The British Food History Podcast

• Special Postbag Edition #5

  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 and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.Things mentioned in today’s episodeBurnt cobs – BBC Leicester article PennyroyalTomato-Flavoured Snaps are not dead!A Baghdad Cookery Book by Charles PerryKirkcudbright Book Week ticketsThe 39th Leeds Symposium of Food Drinks & Traditions on EventbriteNeil’s appearance on That Shakespeare LifeNeil’s appearance on History Rage The Accomplisht Cook by Robert May (1660)Amuse Bouche by Carolyn BoydPlenti and Grase by Mark DawsonNeil’s Country Life County Foods seriesA is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & DrinkThe Delicious LegacyComfortably Hungry: Bleeding Cows & Black Puddings Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episodeA History of Baking with Sam Bilton & Neil ButteryMaking Medieval Ale at Home with Alison KayTurkey with Tom CopasAn Irish Food Story with Jp McMahonThe Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay MiddletonCrisps with Natalie WhittleThe School Meals Service with Heather EllisThe History of Food Waste & Preservation with Eleanor...

  --------  

  46:57
• Alexis Soyer with Lindsay Middleton

  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, amongst many other things.If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.The Scottish Food History PodcastFind Lindsay on social media: Insta/Threads lindsaymiddleton_ and Bluesky @drlindsaymiddleton.bsky.socialThings mentioned in today’s episodeThe Reform ClubCharles BarryThe Gastronomic RegeneratorThe Modern HousewifeWilliam KitchinerNeil’s Country Life County Foods seriesPodcast episodes pertinent to today’s episodeThe Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay MiddletonTinned Food with Lindsay MiddletonInvalid Cookery with Lindsay MiddletonA is for Apple: B is for Banana, Banting & BerriesNeil’s blogs:‘British Food: a History’ ‘Neil Cooks Grigson’ Neil’s books:Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential HousekeeperA Dark History of Sugar Knead to Know: a History of BakingThe Philosophy of PuddingsDon’t forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at [email protected], or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.You can also join the British Food: a History Facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistory

  --------  

  41:24
• Making Medieval Ale at Home with Alison Kay

  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, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.Ancestral Kitchen podcastAncestral Kitchen website – including those posts about medieval ale.Ancestral Kitchen on Instagram: @ancestral_kitchenThings mentioned in today’s episodeAle, Beer & Brewsters in England by Judith M. BennettChristmas on the Croft, The Scottish Food History PodcastMy YouTube channel with my short video about haggisBlog posts pertinent to today’s episodeA Trip to the Sarson’s Vinegar FactoryHappy New Year – a review of 2024Previous podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episodeRecreating 16th Century Beer with Susan Flavin & Marc MeltonvilleA is for Anchovy, Alewife & AvocadoNeil’s blogs:‘British Food: a History’ ‘Neil Cooks Grigson’ Neil’s books:Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential HousekeeperA Dark History of Sugar Knead to Know: a History of BakingThe Philosophy of PuddingsDon’t forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at [email protected], or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or...

  --------  

  41:29
• From the Vaults: Breakfast with Felicity Cloake

  I'm on a break so to fill the gap here are some of my favourite episodes from the podcast's vaults.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 complexities of planning a nation-wide breakfast tour, injuries, why it’s okay to like both red and brown sauce, as well as neither, the importance of pudding on a fried breakfast, regional specialities and recipe writing. Felicity’s book Red Sauce, Brown Sauce is published by Harper Collins: https://harpercollins.co.uk/products/red-sauce-brown-sauce-a-british-breakfast-odyssey-felicity-cloake?variant=39584484687950Felicity will be appearing at the Abergavenny Food Festival 17 & 18 September 2022 (https://www.abergavennyfoodfestival.com/), Divizes Food Festival 24 Sept to 2 Oct 2022 (https://www.devizesfoodanddrinkfestival.info/category/events/) and the Dartmouth Food Festival 21 Oct to 23 Oct 2022 (https://www.dartmouthfoodfestival.com/). Follow Felicity on twitter and Insta @felicitycloake.Neil’s recent podcast appearances:Season’s Eatings: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GJlffoU9dVYCdGyJGOvDX?si=90285119f6644271The Well-Seasoned Librarian: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5wps3FiGdVDynPQVl62G4M?si=b0e53ab4fe1c4c1bThat Shakespeare Life: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2w7xGGBye93jvO39IuntTO?si=e5bf9543b9794eafNeil’s book A Dark History of Sugar is available now from all bookshops as well as from the publisher Pen & Sword: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/A-Dark-History-of-Sugar-Hardback/p/20481

  --------  

  46:39
• From the Vaults: Recreating 16th Century Beer with Susan Flavin & Marc Meltonville

  I'm on a break so to fill the gap here are some of my favourite episodes from the podcast's vaults.Today Neil talks to Susan Flavin and Marc Meltonville about recreating as close as possible beer from the accounts of Dublin Castle right at the end of the 16th century. This investigation is part of a much larger project called Food Cult, which is, according to their website “a five-year project funded by the European Research Council. This project brings together history, archaeology, science and information technology to explore the diet and foodways of diverse communities in early modern Ireland. It will serve as a model for future comparative and interdisciplinary work in the field of historical food studies.”In today’s episode we talk about the Food Cult project, the aims of the beer project, misconceptions about beer and beer drinking in the past, when beer becomes porridge, how to source 16th century ingredients and – of course – what the beer tasted like!Follow Susan Flavin on Twitter @flavin_susanFollow Marc on Instagram @marcmeltonvilleMarc Meltonville’s website: www.meltonville.uk/The FOOD CULT website: https://foodcult.eu/ Their journal article: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/historical-journal/article/understanding-early-modern-beer-an-interdisciplinary-casestudy/76C118F73B8D35FED9E5B69CB3E966FBThere are 4 Easter eggs associated with this episode, to access them start a monthly £3 subscription.Subscribers get access to all of the Easter eggs, premium blog content and Neil’s monthly newsletter. Visit https://britishfoodhistory.com/support-the-blog-podcast/ for more details. On that page, you could also donate a one-off ‘virtual coffee’ or ‘virtual pint’. All money received goes into making more content. Other bits:Neil’s new blog post ‘Forgotten Foods #10: Porpoise’: http://britishfoodhistory.com/2023/06/25/forgotten-foods-10-porpoise/Neil’s blogs:‘BritishFood: a History’ http://britishfoodhistory.com ‘Neil Cooks Grigson’ http://neilcooksgrigson.com

  --------  

  47:49

More Arts podcasts

Trending Arts podcasts

About The British Food History Podcast