Podd: Comfortably Hungry

Bonus Episode: Stir Up Sunday

24 november 2024 | 48 min

S3 E5: Bleeding Cows and Black Puddings

21 november 2024 | 61 min

S3 E4: R.I.P. (Retail in Peril?)

7 november 2024 | 51 min

S3 E3: Come Die with Me

31 oktober 2024 | 55 min

In Episode 3 I explore how food and death have been intrinsically linked over the centuries focusing on two extraordinary funeral feasts. First of all, I am joined by food historian and chef Jay Reifel to dissect the Emperor Domitian’s famous black banquet complete with tombstone party favours. Then historian Giles MacDonogh and I visit pre-Revolutionary France where a young gourmand, Grimod de la Reynière, hosts his own dark repast much to his parent’s chagrin.

Useful Links

You can find Jay Reifel on Instagram @jayreifel or visit his website https://jayreifel.com for more information on his work and his book A History of the World in 10 Dinners: 2000 years, 100 recipes (2023) which features his take on Domitian’s feast including the spectacular chicken dish at the top of this post.

You can find Giles McDonogh on X @GilesMacDonogh or you can find him on Susbtack at Giles MacDonogh. Details of Giles’ 15 books are available on his website http://www.macdonogh.co.uk/books.htm including Grimod de la Reynière’s biography A Palate in Revolution (1987)

You may also want to check out A Question of Death, a newsletter and podcast from Rachel Mosses which explores our relationship with death through respectful enquiry.

S3 E2: Burnt Cakes and the (not so) Dark Ages

17 oktober 2024 | 42 min

In Episode 2 I am joined by Emma Kay a Historian and Archaeologist, who specialises in food history. We discuss Emma’s book on Anglo-Saxon culinary history, Fodder & Drincan, and discover why the so called ‘dark ages’ between the Romans quitting Britain in the 5th century CE and the Norman conquest in 1066 are not as gloomy on the food front as people once thought.

Useful Links

Emma is the author of numerous books on culinary history including Fodder & Drincan: Anglo Saxon Culinary History. You can find her on Instagram and X. She is currently digitising her vast collection of antique kitchen equipment which will soon be available on museumofkitchenalia.co.uk.

Emma is also on YouTube: Food & Histo-Archaeology with Emma Kay

Emma’s next book Wortes and All: Medieval Cooking will be available from Amberley Publishing in April 2025.

Anglo Saxon sites in the UK include Sutton Hoo or West Stow Village, in Suffolk. Or visit the British Museum to see the famous Sutton Hoo helmet pictured above.

Vikings, all episodes streaming on Prime.

S3 E1: Dark Food

3 oktober 2024 | 43 min

Welcome to Season 3: DARK (Trailer)

21 september 2024 | 3 min

S2 Episode 8: A Chocolate Horror Story

9 maj 2024 | 52 min

S2 Episode 7: Brownie Angles

2 maj 2024 | 57 min

S2 Episode 6: Whatever Happened to Fry's?

11 april 2024 | 46 min

S2: Bonus Easter Egg Episode

31 mars 2024 | 10 min

S2 Episode 5: Meet the Tosiers

21 mars 2024 | 49 min

Introducing A is for Apple

4 mars 2024 | 55 min

S2 Episode 4: Beating Around the Bûche

14 december 2023 | 42 min

In this episode I will be discussing the enduring popularity of the yule log or bûche de noel (the edible version rather than the flammable one) with American baker and author of Sweet Paris, Frank Adrian Barron who you may know from Instagram as @cakeboyparis. We’ll also be talking about how this dessert has evolved and the secret to making a great bûche de noel.

To whet your appetite here is French pastry chef, Pierre Lacam’s recipe originally published in Le Mémorial Historique Et Géographique De La Pâtisserie (1890).

