One of my earliest memories is wondering what in the heck figgy pudding is. 

In kindergarten, we sang Christmas carols, including “We Wish You a Merry Christmas,” which contains the lines:

So bring us some figgy pudding,
So bring us some figgy pudding,
So bring us some figgy pudding, 
And a cup of good cheer. 

I found this lyric very perplexing. I raised my hand and asked what figgy pudding was. The music teacher, Mrs. Olson, said it was a British dessert. 

“Well, can we have some too?”

“Oh, we don’t have that here [in suburban Connecticut].”

“Why not?”

I don’t remember what excuse Mrs. Olson provided next, but I did notice that there was nothing called “figgy pudding” served at any of the Christmas parties I went to.