In the traditional song, carolers first enthusiastically sing "We Wish You a Merry Christmas" then move on to the second verse, which is a puzzling demand for figgy pudding.
Figgy pudding is a desire not likely to be satisfied in the U.S., which has not embraced the British tradition of a Christmas (also called figgy) pudding.
But the Christmas pudding endures in Britain, lingering in America mostly in song.
Christmas puddings, or dishes like it, appeared in England as early as the 14th century, but the dish really became a tradition in the 1800s.
Experts generally agree that English puddings started as savory meat dishes with made with beef or mutton and doused with sufficient alcohol to allow the mixture to keep well for weeks or months. Even as it evolved into a sweeter dish, the pudding was aged considerably in a pudding cloth typically hung on hooks.
By the 1830s, noble families were making sweet Christmas Puddings in a more modern form in steamed basins.
Ingredients included raisins, currants, prunes, wines and spices. Puddings were and still are doused with brandy or rum to set it alight for a festive display.
There are also an array of ancient traditions that surround Christmas Pudding. One holds that this dish should be made using 13 ingredients, to represent Jesus and His disciples, and that every member of the family should take turn about stirring the pudding with a wooden spoon. The stirring should be done by moving from East to West, to honor the Wise Men.
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