The British Food History Podcast

Today’s guest is food writer and Yorkshire Pudding expert Elaine Lemm to discuss the good old Yorkshire Pudding. They discussed many things including: the origins of the Yorkshire pudding, what links it to Yorkshire anyway, excellent cooking tips, including the importance of the vessel it is cooked in as well as the fat used; YP haters; and toad-in-the-hole.   ‘The Great Book of Yorkshire Pud...

Today Neil talks to journalist and author Sejal Sukhadwala about her new book The Philosophy of Curry. Her book charts the history of the curry, how it has changed over time, why it could be viewed as a British construct, and why some people reject the word completely. Some of the things we talked about were:  why the idea of the curry is for some a controversial one; the way Indian food chan...

Neil talks to food writer, journal editor and now author of The British Cook Book , Ben Mervis, published by Phaidon on 22 September in the UK and 8 October the rest of the world. It’s quite possibly the most comprehensive book on British cooking ever published, so Neil just had to get him on. They talk about just how one goes about writing a book with 550 recipes in it, and on what grounds should...

On the show today is author, food historian and returning guest Sam Bilton to talk about British Saffron – both growing it and eating it – Sam has a brand new book about to come out called Fool’s Gold A History of British Saffron , published by Prospect Books on 8th September 2022. We talk about when, where and why saffron was grown in the country, how common it used to be in the British diet, it’...

Neil’s guest today is Glyn Hughes, the man behind one of the most important resources for anyone interested in the history of food or traditional English dishes both common and forgotten. We talked about how and why Glyn started up the project, why British food has gained its bad reputation, some examples of bad English foods, tripe and tripe restaurants, the bizarre and obscure chicken dish Hindl...

Neil’s guest today is historian and friend of the show Emma Kay. Today we talk about Emma’s new book A History of Herbalism: Cook, Cure & Conjure which was published in June 2022. We talk about the importance of herbs in medicine, magic and food, and how these things were interconnected, the four humours, Anglo-Saxon medical texts, the double standards surrounding men and women who practised m...

Welcome to episode one of the new fourth season of The British Food History Podcast . Kicking us off is Neil’s guest Felicity Cloake. Neil & Felicity talk all things breakfast and Felicity’s new book Red Sauce, Brown Sauce , a celebration of the breakfast in all four home nations of the UK. We talk about how breakfast might be the only thing uniting all 4 countries that make up the UK, the com...

Once more, Neil is a guest on his own podcast interviewed by friend of the show, and previous guest, author and food historian Emma Kay about the dark history of sugar. In this episode we talk about the abolition of slavery from the British perspective, sugar consumption through history, dental health, the tobaccofication of sugar and how cooking from scratch is key to lower your sugar (and salt)...

Neil is a guest on his own podcast talking about the dark history of sugar. He’s interviewed by friend of the show, and previous guest, author and food historian Emma Kay. In part 1 of this 2 part interview, we talk about the evolutionary reasons about why we love sugar so much, sugar’s origins and subsequent spread by the Muslim Empire and then the Crusading knights, ending up finally in the New...

Today, Neil talks with Emeritus Professor Peter J. Atkins about the history of Britain’s cheese industry. Britain had a diverse range of cheeses until cheddar came along and almost made artisan cheese extinct in the UK. We talk about Roman and medieval cheese, the importance of women and girls to cheese and cheesemaking, Joseph Harding ‘the father of British cheddar’, cheddar in North America, Sco...

Neil has a most enlightening chat with Kevin Geddes about the fabulous television cook Fanny Cradock (1909-1994). Fanny has a reputation for being difficult to work with, cruel and monstrous, and that she was a fake. In this chat Kevin upturns SOME of those preconceptions. We talk about her way into radio and television, her manner and presenting style, the fantastic Christmas special, as well as...

Today Neil chats with Alessandra Pino, co-author of ‘A Gothic Cookbook’, about food in gothic literature. They talk about the inspiration behind the book, the function of food (or the lack of it) in gothic fiction and how crowdfunding platform Unbound has helped with the project. They look at Frankenstein’s monster and his vegetarianism and delve a bit deeper into Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Su...

In the podcast’s first Christmas Special Neil delves into the history, origins and folklore surrounding the good old Christmas Pudding: the cornerstone of the Christmas Day dinner. He cooks up a proper cannonball shaped Victorian pudding that was written by Sam Bilton’s Great Aunt Eliza (Sam is a friend of the show). Neil also looks at Stir Up Sunday, superstitions and how to flambé a pudding prop...

