The Stirring of the Christmas Pudding
30th November 2015
For the past 80 years the Chelsea Pensioners have gathered together to participate in the annual ‘Stirring of the Christmas Pudding’ ceremony at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.
This year’s event took place in the Royal Hospital’s Great Hall on Monday 30th November and saw the Pensioners mix together enough ingredients for 75 Christmas puddings. The list of ingredients include: 70 eggs, nearly three kilograms of flour, five kilograms of currants, 14 pints of Guinness and two bottles of: rum, sherry, brandy and port.
John Rochester, Heritage Manager at the Royal Hospital Chelsea said: “Of the many ceremonies and traditions at the Royal Hospital the stirring of the Christmas Pudding is the one that kicks off the Christmas events and so is eagerly anticipated. The sheer quantity of ingredients that go into the huge bowl is staggering, but then the Chelsea Pensioners always have good appetite.”
After a blessing of ingredients by the Royal Hospital’s Chaplain, each Chelsea Pensioner at the ceremony added an ingredient to a large mixing bowl and then took turns to stir the mixture with a large wooden panel. The Chelsea Pensioners’ band played a few carols after the event to get everyone into the Christmas mood. Once all of the ingredients were thoroughly stirred, the mixture was taken to the Royal Hospital kitchen where it will sit for a day, before it is divided up into smaller puddings that the Chelsea Pensioners will enjoy over the festive period.
The ceremony was live tweeted here: #ChristmasPuddingDay
