Hello there everyone!

Here’s a quick special bonus episode for you – the lowdown on the Serve it Forth Food History Festival 2025 sponsored by the excellent Netherton Foundry.

My fellow festival coordinators Sam Bilton, Thomas Ntinas and Alessandra Pino and I are here to tell you more about it: how the day will work, what the sessions will be like, the topics and the guests – including my guest Tom Parker Bowles.

We have a brief discussion about our own interests and how we all got into food history. We also talk about our biggest/most embarrassing disasters.

Most important headlines are: it’s online on 18 October. It’s £16, but there’s 25% off ticket price until September 14th. Don’t worry if you miss some, or even all of the day, we will be making every recording available to all ticket holders.

NB: If you want to get 25% off the ticket price after the early bird has finished, use the offer code SERVE25 at the Eventbrite checkout

Serve it Forth website

The Serve it Forth Eventbrite page

My guest today is Mark Dawson, food historian, specialising in the food of the Tudor period, but also the food of Derbyshire. We met up at Mark’s home in Derbyshire to talk all things Derbyshire oatcakes.

Mark and I talk about the oatcakes of Britain, doshens and sprittles, the usefulness of probate inventories, oatcakes as penance, and oatcake goblins – amongst many other things

Those listening to the secret podcast can hear about other Derbyshire foods made from oats; a discussion about why oatcake is better than porridge; and I grill Mark on one very important matter: just what is the difference between a Derbyshire and a Staffordshire oatcake.

Follow Mark on Instagram @drdobba

Mark’s book Lumpy Tums: Derbyshire’s Food & Drink will be published by Amberley in April 2026

Mark’s previous book Plenti and Grase (2009) is published by Prospect Books

Mark Dawson’s Food History Pages

Mark’s SpeakerNet profile

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

Serve it Forth website

Serve it Forth Eventbrite page

Find out more about Joan Thirsk

General View of the Agriculture and Minerals of Derbyshire by John Farey (1811)

Some of Mark’s research on oatcakes can be found in Farmers, Consumers, Innovators: The World of Joan Thirsk (2016)

Neil’s blogs and YouTube channel:

‘British Food: a History’

The British Food History Channel

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’...

My guest today is Alex Bamji, Associate Professor of Early Modern History at the University of Leeds, and we are talking about a rare treatise on cheese dating from the Early Modern Period.

We met up at the Brotherton Library which is home to a fantastic collection of cookery books and manuscripts. We talk about cheese, health and humoral theory; what makes a good cheese; the early modern cheese landscape; cheese as a cure for gout; and cheese haters – plus many other things.

Those listening to the secret podcast: Alex and I talk about why cow’s milk is the best milk, and I wonder whether there any clues as to where their microbes are coming from.

Follow Alex on Twitter, Bluesky and Instagram @alexbamji

Alex’s page on the University of Leeds website

Alex’s LinkedIn page

The digitised manuscript

Ruth Bramley’s transcription

A piece from Leeds University about the ‘pamflyt’ featuring Peter Brears

The Brotherton Library’s cookery collection

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

The Serve it Forth Food History Festival website is now live and tickets are available on Eventbrite.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

Serve it Forth website

Serve it Forth Eventbrite page

Listen to a sample of the Knead to Know audiobook

My guest today is third generation baker, writer and teacher David Wright author of the excellent book Breaking Bread: How Baking Shaped our World published by Aurum.

We talk about the social benefits of bread making, milling grain into flour, the anatomy of a grain, roller mills, the Chorleywood process and why gluten can be compared to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito.

Those listening to the secret podcast: you get a little over 15 minutes of bonus material that includes additives that don’t have be named on ingredients lists, flatbreads, the National Loaf, the value of bread and more!

Follow David on Instagram @thebreaducator

Breaking Bread: How Baking Shaped Our World is published by Aurum

More on the Pump Street workshops

More about David’s Earth’s Crust Bakery at Camp Bestival

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

The Serve it Forth Food History Festival website is now live and tickets are available on Eventbrite.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

Serve it Forth website

Serve it Forth Eventbrite page

Against the Grain by James C. Scott (2018)

Knead to Know: A History of Baking by Neil Buttery (2023)

My blog post and recipe for a cob

My blog post and recipe for a cottage loaf

Pertinent previous podcast episode:

My guests today are archaeologists Chris Wakefield from the Cambridge Archaeological Unit of Cambridge University Rachel Ballantyne from McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research, and they are here to tell me about an absolutely amazing site close to Peterborough that tell us a huge amount about daily life in a late Bronze Age settlement. Prepare to have your minds blown!

