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 helmeted cocks – amongst many other things.

This is the last regular episode of the run, meaning that the next episode will be the traditional postbag edition – so send me your comments, questions, and queries. Your deadline is the 28th of May 2024.

Support the podcast and blogs by becoming, if you can, a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

Follow Jay on Instagram @jayreifel and visit his website jayreifel.com – where you can find more details of his book.

Things mentioned in today’s episode:

Jay’s Helmeted Cock in Vogue

Neil’s Helmeted Cock on Channel 5

Previous podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode:

The History of Food Waste & Preservation with Eleanor Barnett

Medieval Meals & Manners with Danièle Cybulskie

Spices with Ian Anderson

Christmas Special 2023: Mince Pies

Tudor Cooking & Cuisine with Brigitte Webster

Forme of Cury with Christopher Monk

Previous blog posts pertinent to today’s episode:

Westmorland Sweet Lamb Pie

Favourite Cook Books no.3: The Forme of Cury, Part I

Favourite Cook Books no. 3: The Forme of Cury, part 2 – recipes

Upcoming events:

British Library Food Season 2024, 25 May at 2pm.

We Invented the Weekend festival, Salford, 16th June

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 ladies who sold them at the train station in the

Victorian period, Ormskirk’s link with Liverpool’s sugar and slave trade, and

the value of having difficult conversations – amongst many other things.

Support the podcast and blogs by

becoming, if you can, a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium

content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

Listen to Hometown Boring? on BBC Sounds

Follow Anouska on Instagram @history_hun and TikTok @historyhun

Things mentioned in today’s episode:

Ormskirk Gingerbread on the Foods of England website

A Dark History of Sugar by Neil Buttery

Previous podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode:

Gingerbread with Sam Bilton

Upcoming events:

British Library Food Season 2024, 25 May at 2pm.

Ludlow Food Festival, Friday 13th September.

Warwick Words History Festival, Thursday 3rd October at 4.30pm.

Neil’s blogs:

‘British Food: a History’

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’

Neil’s books:

Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper

A Dark History of Sugar

Both are published by Pen & Sword and available from all good bookshops.

Don’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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, 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:

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 fabulously wasteful food of 17th century cook Robert May, whose responsibility it was to preserve food in the home (hint: not the man of the house), pies as preservation method, the food waste used in agriculture and industry, food preservation in wartime, and Hannah Glasse’s dubious method for preserving very rank potted birds, plus many other things – we fit a lot into today’s episode.

Support the podcast and blogs by becoming, if you can, a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

Leftovers: A History of Food Waste & Preservation is out now.

Books mentioned in today’s episode:

Robert May’s The Accomplisht Cook

Sir Hugh Platt’s Delights for Ladies

Hannah Glasse’s The Art of Cookery

Previous podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode:

London’s Street Food Sellers with Charlie Taverner

Christmas Special 2023: Mince Pies

Upcoming events:

The Leeds Symposium of Food History & Traditions, York, 27 April 2024.

British Library Food Season 2024, 25 May at 2pm. Tickets and info to come soon!

Ludlow Food Festival, Friday 13th September.

Warwick Words History Festival, Thursday 3rd October at 4.30pm.

Neil’s blogs:

‘British Food: a History’

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’

Neil’s books:

Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper

A Dark History of Sugar...