Bûche de Noel

Elle se fait en biscuit à la poche, et en génoise sur plaque. En biscuit, c’est plus coûteux pour la crème, vu les cintres des bouchées. La génoise est chère par sa pâte et ses rognures, mail n’a pas de cintres à boucher. Prenons la génoise, vous coupez une dizaine de ronds égaux, je suppose, vous les collez l’un contre l’autre à la crème moka ou chocolat. Vous masquez bien tou autour et lissez. Vous la couchez sur un front allongé parsemé d’amandes grillées. Vous a décorez d’un bout à l’autre à la fine douille à breton, bien égale, imitant l’écorce de l’arbre, et après, vous y posez quatre ou cinque noeuds en biscuit épais coupés à l’emporte-pièce imitants les noeuds de branches, vous les masquez et les décorez de bas en haut même douille, l’on masque les deux extrémités de la bûche sans décorer. Il y a des maisons qui passent avec pression de la pâte d’amandes vert à la passoire, d’autres sèment des pistaches hachées très fines. On en fait à la meringue italienne, mais ferme.

Here is the literal translation from Google to give you an idea (clearly it doesn’t do technical pastry terms!).

It is made in biscuit in the pocket, and in sponge cake on a plate. In biscuit, it is more expensive for the cream, given the hangers of the bites. Sponge cake is expensive in its dough and trimmings, but has no hangers to butcher. Let's take the sponge cake, you cut about ten equal circles, I suppose, you stick them against each other with mocha or chocolate cream. You mask well all around and smooth. You lay it on an elongated forehead sprinkled with toasted almonds. You decorate from one end to the other with a thin Breton nozzle, very even, imitating the bark of the tree, and then you put four or five knots in thick biscuit cut with a cookie cutter. imitating branch knots, you mask them and decorate them from bottom to top, same sleeve, we mask the two ends of the log without decorating. There are houses that strain green marzipan through a sieve, others sow very finely chopped pistachios. We make it with Italian meringue, but firm.

Pierre Lacam (1836-1902) was the son of a dyer born near Sarlat in the Dordogne, France. He decided to follow his older brother into the patisserie profession working his way up to eventually work for the Prince of Monaco, Charles III in 1877. He was interested in regional cakes and breads which led to the publication Le Mémorial Historique Et Géographique De La Pâtisserie in 1890. This was the first time a recipe for the bûche de noel appears although it was invented earlier.

In Le Glacier Classique et Artistique en France et en Italie par Pierre Lacam and Antoine Charabot (1893), Lacam wrote:

‘Today there are new desserts but we no longer know the name of the inventor. For example, we were never able to find out who had created the Yule Log…. after looking, I found that it was a man named Antoine Charabot, chef at Maison Sanson , 14, rue de Buci, who created the tree branch in 1879. It remained the same for a few years. Several patisseries began to make it and since 1886 its fashion has not diminished.’

Le Glacier Classique includes an ice cream version of this Christmas dessert.

Useful Links

You can find out more about Frank Adrian Barron’s cakes and workshops on his website or follow him on Instagram.

Sweet Paris by Frank Adrian Barron (2022)

This year Maxime Frédéric of Le Cheval Blanc in Paris has produced a bûche de noel shaped like an old fashioned steam train, ‘La Chocomotive’.

Sweet Invention: A History of Dessert by Michael Krondl (2010) - don’t forget to listen to episode 3 of this podcast where Michael and I discuss the history of the Sachertorte.

A full biography (in French) on Pierre Lacam can be viewed here.

‘Ceremonies for Christmas’ in Hesperides by Robert Herrick (1648)

Le Mémorial Historique Et Géographique De La Pâtisserie by Pierre Lacam (in French)

Le Glacier Classique et Artistique en France et en Italie par Pierre Lacam and Antoine Charabot (1893) (in French)

Fanny Cradock has a lot to say about Swiss Roll’s (including yule logs) and the best way to roll them. Take a look at Kevin Geddes’ blog post or this clip of Fanny’s TV Christmas favourites.

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S2 Episode 3: Death By Chocolate

30 november 2023 | 40 min

S2 Episode 2: Cake Wars

18 november 2023 | 38 min

S2 Episode 1: Day of the Dead

2 november 2023 | 37 min

Welcome back to Season 2 of the Comfortably Hungry Podcast!

