A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink

Welcome to this bonus episode of A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink.

Last episode the theme was Meat, and as usual, the three of us nattered away for a bit too long and some of our conversation was edited out for time. One of these things was the part of Neil’s section on brains and the BSE crisis.

We’re busy behind the scenes getting the listener's choice episode ready for you, but hopefully this little snackette will keep you going.

 You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and Bluesky

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper as well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Welcome to Episode 6 of Season B. The theme is ‘Meat’ and Sam, Neil and Alessandra get beefy with three choice nuggets of fleshy goodness, looking at Beef Wellington, Brains and Bovril. Don’t get the meat sweats!

Don’t forget the next episode is the Listeners’ Choice. Please send your suggestions (with a reason why you’ve chosen it) to [email protected]. Your deadline is 21st May!

Links & Further Reading

• Did Sam win the awards for Best Audio at the Fortnum & Mason Awards?
• Allie will be taking part in the online conference an ONLINE conference on 23rd and 24th August 2025 marking the 100th anniversary of MR James A Warning to the Curious and Other Ghost Stories talking about food and the supernatural: https://romancingthegothic.com/2025/01/06/cfp-for-a-warning-to-the-curious-ghostly-supernatural-and-weird-tales/ 
• Follow Serve it Forth history festival on Instagram @serveitforthfest
• The Leeds Symposium of Food History and Traditions facebook page

Beef Wellington

• Manuale de cuoco e del pasticciere III by Vincenzo Agnoletti (1834) (Italian)
• Paddington Takes The Test by Michael Bond (1999)
• Julia Child cooks beef wellington on The French Chef
• Betty Crocker’s Hostess Cookbook (1967)
• Irish Traditional Food by Theodora Fitzgibbon (1984)
• Fashionable food: seven decades of food fads by Sylvia Lovegren, (1995)
• The French Menu Cookbook by Richard Olney (1970)
• You can read more about the Waterloo banquets on the Apsley House and Wellington Arch blog here and here.
• Lines of Wellington trailer
• Read about how beef wellington was used as a murder weapon in Australia.

Brains

• English Food (Third Edition) by Jane Grigson (1992
• The Complete Nose to Tail: A Kind of British Cooking by Fergus Henderson (2012)
• Jane Grigson’s Brains in Black Butter recipe on Neil Cooks Grigson
• Good Food by Ambrose Heath (1932; contains brain and tongue pudding recipe)
• Neil’s blog post about cooking snipe with recipe

Bovril

• Vril: The Coming Race by Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1871)
• Shackleton Bovril advert: http://www.tommyspackfillers.com/gallery/medpopup.php?imageNo=1085
• How the British empire spells Bovril: https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O828155/how-the-british-empire-spells-print-dolman-ernest/
• My Bones and My Flute by Edgar Mittelholzer (1955)

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper as well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Welcome to this bonus episode of A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink.

Last episode had the blue theme, and Neil chose to look at blue cheese, in particular Stichelton, which is made on the beautiful Welbeck Estate in rural Nottinghamshire. Neil spoke to Joe Schneider, who makes this delicious, unique farmhouse cheese. Neil cut the interview down to 6 minutes or so, but here it is in full.

They talk about how one gets into farmhouse cheesemaking, the importance of consistency and the best places to buy Stichelton as well as many other things.

A big thank you to Thomas Ntinas for his sound engineering support.

Things mentioned in today’s episode:

Stichelton website

The Welbeck Estate

Welbeck Farm Shop

Neal’s Yard Dairy

Chorlton Cheesemongers

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper as well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

In Episode 5 the intrepid team enter their blue period. Neil finds out how a unique blue cheese was resurrected from obscurity thanks to some mouldy leather. Allie explores the significance of blue corn to the Hopi in Arizona. And Sam explains why a blue flower was believed to lift the spirits (and also looks great in a glass of Pimms).

• Stichelton Dairy
• Neal’s Yard Dairy
• Eau de Stilton
• Harold McGee, On Food & Cooking (1984)
• Val Cheke, The Story of Cheese-Making in Britain (1959)

• Flour: A Comprehensive Guide by Christine McFadden, 2018
• Hopi Culture - https://itcaonline.com/member-tribes/hopi-tribe/
• The Corn Maiden in Hopi Tradition: https://blog.kachinahouse.com/the-corn-maiden-unveiling-the-harvest-and-fertility-symbolism-among-the-hopi/

• ‘Borage – A Star Of Nature’ on Stories From The Museum Floor , 25 August 2017
• Robert Tyas, The sentiment of flowers; or, Language of flora (1841)
• John Gerard, The Herbal, or a Generall historie of plantes (1636)
• Pliny, Natural Histories VII
• Anon, A Proper New Booke of Cookery (1575)

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper as well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Check out Thom's podcast The Delicious Legacy here:

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-delicious-legacy/id1494707127

Watch Thom smoke pork and mutton over a charcoal fire like an ancient Greek:

https://youtu.be/u7JN1pl_JVs?si=k-j6dZGYVne_0zUa

The Odyssey by Homer:

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/1727/1727-h/1727-h.htm

In this bonus episode, Allie explores the rich tradition of barbacoa from  Chef Edson Diaz-Fuentes' hometown, diving into its regional variations and the traditional pit-cooking techniques that define its deep, smoky flavours. They also discuss his journey through London’s dynamic food scene and how his three restaurants bring the heart of Mexican cuisine to the city.Ciudad de México: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Mexico City by Edson Diaz Fuentes (2021)

• Ciudad de México: Recipes and Stories from the Heart of Mexico City by Edson Diaz Fuentes (2021)
• Edson and Natalie Feary have three restaurants in London- find out more here: https://www.santoremedio.co.uk/ 

Cooking is essentially a series of techniques. In Episode 4 Neil, Sam and Allie explore an ancient form of hearth cookery; find out why being called Béchamel could merit a kick in the posterior and get sizzling on the barbie. (No cakes or dolls were harmed in the making of this podcast 😉).

