I really enjoyed talking to writer/cook Dr Neil Buttery for his podcast - esp for his deeply learnt knowledge of past recipes. Reminds me of William Kitchiner who said he wrote his cookbook with a pen in one hand and a spit in the other.

Why retro food is a thing… I think we’re harking back to a pre-UPF past. And who doesn’t love a devilled egg (though we just called them stuffed eggs in my childhood). www-ft-com.ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/content/3fee15…

Think the answer is… mostly piffle! Unless you are a) a world-class athlete b) an OAP. Fascinating programme - I learnt a lot from all contributors (except me - at the end). ⁦BBC Radio 4⁩ bbc.co.uk/programmes/m00…

I think Fake History Hunter is right - if you chuck something in a pot it becomes pottage - The Forme of Cury c. 1390 from Foods of England excellent edition has recipes for cabbage, turnips and this one … gourds in pottage.

I can see the irony of pontificating about this here but… #Smartphone -free-childhood would help not just kids’ mental health but their dietary health too - releasing them from manipulative, targeted adverts for junk food. theguardian.com/books/2024/mar…

“Delicate roast lamb, without the barnyard-y taste of the older animal, is what people in many parts of the world expect as the centrepiece of the religious spring feast.”

🖊️ Pen Vogler
newstatesman.com/culture/food-d…

Meat from older animals is more obviously in season. Where did this hasty culinary tradition come from?

🖊️ Pen Vogler
newstatesman.com/culture/food-d…

Italian is interesting though I haven’t come across evidence… I think it’s a biblical hangover and (I suggest rather cautiously) a bit of a mistranslation or misunderstanding from the OT which talks about “lamb in its first year” (so actually hogget)

I’ve thought a lot about mutton and why we hardly eat it, but have only recently stopped to wonder why do we eat lamb… at Easter… when they’ve only just been born? Inspired by Mrs B, Dickens and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall asking here in The New Statesman

Interesting and - I think balanced? - piece about the latest skirmish in the centuries’ long bread wars… good to hear from so many breadxperts Andrew Whitley Giles Yeo⁩ ⁦Chris Young, Real Bread Campaign coordinator⁩ ⁦Chris van Tulleken 🏳️‍🌈⁩ (and others 😉) theguardian.com/food/2024/mar/…

“For me it’s about connecting the dots. And that begins in the kitchen with cooking from scratch…” 👏 Helen Rebanks Retailers, manufacturers and politicians should learn about the health of the land, the body and the economy from people in the kitchen and the farm.

So looking forward to talking to Prof Diane Purkiss @uniofoxford ⁦OxfordLitFest⁩ on Saturday at noon Oxford Martin School about the history of food and politics in Britain - and why it matters today 🍜 🍓 🍞 oxfordliteraryfestival.org/literature-eve…

Glad to see the Minister for London is addressing himself to one of the most pressing concerns of the day. And as for those those Viking marauders - cinnamon and cardamom buns… words fail #chelseabuns

Amongst endless new (sometimes self-indulgent) podcasts this one stands out for addressing a need in the wider world 👏 ⁦Sayeeda Warsi⁩ ⁦David Baddiel⁩ podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/a-m…

Elliot Levey eithne nightingale Dr Karen E. H. Skinazi Prof Dr Andrea Hammel Philippe Sands Elif Shafak Joe Haddow Marcus du Sautoy Pushkin Press At 3.30pm we have the #BookWeek24 keynote with Simon Schama, Frederic Raphael in conversation with Mark Glanville, Woman in Art with Griselda Pollock and Jewish Flavours of Italy

Writing this 👇 made me wonder… Has there been a revival in Welsh food? Or has the food which has always been eaten, only become “a cuisine” when the English start to notice?

Happy St David’s Day! I loved talking to my Mum (87) about her memories of her Brecon family and the Welsh food stories so many people shared with me. Dylan Thomas’s gorgeous line in Under Milk Wood - is the icing (sugar) on the (Welsh) cake. ⁦The New Statesman⁩ 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

‘I don’t want tax cuts, I want public services that work!’

Caller Heather expresses her frustration to Sangita Myska as she says it is ‘fraudulent’ that older people who have paid taxes ‘all their life’ cannot now access services.

does Nesta really think supermarket bogoff deals on fruit & veg are the answer to 26-9% obesity in UK adults? Though p’raps if farmers and growers are even more squeezed by supermarket prices that will bring down the percentages a bit…

Last week, the 2nd anniversary of Putin's invasion, my friend Simon and I drove to Ukraine to deliver medicine and supplies on behalf of World Extreme Medicine. We'd love it if you might donate, but if you can't, a RT would help! gofundme.com/f/medics4ukrai… Ukraine needs us more than ever.