Today is the 2nd of November (unless of course you are listening to this episode after this date). In the Christian calendar it is known as All Souls Day and in Mexico specifically Dia de los Muertos or day of the dead. But as we shall see it is far from a mournful occasion.

‘To the modern Mexican death doesn't have any meaning. It has ceased to be the transition, the access to the other life which is more authentic than this one. But the unimportance of death has not taken it away from us and eliminated it from our daily lives. To the inhabitant of New York, Paris, or London death is a word that is never uttered because it burns the lips. The Mexican, on the other hand, frequents it, mocks it, caresses it, sleeps with it, entertains it; it is one of his favourite playthings and his most enduring love. It is true that in his attitude there is perhaps the same fear that others also have, but at least he does not hide this fear nor does he hide death; he contemplates her face to face with impatience, with contempt, with irony: 'If they're going to kill me tomorrow, let them kill me for once and for all.’ Octavio Paz The Labyrinth of Solitude (1959)

In this episode my guest is Maite Gomez-Rejón an educator, writer and cook who explores the connection between art and culinary history with Artbites. She has recently curated two exhibitions at LA Plaza Cocina in Los Angeles, Maize: Past, Present & Future and The Legacy of Cacao. When you have a moment do check out Maite’s podcast with actor Eva Longoria Hungry for History. We are taking a look at the role chocolate plays in the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Are there any chocolatey subjects you’d like me to explore further? Let me know in the Subscriber chat.

Useful Links

Maite’s website is Artbites and you can find her on Instagram @artbites_maite

Hungry for History Podcast with Maite & Eva Longoria. In particular you may like these episodes:

“Pan Dulce y Dia de los Muertos”

“Chocolate: The Food of the Gods”

Maite also recommends this “Day of the Dead special” on Pass the Chipotle podcast

The British Museum produced this short film on the Day of the Dead celebrations.

Welcome to Season 2!

24 oktober 2023 | 2 min

Episode 7: Make Do & Cook (Part 2)

1 september 2023 | 33 min

Episode 7: Make Do & Cook (Part 1)

18 augusti 2023 | 30 min

Episode 6: Super Spud

27 juli 2023 | 34 min

In Episode 6 I chat with Professor Rebecca Earle from the University of Warwick about the fascinating history behind the potato.

The potato is one of the most versatile vegetables we eat in the western world. To quote Rebecca from her book Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato :

‘Today the potato is a remarkably successful global food. It ranks just behind wheat, maize and rice in terms of the volume harvested each year, and is the world’s fifth most valuable food crop. More potatoes are eaten per capita in Malawi than Peru itself. Overall, Europeans are now the world’s most assiduous eaters of potatoes consuming on average some 82 kilos per person each year.’

But it hasn’t always been plain sailing for this south America immigrant. It has been plagued by myths surrounding it’s edibility, such as links between its consumption and leprosy, leading some writers to assume that potatoes weren’t widely eaten in Europe by the working classes prior to the nineteenth century when in fact they were. Over the centuries it has been hailed as both a health food and as a nutritional pariah accused of making the working population lazy. At times the potato has been a source of social unrest yet during both world wars it was relied upon to feed allied and enemy nations. Although in Britain they don’t count as one of your five a day, potatoes are a source of potassium, vitamins C, B1 and B6 and their skins contain fibre. However, finally the potato’s importance to global food security has been officially recognised by the United Nations which declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato.

You can find out more about Rebecca on her website. Rebecca has written a number of books including:

Feeding the People: The Politics of the Potato, Cambridge University Press (2020).

Potato (Object Lessons), Bloomsbury (2019)

The Body of the Conquistador: Food, Race and the Colonial Experience in Spanish America, 1492-1700, Cambridge University Press (2012). Winner of the Conference on Latin America History 2013 Bolton-Johnson Prize.

