- Popover
A popover is a light, hollow roll made from an egg batter similar to that used in making
Yorkshire pudding . The name "popover" comes from the fact that the batter swells or "pops" over the top of the muffin tin while baking. They can also be baked in individual custard cups.History
Food
historian s generally agree that popovers are an American recipe, albeit derived fromYorkshire pudding and similar batter puddings made inEngland in the 17th century.The oldest known reference to popovers is in a letter of E. E. Stuart's (a relative of
Robert Stuart ) in 1850. [OED ] The firstcookbook to print arecipe for popovers was "Practical Cooking" by M. N. Henderson published in 1876. The first book other than a cookbook to mention popovers was "Jesuit's Ring" by A. A. Hayes published in 1892.In "American Food" (1974), author Evan Jones writes: "Settlers from
Maine who foundedPortland, Oregon americanized the pudding fromYorkshire by cooking the batter in custard cups lubricated with drippings from the roastingbeef (or sometimespork ); another modification was the use ofgarlic , and, frequently, herbs. The result is called Portland popover pudding: individual balloons of crusty meat-flavored pastry."Most popovers today, however, are not flavored with meat or herbs. Instead, they have a buttery taste. They are generally served at
breakfast , with afternoontea , or with meats atlunch anddinner .Quotation
Let's call Yorkshire pudding
:
A fortunate blunder:
It's a sort of popover
That turned and popped under.Ogden Nash (This of course inverts the historical order of events.)
References
External Links
* [http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ea/episode/0,1976,FOOD_9956_57275,00.html] good eats, Food network: popover sometime
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