Welcome to 'The British Food History Podcast': British food in all its (sometimes gory) glory with Dr. Neil Buttery. He'll be looking in depth at all aspects of...
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...
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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
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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
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47:49
From the Vaults: Fanny Cradock with Kevin Geddes
I'm on a break so to fill the gap here are some of my favourite episodes from the podcast's vaults.Neil has a most enlightening chat with Kevin Geddes about the fabulous television cook Fanny Cradock (1909-1994). Fanny has a reputation for being difficult to work with, cruel and monstrous, and that she was a fake. In this chat Kevin upturns SOME of those preconceptions. We talk about her way into radio and television, her manner and presenting style, the fantastic Christmas special, as well as her decline and fall from television cookery. Much of her life is fabricated and it is difficult to see where the real Fanny stops, and the celebrity Fanny begins.Subscribers: don’t forget to check out the Easter Egg tab on the website to listen to the many extras from this episode: http://britishfoodhistory.com/easter-eggs/Kevin’s book Keep Calm and Fanny On! The Many Careers of Fanny Cradock is published by Fantom https://www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product/kevin-geddes-fanny-cradock/It’s All in the Booklet: Festive Fun with Fanny Cradock is also published by Fantom https://www.fantompublishing.co.uk/product/kevin-geddes-its-all-in-the-booklet-festive-fun-with-fanny-cradock/Follow Kevin on Twitter and Insta @keepcalmandfannyon
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46:14
From the Vaults: Hogmanay & Hamely Kitchen with Paula McIntyre
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 with Paula McIntyre about Hogmanay and her BBC TV show, the excellent Hamely Kitchen. Paula is an Ulster-Scots chef who lives on the north coast of Northern Ireland and she specialises in combining those two cuisines, reviving traditional recipes and shouting about good producers. Paula has a Hamely Kitchen Hogmanay special out on 30th December, 7.30pm on BBC1 Northern Ireland. Paula and Neil talked about Hogmanay traditions, like first footings and gifting shortbread, cockie-leekie soup, clootie dumplings and boiled/steamed puddings in general, TV show Two Fat Ladies and dulse – and much more.Hamely Kitchen’s BBC webpage: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000zmyh Find Paula on social media: Twitter @paula_mcintyre; Instagram @paulacooksThings mentioned in today’s episode:Kilchoman distillery: https://www.kilchomandistillery.com/ Ursa Minor bakery: https://www.ursaminorbakehouse.com/ Abernethy Butter: https://abernethybutter.com/ Two Fat Ladies BBC TV programme on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nu9yUU0fTAk Neil’s blog post on the classic Scottish Hogmanay treat the black bun: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2022/12/27/black-bun-scotch-bun-part-1-history/
Welcome to 'The British Food History Podcast': British food in all its (sometimes gory) glory with Dr. Neil Buttery. He'll be looking in depth at all aspects of food with interviews with special guests, recipes, re-enactments, foraging, trying his hand at traditional techniques, and tracking down forgotten recipes and hyper-regional specialities. He'll also be trying to answer the big question: What makes British food, so...British?
Ireland