The Return of the Native: Indians and Mythmaking in Spanish America, 1810-1930, Duke University Press (2008). Winner of the Conference on Latin American History's 2008 Bolton-Johnson Prize Honorable Mention.

Bonus Episode: Under More Pressure

20 juli 2023 | 7 min

Episode 5: The Monster In The Attic

6 juli 2023 | 41 min

Pressure cookers have been hailed as a saviour of the kitchen in these financially straitened times. They cook food quickly and efficiently thereby saving energy and money. BUT… I can’t get the idea of the pressure cooker being a steaming demon out of my head, ready to spew forth its contents like Regan MacNeil of The Exorcist fame being told she has to attend church on Sunday. Hence, my pressure cooker has been buried beneath a tower of boxes in the attic for many years.

Or at least it was until I read Modern Pressure Cooking by Catherine Phipps. She has a far more positive view of pressure cookers and chats to me in this episode about the history behind this device, how it works and the benefits of this mode of cooking. So if you’re a pressure cooking doubter be prepared to be converted.

Like so much kitchen gadgetry the pressure cooker has its origins in the depths of history. A French protestant refugee called Denys Papin (1647-1713) is credited with designing a prototype for the pressure cooker. Papin’s steam digester cooked meat under pressure to produce tender, tasty and nutritious morsels. So intense was this process that even after a short period of time bones were rendered as soft as cheese. He published his results in A New Digester Or Engine For Softening Bones, Containing The Description Of Its Make And Use in 1681. Papin’s aim was that the digester could be used to make portable meat jellies for use at sea (these he argued would be more nutritious than the salted meat usually served on board ships). He concluded that when the jelly was seasoned with sugar and lemon juice he ate it with much pleasure.

The Fellows of the Royal Society were seemingly not put off by the device looking and sounding like a contraption designed for torture and were astounded by the results. Seventeenth century diarist John Evelyn exclaimed:

‘I went this afternoon with several of the Royal Society to a supper which was all dressed, both fish and flesh, in Monsieur Papin’s digester, by which the hardest bones of beef itself, and mutton, were made as soft as cheese, without water or other liquor, and with less than eight ounces of coals, producing an incredible quantity of gravy; the best for clearness and good relish, and the most delicious that I had ever seen, or tasted.’ (12 April 1682)

In the twentieth century the pressure cooker was tamed and additional safety features mean that the risk of explosion has been nullified so kitchen worktops and walls do not run the risk of being sullied by any sudden pressurised outbursts. I’m a convert, how about you?

You can find Catherine Phipps on Twitter @catlilycooks or Instagram @catherinephipps. Do subscribe to Catherine’s Substack newsletter Catherine Phipps . Catherine has written several books including Modern Pressure Cooking, as well as Citrus, Leaf, Chicken and The Pressure Cooker Cookbook.

A Roll In The Hay

22 juni 2023 | 24 min

In this week’s episode I will be exploring the benefits of using a haybox or Wonder Bag to prepare meals and cut down on energy costs. My guest is Liz Trigg (liztrigg_), one of the hosts of the Original Home Economist, who has had first hand experience of this mode of cooking.

As the name suggests haybox cookery involves placing partially cooked food in a box lined with hay although other materials with similar insulating properties can be used. A dish is prepared on a hob then brought up to boiling point and usually cooked for a short period at a highish temperature before being transferred to the haybox. The hay helps harness the residual heat in the cooking vessel. It’s a great way to prepare things like stews and porridge that benefit from slow cooking. Hay boxes were particularly popular during the world wars, although as I discovered the idea of cooking with residual heat may go back to the medieval era.

Interest in this form of ‘automatic’ cooking appears to have been sparked by an exhibit at the World’s Exposition in Paris in 1867:

The twentieth century would see a number of authors praise the virtues of this mode of cooking although it has to be said that not everyone was convinced. Margaret Johnes Mitchell (1869–1952) was an American writer and a dietician at the Manhattan State Hospital, New York. She published The Fireless Cook Book in 1909 which includes details on how to build a haybox. As well as saving energy, she believed the haybox eliminated excessive heat and odours from the kitchen, improved the flavour of food and could even dispense the need for servants. She also offers the following tips:

* Cooking depends on the retention of heat so the larger quantity of food/liquid the more likely the heat will be retained.

