Spotted Dick

Spotted dick and custard.

Spotted dick is a British steamed suet pudding containing dried fruit (usually currants) commonly served with custard. Spotted refers to the dried fruit (which resemble spots) and dick may be a contraction or corruption of the word pudding (from the last syllable) or possibly a corruption of the word dough^[1] or dog, as "spotted dog" is another name for the same dish with the use of plums rather than currants. Another explanation offered for the word "dick" is that it comes from the German word for "thick" or dick.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the earliest documented reference is a recipe for "Plum Bolster or Spotted Dick", in Alexis Soyer's The Modern Housewife, or, Ménagère (1850).^{[2] [3]}

Hospital managers at Gloucestershire NHS Trust (in 2001)^[4] and the catering staff at Flintshire County Council (in 2009)^[5] renamed the pudding Spotted Richard on menus because of the use of the word dick in the original name, a common dysphemism for male genitalia in the English language. Gloucestershire NHS Trust restored the original name in 2002. Flintshire County Council reversed their renaming after a few weeks.^[6]

References

1. ^ What's the origin of "spotted dick"? – a 27 Aug 2002 Straight Dope article on the etymology of the name
2. ^ OED Second Edition 1989; Spotted, a. and ppl. a.
3. ^ Spotted Dick Pudding Recipe - RecipeWISE
4. ^ Spotted Dick back on menu 10 Sept 2002 BBC
5. ^ Pudding renamed Spotted Richard BBC News 8 September 2009
6. ^ Spotted Dick back on council menu BBC News 23 September 2009