Comfortably Hungry

Alas this day had to come - this is the last official episode of the DARK season! In Episode 15 I delve into the historical culinary trials and tribulations of Russia with Darra Goldstein, Professor Emerita of Russian at Williams College (USA) and author of The Kingdom of Rye: A Brief History of Russian Food. We discuss the importance of ‘black’ rye bread which is at the heart of any traditional R...

In Episode 14 I get passionate about a particular type of pepper which was once so highly prized the Visigoths demand 3000lb of the stuff to leave Rome. Joining me to explore the history and usage of this spice are Giles Gasper, Professor of High Medieval History and Florence Swan from Durham University and food writer and author of Pepper , Christine McFadden Don’t forget to check out the Comfort...

Alice B Toklas reckoned that ‘food is far too pleasant to combine with horror.’ In Episode 13 I will be exploring how food is used in crime fiction with writer and host of the Shedunnit podcast Caroline Crampton and food writer and author of the Paul Delamare mysteries, Orlando Murrin. Don’t forget to check out the Comfortably Hungry Substack ! Useful Links * Orlando’s thrilling Paul Delamare Myst...

In the first part (Episode 10) of this investigation into the impact food has on our mental health I explored the renaissance fascination with melancholy with Professor Mary Ann Lund and food historian Ken Albala. In Episode 12 I want to find out how gardening and cooking in particular have helped two modern cooks deal with anxiety and depression. I had a chat with Ami Bouhassane, co-director of t...

In Episode 11 I am investigating a fruit with a bit of an image problem. Carob ( Ceratonia siliqua ) is the fruit of an evergreen tree native to the Mediterranean. The view of carob as a subsistence food has perhaps tarnished this fruit’s reputation. Yet despite this, the carob grown in the Ragusa district of Sicily has earned a place in the Slow Food Ark of Taste where it is described as having ‘...

They will act, conceive all extremes, contrarieties, and contradictions, and that in infinite varieties…Scarce two of two thousand concur in the same symptoms. The Tower of Babel never yielded such confusion of tongues, as the chaos melancholy doth variety of symptoms. - Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy , 1621 In Episode 10 I take a look at the perplexing affliction of melancholy in the fi...

In Episode 9 I chat to Professor Thomas David DuBois of Beijing Normal University and author of China in Seven Banquets: A Flavourful History about the alchemy of fermentation and the importance of fermented foods (especially beans) in Chinese cuisine. Don’t forget to check out the Comfortably Hungry Substack ! Useful Links You can find out more about Thomas on his website . China in Seven Banquet...

I thought it was about time I faced my own bête noire. So Episode 8 is devoted to my sweet shop nemesis liquorice. Helping me overcome my dislike of this confectionery is ScandiKitchen founder Brontë Aurell. Don’t forget to check out the Comfortably Hungry Substack ! Useful Links Find out more about Brontë on her website or follow her on Instagram . ScandiKitchen cafe and deli in London (also on I...

Currant-loaf is now popular eating in all households. For weeks before the great morning, confectioners display stacks of Scotch bun — a dense, black substance, inimical to life – Robert Louis Stevenson, Edinburgh: Picturesque Notes , 1878 In Episode 7 I chat with Peter Gilchrist and Dr Lindsay Middleton about a Scottish cake traditionally served at Hogmanay and the role this plays in preserving S...

In Episode 6 I chat with Dr Peggy Brunache, Lecturer in Public History and Archaeology as well as the founding Director of the Beniba Centre for Slavery Studies at the University of Glasgow, to discover how the culinary creativity of the enslaved people served as a form of resistance. Useful Links You can find Peggy on Instagram @negroshire Beniba Centre for Slavery Studies Peggy is also one of th...

STIR up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people; that they, plenteously bringing forth the fruit of good works, may of thee be plenteously rewarded; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. On the Sunday before advent Anglican congregations across Britain will hear this collect, a short prayer to bring together or “collect” their thoughts on a topic. The matter at hand originally ha...

In Episode 5 I am joined by my fellow A is for Apple podcast co-host and the author of The Philosophy of Pudding , Dr Neil Buttery, and award winning food writer Kate Ryan to discuss the merits of blood as food and in particular, the most democratic of puddings, the black pudding. Useful Links You can find more information about Kate’s work on her website flavour.ie including further details on he...

The British High Street is on its last legs - or is it? In Episode 4 I chat to historian, author and broadcaster Dr Annie Gray about her latest book The Bookshop, The Draper, The Candlestick Maker to find out how the British high street has evolved over the centuries. There’s talk of dodgy grocers, fear of prostitution, giant Christmas cheeses and big shop bashing. But is it all doom and gloom for...

