A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink

In this episode, we explore food places beginning with 'B.' Neil uncovers the buttery—not the hearty Scottish roll, but the traditional place where wine is stored. Allie dives into the origins and charm of the bistro, with its revolutionary roots where food and culture come together in cosy, intimate spaces. Meanwhile, Sam unwraps the story of Bourneville, where chocolate and community collide. 

Useful links and things mentioned in the episode

• Good Food by Ambrose Heath (1932)
• What the butler saw : two hundred and fifty years of the servant problem by E. S. Turner (2001) 
• Cooking & Dining in Tudor & Early Stuart England by Peter Brears (2015)
• Cooking & Dining in Medieval England by Peter Brears (2012)
• What’s in a Name?: Buttery by Neil Buttery (2016) British Food: A History blog
• The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L Spang (2000)
• A Bite Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War and Enlightenment by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mittchell (2018)
• The Bistro: French Food and the Culture of Place by Bertrand Auboyneau and François Simon (2018)
• French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David (1960)
• What is Olla Podrida? 
• A Siege of Paris ‘Menu’ 
• Cadbury World
• Bournville Village Trust
• Bournville Village Heritage Tour
• A Brief History of Birmingham 
• You can visit some examples of the city's Back-to-Backs run by the National Trust. 
• Sociable Cities: The Legacy of Ebenezer Howard by Peter Hall and Colin Ward (1998) Amb
• Ninety Years On: An Account of the Bournville Village Trust by Philip Henslowe (1984)
• To-morrow: A Peaceful Path to Real Reform by Ebenezer Howard (1898)

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.

This is the uncut discussion between Neil and Rachel Webster, Curator of Botany at the Manchester Museum. There is more talk of fruit and berries, including a gobsmacking fact surrounding avocado seeds, and we answer the all-important question: Is an apple a berry?

Find out more about the Manchester Museum here

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

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/aisforapplepod

Email: [email protected]

Welcome back to Season 2 of the A is for Apple podcast where Sam Bilton, Dr Neil Buttery and Dr Alessandra Pino will be exploring the bountiful letter B.

In this episode our team take a healthful approach to the start of the season. Allie goes bananas, Sam explores a once popular low-carb diet and Neil discovers why some fruits are only masquerading berries despite their names.

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

In this bonus episode Sam explores the Instagram sensation that is the avocado and why this berry that takes its name from the Aztec word for testicle makes some people rather anxious. This is the full interview with author and environmental journalist Louise Gray, who’s book  Avocado Anxiety tracks the stories of our five-a-day from farm to fruit bowl and uncovers the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet.

You can follow Louise on Instagram and X or find out more about her work here.

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

In this episode - the last of the A series! - Alessandra, Neil and Sam take on listeners’ suggestions to create quite the pot pourri mix of anchovies, alewives and avocados.

If you have any suggestions for season ‘B’ let us know! You can find A is for Apple on Instagram and X (Twitter) or email us at [email protected]

Useful links and things mentioned in the episode

• Neil Buttery, Knead to Know, Icon Books, out this September 2024!
• Fresh, (2022)
• Food Standard Agency Food additives 
• British Food: a History, Scotch woodcock
• Marine Conservation Society
• Neil Cooks Grigson, To Make a Nice Whet Before Dinner
• Ortiz anchovies 
• Sally Granger , The Story of Garum (2020)
• The Epic of Gilgamesh  (c.2150-1400 BCE)
• William Shakespeare,  The Taming of the Shrew  (1594)
• Women in Beer
• Elaine Dundy, The Dud Avocado (1958)
• Bee Wilson, Swindled: From Poison Sweets to Counterfeit Coffee (2008)
• Hannah Glasse, The Art of Cookery (1747) 
• Elizabeth Raffald, The Experienced English Housekeeper (1769)
• Judith M Bennett, Ale, Beer and Brewsters in England (1996)
• William Langland, Piers the Plowman (1887)
• Charlie Taverner, Street Food: Hawkers and the History of London (2023)
• The Tale of Beryn
• Louise Gray,  Avocado Anxiety (2023)
• The A-Z of avocado types
• Avocado hand 
• Rotten: The Avocado War, Rotten (2018-2019)
• Angela Carter, The Bloody Chamber (1979)
• Jeff Miller, Avocado – A Global History (2020)
• Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar (1963)

In this extra bonus episode, Neil talks with Sam and Alessandra about why getting plenty of nitrogen in the soil is good for making amino acids and therefore protein.

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 and X.

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. You can find him on Instagram and X.

Dr Alessandra Pino also co-hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and X.

In this episode Allie gives Sam and Neil a topic to sink their teeth into as we discuss all things meaty. We chat about fake birds, meat jellies and learn why certain molecules make savoury food so irresistibly scrumptious.

Useful Links and things mentioned in the episode

Neil cooks Jane Grigson’s recipe for Guards of Honour

Eating Ortolans - Gastro Obscura

Neil’s woodcock recipe

Neil’s snipe recipe

Alouette, Gentile Alouette

Neil’s recipe for Seftons (savoury custards)

Neil cooks Jane Grigson’s recipe for Hindle Wakes

Jurassic Park Lysine Scene

What Should We Call Frankenmeat? The Cut by Edith Zimmerman (2018)

Carry on Screaming Reel (sadly this doesn’t show the ‘victims’ getting encased in wax but it gives you an idea)

Han Solo frozen in Carbonite

Suggested Reading

The Inferno (1265-1321), by Dante Alighieri

Forme of Cury (c.1380)

Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron (2023) by Sam Bilton

‘The Sit Down’ in Medium Raw by Anthony Bourdain (2010) for the description of eating Ortolans

A Gothic Cookbook (2024) by Ella Buchan and Dr Alessandra Pino

Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most influential Housekeeper (2023) Neil Buttery

The Constance Spry Cookery Book (1956) by Rosemary Hume and Constance Spry

Mrs Beeton and Mrs Marshall (2023) by Emma Kay

Rebecca (1938) by Daphne du Maurier

The Accomplisht Cook (1660) by Robert May

McGee on Food and Cooking: An Encyclopedia of Kitchen Science, History and Culture (2004) by Harold McGee

Sweetness and Power (1986) by Sidney Mintz

The Experienced English Housekeeper, 1784 edition, by Elizabeth Raffald 

Le viandier de Taillevent (c. 1300 in French. You see some of the recipes translated into English on this website)

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 and X.

