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...

Today I speak with food historian, podcaster and friend of the show Lindsay Middleton about arguably the first celebrity chef, Alexis Soyer, focusing mainly on two of his books: The Gastronomic Regenerator and The Modern Housewife.

We talk about the kitchens at the Reform Club, Soyer’s literary inspirations, cookery books as entertainment and his meta approach to writing The Modern Housewife, 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.

The Scottish Food History Podcast

Find Lindsay on social media: Insta/Threads lindsaymiddleton_ and Bluesky @drlindsaymiddleton.bsky.social

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The Reform Club

Charles Barry

The Gastronomic Regenerator

The Modern Housewife

William Kitchiner

Neil’s Country Life County Foods series

Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

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

Tinned Food with Lindsay Middleton

Invalid Cookery with Lindsay Middleton

A is for Apple: B is for Banana, Banting & Berries

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

Knead to Know: a History of Baking

The Philosophy of Puddings

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: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistory

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 podcast

Ancestral Kitchen website – including those posts about medieval ale.

Ancestral Kitchen on Instagram: @ancestral_kitchen

Things mentioned in today’s episode

Ale, Beer & Brewsters in England by Judith M. Bennett

Christmas on the Croft, The Scottish Food History Podcast

My YouTube channel with my short video about haggis

Blog posts pertinent to today’s episode

A Trip to the Sarson’s Vinegar Factory

Happy New Year – a review of 2024

Previous podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode

Recreating 16th Century Beer with Susan Flavin & Marc Meltonville

A is for Anchovy, Alewife & Avocado

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

Knead to Know: a History of Baking

The Philosophy of Puddings

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...