The Hungry Historian

Send us Fan Mail With Halloween mere days away, Chef Money decided to dig through his bag of tricks in order to provide you with the perfect Halloween treat. Hollywood and folklore are LOADED with stories of curses. Cursed objects. Cursed tombs. Cursed burial grounds, and even Cursed theatre and film productions.  To help get you in the Halloween spirit, over the next couple of episodes, the Chef...

Send us Fan Mail “A scar is a sign of strength. The sign of a survivor." - Laurie Halse Anderson Through the first two episodes of this series, Chef Money has taken a look at the background and lead-up to the Dresden raid, as well as the bombing itself. This time he returns to offer some insight into the immediate reactions of the time; the arguments given in favour of, as well as opposed to...

Send us Fan Mail "The dropping of bombs on people - isn't that terrorism?" - Alice Walker On part one of this series, Chef Money took a look at a few different topics that helped give a better idea of just how the Allies came to the decision to bomb Dresden in February 1945.  This episode, the Chef will focus predominantly on the bombing itself, including some of the points that wer...

Send us Fan Mail "Dresden was one big flame. The one flame ate everything organic, everything that would burn..." - Kurt Vonnegut  With a name as synonymous with annihilation as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Dresden has become a moral fixation almost since the moment that the first bombs fell on the city in February 1945. Even today, the Dresden raid stands as a stark reminder that sometimes t...

Send us Fan Mail "Carthago delenda est." (Carthage Must Be Destroyed)    - Cato Fifty years after the end of the Second Punic War, Rome and Carthage would wind up returning to the battlefields of North Africa to settle the score once and for all. This time, with the Carthaginians on their home turf, would they have the advantage? Or would the Romans mop things up in less than half a deca...

Send us Fan Mail “I am not carrying on a war of extermination against the Romans. I am contending for honor and empire. My ancestors yielded to Roman valour. I am endeavouring that others, in their turn, will be obliged to yield to my good fortune, and my valour.” - Hannibal Barca After enjoying a few weeks of vacation time, Chef Money is back in the kitchen and ready to serve up the conclusion to...

Send us Fan Mail "That’s always the trick with sequels, is how much do you repeat from the first one. Because we all get bummed out when you go see a sequel and it's beat for beat." - Adam McKay  If there is one thing that I can say about the follow-up to the First Punic War, it definitely wasn't a "beat for beat" remake. In fact, you could say that it is even "b...

Send us Fan Mail Beginning in 264 B.C, the Roman Republic would fight a series of wars against a rival civilization from Northern Africa called Carthage.  On land, these conflicts would be fought in Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, Iberia, and North Africa. On the sea, the waters of the western Mediterranean would serve as the battlefield. Join Chef Money as he takes a more in depth look into the...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back for part two of our look into the historical context of popular pub songs, or Irish Pub Songs as I call them. Hopefully you haven't been stewing about. In part one of the series, Chef Money took a look at a pair of songs that told the tale of the Irish Famine and Penal Servitude, and explored the history behind them. This episode will once again feature a duo of...

Send us Fan Mail Sure, it’s a few months past the proverbial season, but Chef Money, who is a fan of the Irish, their pubs, their music, and not just on the 17th of March, has a special episode for you. Over these next two episodes, the Chef will take a look at a Quartet of Irish pub songs and the historical events that are mentioned within them.  As a featured recipe, Chef Money is pulling out a...

Send us Fan Mail "It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves..." - George Mallory As of July 2022, Mount Everest has seen approximately 11,346 summit ascents by 6,098 people. This episode will focus on one of the VERY first attempts. It's been a minute since we first discussed George Mallory and his place on the first two British Everest Expeditions, but now Chef Money has ret...

Send us Fan Mail "If I ever become a Saint–I will surely be one of ‘darkness.’ I will continually be absent from Heaven–to light the light of those in darkness on earth." With Mother's Day right around the corner, Chef Money decided to take a quick break from hanging around the Himalayas with George Mallory and the British, and bring you a special Mother's Day episode. This tim...

Send us Fan Mail "For the stone from the top for geologists, the knowledge of the limits of endurance for the doctors, but above all for the spirit of adventure to keep alive the soul of man." - George Mallory In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first two people to reach the summit of the highest peak on Earth - Mount Everest. Yet, they were far from the first peopl...