* The cooking vessel should be full in order to maximise the benefits of this style of cooking.

* The cooking vessel should fit into its nest snugly.

* Make sure the haybox is close to the stove so that you can transfer hot food quickly.

* The box should be tightly closed once the food has been put in.

* All food needs to be cooked for a certain amount of time before being moved to the haybox. This is vital to ensure that the contents cook correctly.

* Hardness of water can affect cooking times i.e. food will take longer.

Useful Links & Further Reading

Liz’s recipe for Fabada Asturiana can be found in Instagram

Oatmeal porridge in a haybox (Ministry of Information film, 1940)

The Self-Acting Norwegian Cooking Apparatus - New York Medical Journal Vol X 1870

A fragment of a mediaeval fireless cooking pot, found in Monmouth Castle grounds

The Great War Cook Book by May Byron (1918)

Haybox Cookery by Ambrose Heath (1961)

“Two Anglo-Norman Culinary Collections Edited from British Library Manuscripts Additional 32085 and Royal 12.C.Xii.” Speculum 61, no. 4, by Hieatt, Constance B., and Robin F. Jones. (1986)

The Fireless Cook Book by Margaret Johnes Mitchell (1909)

Wonderbag

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Talking Tripe Part 2

8 juni 2023 | 33 min

Talking Tripe Part 1:

25 maj 2023 | 31 min

Welcome to Episode 2 and the first part of my journey to find out more about the alien like substance called tripe. Assisting me in this quest is food historian and host of the British Food History podcast Dr Neil Buttery.

Tripe refers to the stomachs from cows, sheep, pigs and other animals. It was once widely eaten across Britain by all levels of society and was regarded as a nutritious and economical meat. But tripe has gradually fallen out of favour in Britain since the mid twentieth century making it quite tricky to source.

‘Tripe called by any other name would achieve the popularity it undoubtedly deserves. It is one of the most digestible of foods - indeed, a doctor of my acquaintance puts all his patients suffering from indigestion upon a diet in which tripe stewed in milk, figures largely - while it can be most palatable and is undeniably cheap.’ Majorie Swift, Feed The Brute (1925)

In other parts of the world there is a fondness for this curious white flesh. Tripe soup is popular in both Mexico and Turkey. In Rome there is an area called Testaccio which is renowned for its offal based cuisine. In this episode British food writer and Guardian columnist Rachel Roddy shares some insights into how modern day Romans prepare tripe.

Rachel’s books include Five Quarters: Recipes and Notes from a Kitchen in Rome, Two Kitchens: 120 Family Recipes from Sicily and Rome and the An A-Z of Pasta: Stories, Shapes, Sauces, Recipes. You can find more of her recipes and musings in her Guardian column or on her blog Rachel Eats.

You can find Rachel on Instagram: @rachelaliceroddy or Twitter: @racheleats

Don’t forget to check out Neil’s website British Food: A History loaded with fascinating historical recipes. His books include The Dark History of Sugar and Before Mrs Beeton. And if you haven’t done so already, do give his British Food History podcast a listen.

You can find Neil on Instagram: @dr_neil_buttery and Twitter: @neilbuttery

If you enjoy the podcast please don’t forget to rate it to help other listeners discover the Comfortably Hungry series.

You can follow me on Twitter @sjfbilton and Instagram @mrssbilton or discover more about my work and books at sambilton.com.

Useful Links/Further Reading

In 2016 the Oxford Food Symposium had Offal: Rejected and Reclaimed Food as its theme. The proceedings of the symposium contains some fascinating papers on tripe and other offal.

The tripe recipe Rachel mentions can be found in The Talisman Cookbook by Ada Boni originally published in the 1930s but link above is for English version published in 1975.

