the restaurants’ view is: the bigger the better. I’ve witnessed enormous Yorkshire puddings placed crown-like on top of plates — so big as to obscure the entire dinner underneath — surely done, in part, for the Instagram potential, although I’m not complaining.
Roasts have had such a cool revival that the rapper Professor Green recently joined the scene. During the first lockdown the star teamed up with the chef Luke French to deliver finish-at-home roast kits to Londoners and the Yorkshire pudding was an integral part.
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French, who owns the Sheffield restaurant Jöro, said: “I wasn’t aware Yorkshire puddings were ever gone, let alone making a comeback — but then I live in Sheffield.
“I’d have them with every meal if I could get away with it. In lockdown especially they were a go-to comforter. Stephen [Green] and I bonded over our love for them and exchanged tips for weeks on Instagram before settling on our ultimate recipe. Mine have to be at least five inches tall. I saw a fancy restaurant serving ones that resembled hockey pucks the other day on Instagram — that’s a no from me.”
It’s not just millennials who are posting their puds on social media. In 2017 the supermodel Gigi Hadid was tasked with showing the world how to make Yorkshire puddings in a video for British Vogue. The 26-year-old says that it’s a mistake to mix all the ingredients together at once; instead you should first combine the milk and eggs. Thanks, Gigi. Elsewhere on the internet a big squabble erupted when The New York Times sang the praises of the “Dutch baby” pancake, recommending it be served with “syrup, preserves, confectioners’ sugar or cinnamon sugar”. This immediately elicited the scorn of the British public, with one Twitter user saying that she was “spitting feathers” at the appropriation of our national pud. The BBC Breakfast presenter Dan Walker piled in to call those responsible “heathens” and made clear that Yorkshire puddings are “older than America”.
Of course, four years on, there are now many British recipes for sweet Yorkshire puddings.
There are other arguments to be had though — what kind of fat should you use? Individual Yorkshires or a whole tray? Do it by eye or measure precisely? Should you leave the batter to rest before using it? A Yorkshire grandma called Nanna Bea who this year has taken TikTok by storm with her down-to-earth recipes says you should always use lard and equal measurements of flour, milk and eggs.
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French says that the key is in the quality of the eggs (recommending St Ewe’s), and that you should leave the mixture to rest in the fridge overnight, then use beef dripping to create the perfect rise and flavour.
Rankin agrees. “I use beef dripping in my Yorkie recipe too as it’s the traditional way. Vegetable fats were not locally harvested until fairly recently. It also has that distinct beef flavour that you can’t get from any other fat, so it’s by far the most natural choice.”
And as for whether you should have it with any other roast meat but beef, Rankin says you can but it’s not as good. “Beef is the superior option — chicken is a second-rate choice.”
And my top tip for Yorkshires? Make as many as your oven will allow.
