Like most children who grow up on standard Enid Blyton fare, as a child I fantasised about the lifestyle of the Famous Five kiddos. Mid night feasts, the excursions in the wild, haunted castles …and above all- the food!!!. Scones, treacle, croissants, lemonade!! Names that would make me ravenous. I often wondered what the hell these were. Well , they weren’t the kind I could ever dream of eating at home where dal-curd-rice-mango pickle was the standard fare. After arriving in the United Kingdom I had my first scone. And it was reliving a childhood fantasy.

For Indian taste buds, british food including the ubiquitous Fish-n-chips can be quite bland fare. But it is the desserts that take the cake!! The cafeteria at the place I work makes some excellent ‘home made’ desserts. The puddings are yummilicious (no this ones not from Enid Blyton., rather my own enid blytonish creation) !!! The cakes are fresh from the hearth. Of course each one comes with an exotic name of its own. The English do have a penchant for names you see, some of which I simply adore. Shepherds pie for instance is a lovely name for a dish. It conjures in your mind a bucolic image of an English country side, where shepherds return home in the evenings to cook a simple meal baked in a country oven. Treacle does not have a meaning as such but has a wonderful musical lilt to it – sugary, syrupy very much like the dish itself. Of course there are exceptions. A Tongue sandwich sounds quite grotesque (unlike our very own paya) . And if you thought ‘Toad in the hole’ is a disgusting name for something that otherwise tastes quite nice read further…..

The Home made dessert section in our cafeteria today had something that looked like custard with raisins and currants strewn across. And this inviting dessert, my dear readers, goes by the name “Spotted-Dick”. Trying hard to suppress my chuckles and watching the stiff upper lipped firangs generously help themselves to the stuff, I could not help but wonder why and how the British who are otherwise very thoughtful fancied giving something as innocent and harmless as custard with currants a name that could turn away the most passionate of foodies.

I am quite curious now. While the raisins and currants certainly did look like spots , it would be interesting to know the link between the custard and a certain part of the male anatomy. Readers who chance upon this post and who are aware of the mystery behind the nomenclature could please post their comments.