The British Food History Podcast

My guests today are archaeologists Chris Wakefield from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit of Cambridge University Rachel Ballantyne from McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, and they are here to tell me about an absolutely amazing site close to Peterborough that tell us a huge amount about daily life in a late Bronze Age settlement. Prepare to have your minds blown! We talk about the un...

My guest today is food writer, podcaster and cheese enthusiast Jenny Linford and we are going on a bit of a regional food tour across the UK. We talk about her new book The Great British Food Tour published by the National Trust. It’s beautifully illustrated and contains recipes too. Also discussed: our mutual appreciation of Jane Grigson, Welsh cakes, English fish dishes, marmalade, champ and Tun...

Welcome to the first episode of season 9 of The British Food History Podcast ! Today I am talking with Matthew Cockin and Grant Harper of Fruit Pig – the last remaining commercial craft producer of fresh blood black puddings in the UK. We talk about how and why they started up Fruit Pig, battling squeamishness, why it’s so difficult to make fresh blood black puddings, and serving suggestions – amo...

It’s time for the fifth traditional postbag episode, where I (attempt to) answer your questions, read out your comments and mull over your queries. In this edition: giant turkeys, great crisps we have known, burnt bread and Yorkshire puddings – plus much, much more! Thank you for your support in this eighth season of the podcast. It shall return later in the year. If you can, support the podcast a...

Today I speak with food historian, podcaster and friend of the show Lindsay Middleton about arguably the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer, focusing mainly on two of his books: The Gastronomic Regenerator and The Modern Housewife . We talk about the kitchens at the Reform Club, Soyer’s literary inspirations, cookery books as entertainment and his meta approach to writing The Modern Housewife, amo...

Today I am talking with podcaster and blogger Alison Kay of Ancestral Kitchen all about recreating medieval ale at home – and how one adapts the making of them to modern kitchens. We talked about the difference between ale and beer; the process of ale-making; sterilisation versus good old cleaning; wild yeast; and (most importantly) what the ale tastes like – amongst many other things. If you can,...

Merry Christmas everyone! Welcome to the 2024 British Food History Podcast Christmas special. Today I am talking with Tudor Food historian Brigitte Webster about what Christmasses were like in Tudor times – just what were the Tudors eating and drinking at this time of year? We talked about harrowing Advent and its stockfish, food as gifts, the boar’s head, venison, frumenty and the similarities an...

The tables are turned today for I am being interviewed by Lindsay Middleton and Peter Gilchrist of The Scottish Food History Podcast about my book The Philosophy of Puddings , published by the British Library. We talk about the origins of puddings, the emergence of the pudding cloth and the pudding mould, blancmange, the work of Catherine Brown and the Be-Ro book, amongst many other things If you...

Today I talk about Irish food, food history and identity with Michelin-starred chef Jp McMahon. Jp is the culinary director of the EatGalway Restaurant Group and runs the restaurant Aniar in Galway, Ireland. He’s the founding chair and director of the Galway Food Festival, Jp is an ambassador for Irish food. He has written several books including the excellent Irish Cook Book published by Pha...

It’s December, Advent has begun, and we can officially start discussing Christmas so I have put together an episode about turkey that is very much of two halves. There’s an interview with Tom Copas, a turkey farmer who really looks after his flock: slow-grown, high welfare, and I have bought many a turkey from him over the years. Before that, I have prepared a little bit on the history of the turk...

Today I am in conversation with Jill Norman – author of several books, and editor at Penguin. She very kindly talked to me about Jane Grigson and the book English Food at the start of this season. Well, Jill is on the podcast today to talk about her new book The English Table . We talk about service a la française and a la russe, important food writers throughout history like Hannah Woolley and Cl...

The tables have turned today because I am being interviewed by author, food historian and friend of the show Sam Bilton. My book Knead to Know is out now and published by Icon Books, and Sam very kindly agreed to interview me about it for the podcast. We talk about baking evolution, bakestone cookery, Jaffa Cakes and taxation, what’s so great about wheat plus many other things. If you can, support...

Today is an exciting day because we are tackling a topic that I consider extremely important, CRISPS, with food writer and journalist Natalie Whittle. We talk about the North American origins of the crisp, the excitement of discovering the crisps of other countries, iconic brands like Walkers and Tayto, and most importantly what the best flavour is – amongst many other things. Natalie’s book Crunc...

