The book English Food by Jane Grigson was published 50 years ago this year. It’s a book that has completely changed my life and I wanted to celebrate it with a three-part special. This is part three.

I am going back to my roots here talking with three good friends of mine Nicola Aldren, Simone Blagg and Anthea Craig, all of whom were there at the inception of my idea to cook every recipe in English Food.

We talk about memorable recipes, the large amounts of offal that were consumed, sous cheffing, pudding clubs and portion sizes, the horrorshow that was the stewed eel recipe, and many other things.

I also give you my top 10 recipes to try (& a few to avoid)

Support the podcast and blogs by becoming, if you can, a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.

Neil’s new book The Philosophy of Puddings is out now and published by the British Library.

Books and other things mentioned in today’s episode:

English Food by Jane Grigson

Charcuterie and French Pork Cookery by Jane Grigson

Previous episodes pertinent to today’s episode:

50 Years of English Food by Jane Grigson

Jane Grigson with Sophie Grigson

18th Century Tavern Cooking with Marc Meltonville

Previous blog posts pertinent to today’s episode:

Read Neil Cooks Grigson here

Upcoming events:

Monsters & their Meals Hallowe’en event

Find out about upcoming events on the website here.

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 [email protected], 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

Mentioned in this episode:

Fruit Pig are currently sponsoring The British Food History Podcast

Visit fruitpig.co.uk for more details of their products and journey, and to access their shop. Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the BFHP a unique special offer: 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout. Time to fill your boots.