Suet puddings: Roll with it

I HAD almost forgotten how delicious steamed suet pudding can be. But then I was overcome with the urge to try making Sussex pond pudding. It was partly the name that fascinated me, but also the comfort factor. The idea of suet seems to put some people off, though. I've been trying to persuade my pastry chefs at work to put it on the menu, but they seem to resist. Was it something stodgy they ate down the pub?

I had almost forgotten how delicious steamed suet pudding can be. But then I was overcome with the urge to try making Sussex pond pudding. It was partly the name that fascinated me, but also the comfort factor. The idea of suet seems to put some people off, though. I've been trying to persuade my pastry chefs at work to put it on the menu, but they seem to resist. Was it something stodgy they ate down the pub?

It is admittedly difficult to make an individual Sussex pond pudding, unless you find fresh tiny lemons like the ones used for Moroccan pickles, so it's better suited to home cooking than restaurants. Still, maybe one day they'll fulfil my odd demands.

Anyway, I decided to make it at home and see if this traditional pudding lives up to its name. I wasn't sure what to expect as I poured heaploads of butter and sugar on to the lemon that had been stabbed with a roasting fork to allow its juices to escape.

The four hours it took to steam the pudding seemed interminable, and I could hardly wait until the moment arrived and I could turn the thing out. It was like one of those school experiments – but a lot slower. When the time was up I turned it over on to a plate. My faith and patience was rewarded. I'd struck gold. A stream of fragrant, thick and golden liquid seeped out of the pudding.

What they lack in stylish presentation, steamed suet puddings make up for with the flavour that's absorbed into the dough. The suet melts into the flour the way butter or lard does when you make pastry but has a distinctive, comforting texture. Beef suet has something of an image problem, as it doesn't fit comfortably into a healthy eating or weight-watching programme. Vegetarian suet doesn't give savoury puddings the same flavour – and if you're making a beef stew, there's no harm in suet dumplings to match. But vegetarian suet is fine for the Sussex pond pudding.

Pudding-making like this is in danger of becoming a forgotten art. Some restaurants are offering comforting old-fashioned desserts, and I see signs of them creeping back on to menus to jog memories of childhood puddings. Long after we had introduced spotted dick with custard on to the menu at J.Sheekey, our executive head chef Tim got chatting to another commuter on his regular evening journey back to Worthing, and the subject of spotted dick came up. Tim's fellow traveller was a pudding purist and remembered having it with melted butter and golden syrup, never custard. Which is the way we serve it now, thanks to that encounter on the train.