In Episode 3 I explore how food and death have been intrinsically linked over the centuries focusing on two extraordinary funeral feasts. First of all, I am joined by food historian and chef Jay Reifel to dissect the Emperor Domitian’s famous black banquet complete with tombstone party favours. Then historian Giles MacDonogh and I visit pre-Revolutionary France where a young gourmand, Grimod de la...

In Episode 2 I am joined by Emma Kay a Historian and Archaeologist, who specialises in food history. We discuss Emma’s book on Anglo-Saxon culinary history, Fodder & Drincan, and discover why the so called ‘dark ages’ between the Romans quitting Britain in the 5th century CE and the Norman conquest in 1066 are not as gloomy on the food front as people once thought. Useful Links Emma is the author...

In Episode 1 I’m joined by my fellow A is for Apple podcast host Dr Alessandra Pino who is an expert on the intersection of the Gothic, food and cultural memory. We talk about her theory on ‘dark food’ in literature, an original concept that provides an insight into the legacies of slavery and its relationship to capitalism, in the context of Cristina Garcia’s novel Dreaming in Cuban (1992). We al...

Season 3 of the Comfortably Hungry podcast will be launching on 3 October 2024 in which my guests and I will be taking a walk on the dark side of the culinary realm. Here’s a little preview of what’s coming up. The first ‘course’ of episodes will feature: * Dr Alessandra Pino on the meaning of dark food. * Emma Kay on the (not so) dark ages. * Jay Reifel and Giles MacDonogh on funeral banquets. *...

Roald Dahl’s second children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory celebrates its 60th birthday this year. In this episode I’m joined by Dr Alessandra Pino and Vanessa Baca from the Fear Feasts Podcast . We’re delving into the wicked side of chocolate and how this is represented in Dahl’s book and its movie adaptations. Useful Links Fear Feasts Podcast that analyses the horror genre in films an...

THE FOLLOWING EPISODE FOCUSES ON THE MEDICINAL USES OF CANNABIS WITH OCCASIONAL REFERENCES TO RECREATIONAL USE. In the early days of chocolate, before we started stuffing it full of sugar, it was hailed as something of a health food. Chocolate was recognised as a suitable vehicle for all manner of medicines such as laxatives and vermifuges. In the twentieth century chocolate confections like brown...

In Episode 6 I am joined by chocolate historian, archivist and novelist Alex Hutchinson to discuss the rise and fall of the Bristol based Fry’s chocolate company. In this episode I discover what made quakers such good business people and why chocolate in particular appealed to them (aside from its delicious taste, obviously). We chat about the innovations in chocolate processing and business oppor...

Before you tuck into your chocolate eggs today I thought you might like to hear a little bit about how they came being. In the UK Fry’s of Bristol are credited with inventing the first moulded chocolate bar in 1847 and hollow chocolate eggs a couple of decades later. I had a chat recently with chocolate historian and archivist Alex Hutchinson about Fry’s which led to a discussion about the unsung...

In this episode I explore the life of some extraordinary business women in the eighteenth century with Helen White, Senior Interpretation Manager from the Old Royal Naval College and Dr Sara Pennell, Associate Professor in Early Modern British History at the University of Greenwich. We had a fascinating chat about chocolate house owner Grace Tosier and confectioner Mary Eales. There is a teensy er...

Apologies for the radio silence folks! 2024 has been hectic so far hence no new Comfortably Hungry episodes. There will be some more additions to Season 2 but in the meantime I wanted to share this new podcast I am working on with Dr Neil Buttery (of the British Food History Podcast) and Dr Allie Pino (of the Fear Feasts Podcast). A is for Apple is an encyclopaedia of food and drink in podcast for...

In this episode  I will be discussing the enduring popularity of the yule log or bûche de noel (the edible version rather than the flammable one) with American baker and author of Sweet Paris , Frank Adrian Barron who you may know from Instagram as @ cakeboyparis . We’ll also be talking about how this dessert has evolved and the secret to making a great bûche de noel. To whet your appetite here is...

We all know that chocolate can be lovely but it definitely has a darker side and I’m not referring to the amount of cocoa solids there are in a single bar. In this episode I am joined by author Dr Alessandra Pino, who has co-written the forthcoming Gothic Cookbook, and food writer and novelist Sue Lawrence (check out the links below to Sue’s books) to explore how chocolate has been used in the pas...