Neil’s recipes:

• https://britishfoodhistory.com/2012/02/21/pancake-day/
• https://britishfoodhistory.com/2020/12/03/to-make-crumpets/
• https://britishfoodhistory.com/2024/10/29/singin-hinnies/
• https://neilcooksgrigson.com/2015/07/13/411-brains-with-curry-and-grape-sauce/
• Delicious Legacy Podcast- A Short History of Barbecue
• Motherland Pig Episode: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07rsphm
• The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover - Peter Greenaway (1989)
• Goodfellas BBQ Scene
• Saint Lawrence Patron Saint of Cooks
• First Catch Your Gingerbread - Sam Bilton (2020) Perkins recipe
• Mark Meltonville - https://www.meltonville.uk/
• The Culinary Triangle Claude Lévi-Strauss (1966)
• Sumario de la historia general de las indias - Gonzalo Fernández de Oviedo y Valdés (1526)
• A New Voyage Round the World - William Dampier(1697)
• Dictionary of the English Language - Samuel Johnson (1755)

• French cookery: comprising L'art de la cuisine francaise, Le patissier royal, Le cuisinier parisien - Marie Antoine Carême (1836 edition)
• Kettner’s Book of Table - E. S. Dallas (1877)
• English Bread and Yeast Cookery - Elizabeth David (1977)
• A Book of Bakestone Cookery - Bobby Freeman (1984)
• The Scots Kitchen: It’s Lore and Recipes - F Marian McNeill (1929)
• Cooked - Michael Pollan (2013)
• The Saucier’s Apprentice - Raymond Sokolov (1976)
• Le cuisinier françois - François Pierre de la Varenne (1651)
• Food & Cooking in Sixteenth-Century Britain: History and Recipes - Peter Brears (1985) 

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeperas well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

In this bonus episode of A is for Apple, Allie looks into the unexpected Britishness of bagels, their nostalgic ties to celebrations, and even their royal connections.

In this episode:

• Discover how bagels earned a place in Good Housekeeping's 2024 best street party food list
• Learn about bagels' links to Queen Elizabeth’s Silver Jubilee and William and Kate's visit to Brick Lane's famous Beigel Bake
• Explore inventive modern bagel fillings, from peanut butter and strawberries to chicken katsu
• Hear from Debs Rinkoff of the iconic Rinkoff Bakery, who reveals their all-time best-selling bagel fillings - salmon and cream cheese, and salt beef with gherkins and mustard - and shares her thoughts on bagels' growing popularity

Please note: This episode was recorded on location at Rinkoff Bakery, so the audio may be less polished than usual, but the insights (and bagel talk) are well worth it.

We’d love to hear from you. Connect with us at:

Twitter: @aisforapplepod

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Email: [email protected]

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Enjoy this tasty bonus bite of food history!

In this episode of Season B, Sam, Neil and Ally focus on the world of baking. Sam cooks up some delicious (or not) baked beans, Neil considers the Bath bun and Ally dives into bagel culture.

Useful links, references and things mentioned in the episode:

Baked Beans

Beans: A History by Ken Albala (2007)

The Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child (1829)

The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fannie Merrit Farmer (1896) - (this is a link to the 1910 version)

The Truth about Baked Beans by Megan Muckenhoupt  (2015)

America’s Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking by Keith Stavely & Kathleen Fitzgerald (2004)

A shilling cookery for the people : embracing an entirely new system of plain cookery and domestic economy by Alexis Soyer (1854)

Britain’s obsession with baked beans

What’s For Tea, Mum? Beanz Meanz The Who!

Martha Stewart’s Boston Baked Beans

Bath Buns

English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David (1977)

English Food by Jane Grigson (3rd edition, 1992)

The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown (1999)

Neil’s recipe for seed cake

Neil’s recipe for wigs

Cobb’s Bath Buns recipe on Neil Cooks Grigson

The Bath Bun Teashoppe

Bagels

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/g43212153/street-party-food-ideas-recipes/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-black-bagels-are-the-anti-rainbow-bagel/

The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread by Maria Balinska 

https://fairmountbagel.com/bagels-in-space/

Prince William and Kate Make Bagels in East London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhhDQeLWMfY 

https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2014/06/17/curious-history-bagel/ 

https://www.thejc.com/lets-eat/bagels-can-change-your-perspective-on-history-by77e9sr

https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-black-bagels-are-the-anti-rainbow-bagel/

https://www.eastlondonlines.co.uk/2024/03/meet-the-trader-a-jewish-bakery-founded-by-a-ukranian-refugee-serving-the-local-muslim-community/ 

Welcome to a special extra tidbit excised from the previous episode where Ally, Sam and Neil talked about butteries. We ended up going off on one about the upper servants - off-topic, but interesting (we hope!) and so here it is for your aural entertainment.

You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and X (Twitter).

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram , X & Bsky. 

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar and Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper, The Philosophy of Chocolate, Knead to Know: A History of Baking You can find him on Instagram ,X & Bsky.

Dr Alessandra Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram , X & Bsky.