A Jolly Good Pud
Mary Beard invites us into her kitchen as, wooden spoon in hand, she ponders what lies behind her Christmas pud ritual - and why so many families have their own unique traditions.
Mary Beards reflects on what really lies behind our attachment to Christmas ritual and tradition.
In a special edition of A Point of View, recorded in Mary's kitchen as she prepares her Christmas puddings, she ponders 'why those of us who aren't particularly wedded to the idea of tradition for the rest of the year, fall hook, line and sinker for it at this time.'
'My hunch,' Mary says, 'is that our fixed traditions are about constructing a family identity for ourselves, about displaying to ourselves as a family - changing, expanding and contracting as families always are - what makes us 'us.''
Producer: Adele Armstrong
Sound design: Peregrine Andrews
Production coordinator: Gemma Ashman
Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith
Reading of Dickens/Herodotus: Simon Slater
Reading of Mrs Beeton: Ruth Everett
ARCHIVE
1. Extracts of Keith Floyd from A Farewell to Floyd, produced by Cactus TV.
2. The ancient recipe for Herodotus pudding is from Herodotus, Histories 2. 40.
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A Point of View
A weekly reflection on a topical issue.