Sunday afternoon breaks into evening and I am sitting down to a roast, mum’s roast potatoes, a mandatory double serving of veg and a jug of gravy poured over my crisp, chewy (intentional paradox) Yorkshire Pudding. Memories don’t come any better than that.
I wouldn’t dare to presume that a roast dinner is incomplete without Yorkshire’s finest, but imagine The Oscars without the red carpet, Superman without a cape, Lindsay Lohan without the paparazzi… it just wouldn’t be right, would it?
For generations, chefs and home cooks have argued over what makes the perfect Yorkshire Pudding. Thankfully, the debate can be put to bed now, following the endeavors of John Emsley, a scientist at the Royal Society of Chemistry. He has created the “definitive” recipe and concluded that a Yorkshire Pudding can only be considered a success if it rises to four inches.
I am privileged to share it with you in its original form.
If you don’t have a Yorkshire Pudding tin (the kind of thing you might cook muffins in), you can use a single roasting pan to produce a big, single pudding which you slice and serve. Some folk even prefer it this way.
Resist the temptation to make mini Puddings with a small sliver of rare roast beef and a dollop of horse-radish sauce as a canapé. It’s poncy.