Send us Fan Mail “The only crime that I have committed is in judgement of my values. Apparently, I valued my troops’ lives more than I did that of the enemy.” - William Calley Jr.  Fifty five years ago, on March 16th, 1968, while the United States involvement was at it's peak involvement in Vietnam, a group of American soldiers carried out what many consider the "most shocking moment of...

Send us Fan Mail Welcome back for the second part and exciting conclusion of the Battle of the Alamo! When we last checked in, another wave of Mexican reinforcements had arrived and the Texian defenders were left to look on in despair.  Now, Chef Money returns to walk you through the events that occurred in the early morning hours of  March 6th, 1836 as the Battle of the Alamo reached a fevered pi...

Send us Fan Mail " I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls - I shall never surrender or retreat." - William B. Travis There are fewer moments in American History more important than the Battle of the Alamo. On March 6th, 1836, following a thirteen day siege, the Alamo defenders were overwhelmed by Mexican forces under General Santa...

Send us Fan Mail Greetings, comrades! It's always a red banner day when we get to talk about the Soviet Union and Mother Russia. The real "happiest place on Earth."  This time around Chef Money is taking you back to the early days of the USSR, where a "real" Man of Steel was in charge and the de facto "boss of bosses." That's right! Today's episode will...

Send us Fan Mail "Long, long time ago, I can still remember how that music use to make me smile..." Having already covered the tragic story that helped to inspire the lyrics on part one of this two part series, join Chef Money as he takes a deeper look into the 1971 iconic hit by American singer/songwriter Don McLean - "American Pie." (Happily) returning to help the Chef give s...

Send us Fan Mail “Hey Ritchie, relax man. Everything's cool. Besides, the sky belongs to the stars, right?” February 3rd will mark the 64th anniversary of the "Day the Music Died." It was on that day in 1959, that the world lost the musical talents of Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J.P Richardson better known as the Big Bopper, in a plane crash outside of Clear Lake, Iowa. Similar...

Send us Fan Mail Join Chef Money as he concludes his series on the Tomb of Tutankhamun. On the last episode, the Chef took a look into the lives of the Egyptian boy King as well as the man whose discovery of his tomb has now made his name synonymous with that of Tut's - Howard Carter.  Discovery and "Tutmania" aside, this time around the Chef will look further into the excavation an...

Send us Fan Mail "Now, when I die, Don't think I'm a nut, Don't want no fancy funeral, Just one like ole king Tut..." This past November marked the 100th anniversary of the British Egyptologist Howard Carter and his excavation team discovering the tomb of the Egyptian Pharoah Tutankhamun.  Take a trip back to the days of discovery as Chef Money talks the tomb, the King, th...

Send us Fan Mail The tree is trimmed, the presents wrapped, and the stockings hung, but before the big man in red shows up, an even bigger man has a delivery of his own to make - one last episode for 2022. So hop in the sleigh with Chef Money as he briefly explores some of the important historical moments that have occurred on December 25th throughout the ages.  As a Christmas gift and featured re...

Send us Fan Mail In an explosive conclusion, Chef Money continues the story of the Halifax Explosion,  picking up where he left off with the SS Mont-Blanc and SS Imo having just collided and a blast seeming imminent.  Jump right back in with the Chef as he navigates you through the events of that fateful December morning 105 years ago, and concludes by offering an insight into the aftermath and le...

Send us Fan Mail It has been 105 years since the French munitions ship SS Mont-Blanc and the Norwegian steamship SS Imo collided in the waters of Halifax Harbour, setting off a chain of events that would change the Maritime city forever.  Join Chef Money as he examines what happened on that December morning, as well as takes a look at the city of Halifax before the explosion and what would become...

Send us Fan Mail You'll want to forget your plans to watch "Honk if You're Horny" and grab a garbage bag full of popcorn for this special episode of the Hungry Historian.  This time around, Chef Money is accompanied by a former colleague, fellow Chef Karl Murtha to discuss the iconic 1977 War movie "A Bridge Too Far." Aside from talking about the movie, Chef Money wil...