We talk about the unique circumstances of how and why the site is so well preserved, kitchen clutter, animal husbandry, querns, frumenty, pike sushi, and whether the English’s love of mustard goes back 3 millennia – among many other things

Those listening to the secret podcast: you get 20 minutes of bonus material that includes the importance of foraging, the evidence for fermentation, Bronze Age recipes, the uses of the whole cereal plant and more!

To view images of the site and the finds, go to the accompanying post on Neil’s blog.

Follow Cambridge Archaeological Unit on Social Media

Facebook: @cambridgearchaeologicalunit

BlueSky: @cambridgearch.bsky.social

Instagram: @cambridgearchaeologicalunit

Follow Cambridge University Department of Archaeology on Social Media:

Facebook: @archaeologycambridge

BlueSky: @cam-archaeology.bsky.social

Instagram: @ cambridge_archaeology

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The Must Farm website

The Peterborough Archaeology page about the Must Farm site

Neil’s medieval frumenty recipe

Neil’s blogs and YouTube channel:

‘British Food: a History’

The British Food History Channel

‘Neil Cooks Grigson’

Neil’s books:

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

A Dark History of Sugar...

My guest today is food writer, podcaster and cheese enthusiast Jenny Linford and we are going on a bit of a regional food tour across the UK.

We talk about her new book The Great British Food Tour published by the National Trust. It’s beautifully illustrated and contains recipes too. Also discussed: our mutual appreciation of Jane Grigson, Welsh cakes, English fish dishes, marmalade, champ and Tunnock’s teacakes at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games – amongst many other things.

The Great British Food Tour by Jenny Linford

Jenny’s website (include information about all three of her recent books)

Follow Jenny on Social Media: X and BlueSky @jennylinford; Insta/Threads @jlinford

Jenny’s podcast, A Slice of Cheese

The National Trust website

Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

Bradford Little Foodies Walking Tour on Sat 26 July 2025

Dock Pudding

Singin’ Hinnies

Henry’s Mayhew’s London Labour and the London Poor (1851)

Glamorgan Sausages

Chorlton Cheesemongers

London’s Eel, Pies & Mash Shops

Tunnock’s Teacakes at the Glasgow Commonwealth Games

Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

Silver Eels with John...

Welcome to the first episode of season 9 of The British Food History Podcast!

Today I am talking with Matthew Cockin and Grant Harper of Fruit Pig – the last remaining commercial craft producer of fresh blood black puddings in the UK.

We talk about how and why they started up Fruit Pig, battling squeamishness, why it’s so difficult to make fresh blood black puddings, and serving suggestions – amongst many other things

Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.

If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The Fruit Pig website

Fruit Pig on Jamie & Jimmy’s Friday Night Feast

Fruit Pig on BBC Radio 4’s The Food Programme

Neil’s appearance on Comfortably Hungry discussing black/blood pudding

Museum of Royal Worcester project wins a British Library Food Season Award

Catch up on the latest posts and recipes on Neil’s blog

Follow Serve it Forth on Instagram at @serveitforthfest

My YouTube channel

Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

The Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay Middleton

18th Century Female Cookery Writers with The Delicious Legacy

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...

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 episode

Burnt cobs – BBC Leicester article

Pennyroyal

Tomato-Flavoured Snaps are not dead!

A Baghdad Cookery Book by Charles Perry

Kirkcudbright Book Week tickets

The 39th Leeds Symposium of Food Drinks & Traditions on Eventbrite

Neil’s appearance on That Shakespeare Life

Neil’s appearance on History Rage

The Accomplisht Cook by Robert May (1660)

Amuse Bouche by Carolyn Boyd

Plenti and Grase by Mark Dawson

Neil’s Country Life County Foods series

A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink

The Delicious Legacy

Comfortably Hungry: Bleeding Cows & Black Puddings

Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

A History of Baking with Sam Bilton & Neil Buttery

Making Medieval Ale at Home with Alison Kay

Turkey with Tom Copas

An Irish Food Story with Jp McMahon

The Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay Middleton

Crisps with Natalie Whittle

The School Meals Service with Heather Ellis

The History of Food Waste & Preservation with Eleanor...