Flour of England, Fruit of Spain
Flour of England, Fruit of Spain
Riddle
Flour of England, fruit of Spain,
Met together in a shower of rain;
Put in a bag tied round with a string,
If you'll tell me this riddle, I'll give you a ring.
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Answer: A plum-pudding.
Here's a recipe for plum pudding:
One quarter of a pound of beef suet*; take out the strings and skin; chop it to appear like butter; stone one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, well washed, dried, and floured, one pound loaf sugar, rolled and sifted, one pound of flour, eight eggs well beaten; beat all well together for some time, then add by degrees two glasses of brandy, one wine, one rose-water, citron, nutmeg, and cinnamon; beat it all extremely well together, tie it in a floured cloth very tight, let it boil four hours constantly - replenishing the water in the pot occasionally. Turn the pudding frequently in the pot.
Let your sauce be a quarter pound of butter, beat to a cream, a quarter pound loaf sugar pounded and sifted; beat in the butter with a little wine and sugar and nutmeg.
*Beef suet is the fat around the loins and kidneys of the cow.
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Thanks and Acknowledgements
This rhyme can be found in The Nursery Rhyme Book, edited by Andrew Lang and illustrated by L. Leslie Brooke (1897).