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. You can find him on Instagram and X.

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 X.

Here is an extra helping of the A is for Apple podcast following on from our last episode on vegetables. If you listened to the last 'A' episode, you’re probably thinking that we were on our best behaviour. But you should know us better than that by now!

As ever Allie, Neil and I talked for ages about our vegetal A’s and inevitably we strayed onto our pet subjects of aphrodisiacs and sex. So here are the saucy bits we couldn’t fit into the previous episode on vegetables. But we start by continuing our discussion on the perils of recipe testing. 

Suggested Reading

English Food (1998) by Jane Grigson

Good Savouries (1934) by Ambrose Heath

Royal Cookery or the Compleat Court Cook by Patrick Lamb (1726)

Put Out More Flags (1942) by Evelyn Waugh

In today’s episode we will be discussing what many a child dreads encountering on their dinner plate. So prepare yourself for a wrinkled nose or two, an impromptu visit to the sick room and a few prickly surprises as Allie, Neil and I explore the verdant world of vegetables. 

Useful Links

Sam’s Recipe for William Verrall’s Sweetbreads With Asparagus (1759)

Sam’s interpretation of Hannah Glasse’s Asparagus in a French Role (sic) on Instagram (essentially a quiche in a loaf of bread)

Neil’s Butter Sauce (a classic accompaniment to asparagus)

You can also find Neil’s talk on 'Navigating 19th Century English meals through Worcester porcelain' for the Museum of Royal Worcester onYouTube

Lindsay Middleton’s project Dishes for the Sickroom examines the links between food, health, education and international ingredients in the culinary collections of the Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) Archive Centre.  

Suggested Reading

Emma by Jane Austen (1815)

The Diner’s Dictionary by John Ayto (1993)

Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton (1861)

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1993)

The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro (1614)

‘Crumbs! A history of biscuits in 15 fantastic facts – from flatulence cure to phenomenal fuel’ by Lizzie Collingham in The Guardian, 18 October 2020

The Art of the Asparagus by Daisy Dunn in the Spectator, 15 May 2021

Acetaria. A discourse of sallets by John Evelyn (1706)

 Meat: A Natural Symbol by Nick Fiddes (2015)

A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes by Charles Elmé Francatelli (1852)

Giovanna Garzoni

English Food (1998) by Jane Grigson

A Treatise of All Sorts of Food Louis Lémery (1745)

Caravaggio’s Artichokes by Jesse Locker in Gastronomica, Vol. 19, No. 4 (Winter 2019), pp. 20-27

Scots kitchen, its traditions and lore with old-time recipes by F. Marian McNeill (1935)

Notes on Nursing by Florence Nightingale (1859)

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust (1913)

The Experienced English Housekeeper by Elizabeth Raffald (1769)

Food in Art by Gillian Riley (Reaktion Books, 2015)

Caravaggio: fury, food and fine art by Gilian Riley on artuk.org 29 September 2017

La Varenne's Cookery. The French Cook; The French Pastry Chef; The French Confectioner. A modern English translation and commentary by Terence Scully. (Prospect Books, 2006)

Le cuisinier françois by François Pierre de la Varenne (1680)

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 and X.

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. You can find him on Instagram and X.

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 X.

In today’s baking themed episode, Alessandra looks into that classic piece of kitchen kit, the Aga, Neil investigates hyper-regional Welsh biscuits called Aberffraw cakes and Sam goes oh-so-retro with a deep-dive into angelica.

Books and other things mentioned in this episode:

Joanna Trollope A Village Affair (1989) Televised version (1995)

Book on Archive.org Television adaptation on YouTube

Mary Berry New Aga Cookbook (1999) Book on Archive.org

Ambrose Heath First Aga cookbook: Good Food on the Aga (1933) Book on Persephone Books

Sussex Pond Pudding Recipe on Neil Cooks Grigson blog

Cassel’s Dictionary Link on Wellcome Collection

Laura Mason and Catherine Brown The Taste of Britain (2010) Book on HarperCollins

Aberffraw Traditional Biscuit Company Website

Tale of Thormod and Thorarin translated in The Sagas of Kormak and The Sworn Brothers. Trans. Lee M Hollander, New York: Princeton University Press, 1949 pp179 

'Angelica: From Norwegian Mountains to the English Trifle' by Ove Fosså in Wild Food: Proceedings of the Oxford Food Symposium on Food and Cookery 2004. Totnes: Prospect Books, 2006, 13 PDF link

Edward Daniel Clarke Travels in Various Countries of Europe, Asia and Africa (1810-1823)Link on Wellcome Collection

John Parkinson Paradisi in sole paradisus terrestris (1629) Link on Wellcome Collection

Robin Weir Ices: The Definitive Guide (1995) Book on Amazon

Curnonsky La Table et l’Amour (1950) Book on Untje.com

Contact us

email: [email protected]

linktree: linktr.ee/aisforapplepod

Social media

twitter/X: @aisforapplepod

Instagram: @aisforapplepod_