Things start to get fruity in this third episode. Neil chooses almonds, fuelling a historical debate that goes a bit nuts. Apricots are more Allie’s jam as she looks at their use in literature and Sam takes the less beaten track of the aubergine, sparking memories of the time she made a parmigiana…on TV!

Useful Links

Neil's recipe for - or, rather, interpretation of - medieval blanc mange and modern, sweet blancmange.

‘Almond trees in Ancient Greek lore’ on the Greek News Agenda website

History of the Bimberlot Festival. ‘A French Party 600 Years in the Making’ by Hugh Thomas on the Smart Mouth Substack.

‘The "pretty art" of detecting pregnancy in The Duchess of Malfi’ by Claire McEwen Duncan via University of British Colombia Open Collections.

‘Eggplant (aubergine) — A Mad Apple with a Dark Liaison’ on the Vegetarians in Paradise website

‘Eggplant (aubergine) Symbol Timeline in Love in the Time of Cholera’ on the LitCharts website

Suggested Reading

In Search of Lost Time (1913) by Marcel Proust

The Experienced English Housekeeper (1769) by Elizabeth Raffald

A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1605) by William Shakespeare

Apricot Jam and Other Stories (2008) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Elinor Fettiplace's Receipt Book: Elizabethan Country House Cooking (1987) by Hilary Spurling (based on the late sixteenth century manuscript notebook belonging to Elinor Fettiplace)

The Duchess of Malfi (1613) by John Webster 

Pride and Pudding: The History of British Puddings, Savory and Sweet (2016) by Regula Ysewijn

Anything to add? Don’t forget we want to hear your suggestions for future topics.

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