In the first episode of the third season Neil chats to food historian, Emma Kay about her new book ‘A Dark History of Chocolate’. They talk about several aspects of chocolate’s chequered past including: the way chocolate was exported from South America to Europe, Britain’s chocolate houses, chocolate & decadence, and the exploitation of workers and consumers, and chocolate as an excellent vehi...

In part 3 of his Eel special, Neil looks at the more recent history of the eel, focussing upon the conservation of our new favourite slimy fish. In this episode Neil talks to his guest this week Andrew Kerr of the Sustainable Eel Group about the loss of the eels’ habitat, the success of the elver rewilding programme, how the SEG help adult eels find their way back to the Sargasso Sea, why elver tr...

In part 2 of his three-part Eel Special, Neil looks at adult eels – yes our little elvers from last week have all grown up. In this episode he looks at the folklore of eels, as well as how they were caught and cooked, and he talks to his guest this week John Wyatt Greenlee, medieval eel historian and maker of eel memes, about the importance of eel in the Middle Ages and the Early Modern Period. Us...

In part one of his three-part Eel Special, Neil focusses on eel fry – elvers, or glass eels – once a very important source of seasonal protein the south east and west of England. He visits a traditional elver fisherman to watch him haul in his catch and to find out why, paradoxically, to save this critically endangered species, we may have to eat it. Neil also looks at the ecologist who discovered...

In this episode Neil looks at the rise and fall of the now largely forgotten savoury course, once a mainstay of Victorian and Edwardian dinners. He focusses upon some classics: Scotch woodcock, devilled chicken livers and, probably the most famous, Welsh Rarebit/Rabbit. Neil’s ‘Savouries’ post and devilled chicken livers recipe from his blog: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2018/02/05/savouries/ An...

Forme of Cury with Christopher Monk In episode two of the second season Neil chats to food historian, chef and scholar Dr Christopher Monk about the first cookbook written in the English language: Forme of Cury . We talked about – amongst other things – who wrote it and use it in the first place, the familiar ingredients and recipes inside the manuscript, blancmange and how to approach cooking ‘au...

Gingerbread with Sam Bilton In the first episode of the second season Neil chats to food historian, cook and chef, Sam Bilton, author of gingerbread cookbook ‘First Catch Your Gingerbread’. We talked about – amongst other things – the origins of gingerbread, gingerbreads that do not contain ginger, gingerbread’s close ties with Victorian fairgrounds and the difficulties surrounding cooking histori...

Originally released 4 Apr 2020. *Best listened to on the sixth and final Sunday of Lent* In the final episode of the season, we look at how the last Sunday of Lent was marked in the past, focussing on Fig Sunday and Palm Sunday. Neil cooks up some historical pax cakes to give out to shoppers and traders at Levenshulme Market to see how they would go down today. With Easter Sunday on his mind, Neil...

*Best listened to on the fifth Sunday of Lent* In the penultimate episode of the first season, we look at what goes on in the fifth Sunday of Lent, which was called Carlin Sunday in some parts of Britain, a day when carlin (aka black) peas were traditionally eaten. Neil goes on a trip to Bury Market to seek them out and hopefully get a taste. We also find out about how social evolution theory can...

Originally released 22 Mar 2020. *Best listened of the fourth Sunday of Lent (Mothering Sunday)* In the fifth episode of the season we look at Mid-Lent Sunday, traditionally a day where lots of different celebrations occurred, but Neil focusses on Mothering Sunday and the lesser-known Clipping the Church. Neil bakes a simnel cake and chats again to the Right Reverend David Walker, Bishop of Manche...

Originally released 15 Mar 2020. *Best listened to on the third Sunday of Lent* In part four, we look at how Lent was dumbed down over the years from extremely strict to almost non-existent. Then Neil investigates the natural history of Lent and has a conversation with Brenda Smith of Bud Garden Centre, Manchester, about what the plants are up to and the food that’s growing in early spring. Neil t...

Originally released 8 Mar 2020. *Best listened to on the second Sunday of Lent* In this episode we look at Pagan aspects of Lent and Easter that have endured to the modern day and investigate how the Christian Church had to let folk keep some of their Pagan ways whilst simultaneously have them keep them at arm’s length. We look at the history behind two Pagan icons: eggs and hot cross buns. Neil g...