For a history of tripe in Britain try Tripe: A Most Excellent Dish by Marjory Houlihan

For further culinary inspiration try:

The Cook and Housewife’s Manual by Margaret Dods (1827)

Nose to Tail Eating: A Kind of British Cooking by Fergus Henderson

Offal: The Fifth Quarter by Anissa Helou

The Accomplisht Cook by Robert May (1678)

The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald (1786)

Get full access to Comfortably Hungry at comfortablyhungry.substack.com/subscribe

Bread or Blood

12 maj 2023 | 32 min

In Episode 1 Sam discusses a nineteenth century food protest with freelance writer and illustrator Josh Sutton.

The early years of the nineteenth century were marked by social and economic upheaval caused by war, rising inflation and the loss of access to common land due to the The General Enclosure Act of 1801. As a result, many agricultural labourers during this period struggled to support themselves and their families and were forced to rely on parish relief to supplement their meagre earnings. Even this did not prevent huge numbers of people living in a state of poverty where hunger was a daily reality.

The Ely and Littleport riots took place in April and May 1816 as a response to hunger, poverty and unemployment. The protestors’ slogan was ‘bread or blood’ which was inscribed on their banners. They also brandished a loaf on a stick as they marched.

Hundreds of people were involved in this demonstration. For a short while it appeared their demands for higher wages would be met but their protest ended in tragedy. Listen to the podcast to find out what happened.

If you enjoy the podcast please don’t forget to rate it to help other listeners discover the Comfortably Hungry series.

Josh explores the Ely and Littleport riot and many other food protests in his book Food Worth Fighting For, (Prospect Books, 2016). Other titles by Josh include:

Outdoor Ovens – if you can’t stand the heat, go al fresco (Prospect Books, 2017)

Food from Childhood (Prospect Books, 2019)

For details on his other books visit joshsutton.co.uk or follow Josh on Twitter @BooksFez and Instagram @redfezbooks

This podcast features the song Bread or Blood by The Commoners Choir which is available to download here.

You can follow Sam on Twitter @sjfbilton and Instagram @mrssbilton or discover more about her work and books at sambilton.com.

Further Reading

Besides Food Worth Fighting For you may find these other publications and websites of interest:

John Burnett - Plenty & Want: A Social History of Diet in England (1979)

William Cobbett - Rural Rides (1830)

JL & Barbara Hammond - The Village Labourer (1920)

Trussell Trust

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Comfortably Hungry Season 1 Trailer

4 maj 2023 | 4 min

Gingerbread

31 oktober 2022 | 33 min

Trailer

31 oktober 2022 | 1 min

Comfortably Hungry

Welcome to the comfortably hungry podcast where yesterday’s dinner is tomorrow’s history.

Om podden

Avsnitt

Bonus Episode: Stir Up Sunday

S3 E5: Bleeding Cows and Black Puddings

S3 E4: R.I.P. (Retail in Peril?)

S3 E3: Come Die with Me

S3 E2: Burnt Cakes and the (not so) Dark Ages

S3 E1: Dark Food

Welcome to Season 3: DARK (Trailer)

S2 Episode 8: A Chocolate Horror Story

S2 Episode 7: Brownie Angles

S2 Episode 6: Whatever Happened to Fry's?

S2: Bonus Easter Egg Episode

S2 Episode 5: Meet the Tosiers

Introducing A is for Apple

S2 Episode 4: Beating Around the Bûche

S2 Episode 3: Death By Chocolate

S2 Episode 2: Cake Wars

S2 Episode 1: Day of the Dead

Welcome to Season 2!

Episode 7: Make Do & Cook (Part 2)

Episode 7: Make Do & Cook (Part 1)

Episode 6: Super Spud

Bonus Episode: Under More Pressure

Episode 5: The Monster In The Attic

A Roll In The Hay

Talking Tripe Part 2

Talking Tripe Part 1:

Bread or Blood

Comfortably Hungry Season 1 Trailer

Gingerbread

Trailer