Comfortably Hungry

‘We do not know for how many millennia man has exploited the preservative properties of ice.’ Jill Norman in the introduction to Elizabeth David’s Harvest of the Cold Months (1996)
In this episode I’m joined by food historian, writer, photographer, and culinary practitioner Dr Nader Mehravari, to find out more about the yakhchals of ancient Persia and how they were used to make and store ice.
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Useful Links
You can follow Nader Mehravari on Instagram and find out more about his work with Persian food on his website.
Nader’s Faloodeh recipe on Serious Eats
Suggested Reading
Travels in Persia by John Chardin (a seventeenth century French born traveler who wrote about ice in Persia)
Harvest of the Cold Months by Elizabeth David (1996)

Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.
A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast. Sound effects and music provided by Zapsplat and Pond5.
Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe

To celebrate International Women’s Day on 8 March 2026 in this episode we’ll be hearing the story of Eliza James, a remarkable woman who rose from poverty on the streets of Birmingham to become one of the most successful and wealthiest market traders at Covent Garden in London, all from selling bunches of watercress. So renowned was this woman that on her death in 1927 she was mourned as the watercress queen. Joining me to explore Eliza’s life are food historian Dr Alessandra Pino, food writer and former Director of London Farmers Markets Cheryl Cohen and Tom Amery, Managing Director of The Watercress Company.
If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here.
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Useful Links
Find out more and follow my guests:
Dr Alessandra Pino - website, Instagram and BlueSky. Don’t forget to check out our other podcast A is for Apple and Allie’s Fear Feasts.
Also check out the fantastic Cheryl Queen of Markets on Substack. You can also find Cheryl on Instagram.
Tom Amery is the Managing Director of The Watercress Company. You can find them on Instagram, YouTube and lots of delicious recipe ideas on their ‘foodie’ account @lovewatercress
The annual Arlesford Watercress Festival takes place on 17 May 2026. You can travel to the event on part of the original Watercress Line (charges apply).
Suggested Reading
The Poor Watercress Sellers of London by John Groom (1872)
London Labour and the London Poor - Henry Mayhew (1851)
The Market Place And The Market’s Place In London, c. 1660 -1840 - PhD thesis by Colin Stephen Smith (1999)
John Groom’s Flower (and watercress ) Girl Mission
If you want to read the full story of Sarah Cackett’s tragic life you can find it in Pluckley: The Making and Faking of a Ghost Story
Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.
A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.
Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported podcast and publication. To receive new posts and support my work, please consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe

Don’t miss the special episode on The Watercress Queen to celebrate International Women’s Day (8/3/26) - released on Thursday 5th March.
If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here.
Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.
A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.
Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe

Throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries curious yellowish-white waxen lumps encased in the remnants of wooden containers have been unearthed from Irelands peat bogs by turf cutters and farmers. Some specimens weigh several kilos. Many are thought to date back thousands of years to the Bronze age, when the people of Ireland buried supplies of butter.
Maeve Sikora, Keeper of Irish Antiquities and Isabella Mulhall Assistant Keeper of Irish Antiquities from the National Museum of Ireland (NMI) in Dublin join me in this episode to tell us more about bog butter.
If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here.
Useful Links
National Museum of Ireland in Dublin
Butter Museum in Cork
‘A History of Bog Butter in Ireland’ by Maeve Sikora and Isabella Mulhall in Irish Food History: A Companion (2025)
Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.
A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.
Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe

In today’s episode we will be journeying back thousands of years to ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. I will be exploring arguably the earliest beer culture in the world with Dr Tate Paulette archaeologist and Associate Professor of History at North Carolina State University. Tate is also the author of In The Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia.
If you enjoyed the podcast you can become a paid subscriber to the Comfortably Hungry Substack (which means you’ll receive additional content) or show your appreciation by leaving a small, one off tip here.
Useful Links
In The Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia by Tate Paulette (2024)
You can watch a short video from Yale University about Babylonian cooking over on YouTube.
There Are Rivers in the Sky - Elif Shafak (2025)
Don’t forget you can follow me on Instagram or Bluesky @mrssbilton or find out more about my work on sambilton.com.
A huge thank you to Thomas Ntinas of The Delicious Legacy for doing the sound mixing on this season of the podcast.
Comfortably Hungry is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.



This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe