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Spotted dick and custard.

Spotted dick is a steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants) commonly served with custard, and a standard part of English cuisine. Spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and dick may be a contraction/corruption of the word pudding (from the last syllable) or possibly a corruption of the word dough^[1] or dog, as "spotted dog" is another name for the same dish. Another explanation offered for the latter half of the name is that it comes from the German word for "thick," in reference to the thickened suet mixture.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest documented reference is a recipe for "Plum Bolster or Spotted Dick," in Alexis Soyer's The Modern Housewife, or, Ménagère (1850).^[2]

Hospital managers at Gloucestershire NHS Trust (in 2001)^[3] and the catering staff at Flintshire County Council (in 2009)^[4] renamed the pudding Spotted Richard on menus because of the use of Dick in the name, which is short for "Richard", but also slang for "penis". Gloucestershire NHS Trust restored the original name in 2002. Flintshire County Council reversed their renaming after a few weeks.^[5]

Also

Henry Threadgill had a composition called "Spotted Dick Is Pudding" on his 1988 album "Easily Slip Into Another World".

Spotted Dick is a popular dish in the Harry Potter book series, being a favourite of Ronald Weasley. The grand Hogwarts Feasts are a showcase of traditional British foods.

On December 15, 2009, Megan Mullally presented Andy Richter a tin of Spotted Dick as a Christmas gift on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. Andy commented this was fortunate, as his diet had just been altered to allow dick. Conan O'Brien immediately threw to commercial following this comment.

References

1. ^ What's the origin of "spotted dick"? – a 27 Aug 2002 Straight Dope article on the etymology of the name
2. ^ OED Second Edition 1989; Spotted, a. and ppl. a.
3. ^ Spotted Dick back on menu 10 Sept 2002 BBC
4. ^ Pudding renamed Spotted Richard BBC News 8 September 2009
5. ^ Spotted Dick back on council menu BBC News 23 September 2009