The book English Food by Jane Grigson was published 50 years ago this year. It’s a book that has completely changed my life and I wanted to celebrate it with a three-part special. This is part three. I am going back to my roots here talking with three good friends of mine Nicola Aldren, Simone Blagg and Anthea Craig, all of whom were there at the inception of my idea to cook every recipe in Englis...

The book English Food by Jane Grigson was published 50 years ago this year. It’s a book that has completely changed my life and I wanted to celebrate it with a three-part special. This is part two. In this very special episode, I am talking with award-winning food writer, broadcaster, and teacher Sophie Grigson, Jane’s daughter, not just about English Food but Jane as a writer, cook, person—and mu...

The book English Food by Jane Grigson was published 50 years ago this year. It’s a book that has completely changed my life and I wanted to celebrate it – and there are four excellent guests in today’s slightly longer-than-usual episode: Sam Bilton, Ivan Day, Annie Gray and Jill Norman It is because of Jane and her book that I am doing what I’m doing today – she taught me how to cook, told me abou...

It’s the end of season seven, so it is time for the traditional special postbag edition of the podcast. Much is covered: feminist dining tables, 17th-century household books, regional gingerbreads, musk-flavoured sweeties and much more. Thanks to everyone who wrote in with a question, comment or query. The podcast will return in August. Support the podcast and blogs by becoming, if you can, a £3 m...

Today I am talking with chef Jay Reifel who specialises in cooking historical food. He has co-written a beautiful book with collaborator Victoria Flexner called The History of the World in 10 Dinners . We talk about the influence of other cultures on British cuisine as well as the influence British cuisine has had on other cuisines, sweet and sour food, mince pies, mediocre medieval spices, and he...

Niche topic alert! Today I am talking to Anouska Lewis about Ormskirk Gingerbread. Anouska is the writer and presenter of the BBC Sounds podcast Hometown Boring? The first episode being all about Ormskirk gingerbread We talk about how one lands getting a podcast series on BBC Sounds in the first place; the ingredients of Ormskirk gingerbread, the town’s pride in its gingerbread, the gingerbread la...

Today I am talking to Eleanor Barnett about the history of food waste and preservation. Eleanor has written a fantastic book about the history of how we as a society have (and sometimes have not) dealt with eliminating waste and preserving precious food resources. It is called Leftovers: A History of Food Waste & Preservation , and it is out now published by Bloomsbury. We talk about the fabul...

Today I am talking to three guests about the Scottish Salt Industry – returning guest Aaron Allen, and also Joanne Hambly and Ed Bethune In today’s most enlightening discussion, we talk about the importance of the salt industry in Scotland from the early modern period, the uses of salt – beyond seasoning of food, the Cockenzie Saltworks Project, the social history of the site and some of the excit...

In today’s episode, I am talking with author and food historian Pen Vogler about her book Stuffed: A History of Good Food and Hard Times in Britain which was published toward the end of last year 2023. We discuss how precarious our food supply was and is, the Enclosure Acts and their effect upon our relationship with food, allotments, havercakes, adulteration and malnutrition, school dinners and H...

In today’s episode, I am talking with renowned food historian, chef and confectioner Ivan Day. The 38th Leeds Food Symposium of Food History and Traditions is coming up – 27 April 2024 to be exact – Ivan is the Chair of the Symposium, so we had a good talk about the history and influence of this most important annual event on the study of food history. We talked about a pioneer of food history stu...

This bonus episode is in fact a pilot for a new podcast show I have made with Sam Bilton and Alessandra Pino. Enjoy! In the very first episode, Neil is presenting and gives everyone a free choice as to what topic they want to talk about, as long as it begins with A of course. Alessandra goes for apples, Neil chooses absinthe and Sam looks into adulteration. Links to things mentioned in this episod...

In today’s episode, I am talking with medieval historian Danièle Cybulskie – also known as the 5-Minute Medievalist – about table manners in the Middle Ages. Danièle’s excellent new book Chivalry and Courtesy: Medieval Manners for a Modern World is out now and published by Abbeville Press. We talked about table manners, the importance of sharing and cleanliness, carving terminology, turkey legs an...