Pudding comes to mind ia something in a little Jello box in the supermarket. You would open the envelope and little crystals would come out to be mixed with milk. And a magical instant pudding was the result. There were flavours like chocolate, butterscotch, strawberry and vanilla.
Then there were home-made puddings from tapioca and rice but there was magic in the little Jello boxes. I see these various puddings are now referred to as "retro desserts". Good point - they were popular in the early 20th century and at their height 1950s and 1960s. They were advertised as a boon to the busy mother.
These don't seem to be related to puddings of the past. Ancient puddings were of two types: meat-based or sweet puddings of flour, nuts and sugar - think Christmas pudding - almost a cake. Puddings have a long tradition in many countries. The picture below shows the place of puddings within Sweet Royalty. Doesn't Christmas pudding look like a king@
So it seems to me that it is in the 20th century where the food giants put the name pudding to little boxes of crystals that made gummy goo. And then restaurants and diners with the glass-door fridges could display them. I remember that our mothers could let us girls make puddings as there wasn't much that could go wrong.
Packaged puddings are still on the shelf. They came to my attention during COVID as I stood in the pudding aisle in a long line waiting to cash out. There are a lot of flavours and boxes, but they have declined: "Jello is high in sugar and low in fibre and protein and an unhealthy food choice." I do think it is just the packages that changed and one can buy the little pudding cups in the refrigerated section now.
Isn't this a pretty scene - Filoli - one of those grand American heritage homes and gardens. it is south of San Francisco.
