My guest today is food historian Carwyn Graves, a specialist in the foodways and traditions of Wales, and we are talking about Welsh Sheep and Cattle – and their products.

Carwyn has written a wonderful book called Welsh Food Stories, published in 2022 by Calon, which explores more than two thousand years of history to discover the rich but forgotten heritage of Welsh foods – from oysters to cider, salted butter to salt-marsh lamb. Despite centuries of industry, ancient traditions have survived in pockets across the country among farmers, bakers, fisherfolk, brewers and growers who are taking Welsh food back to its roots, and trailblazing truly sustainable foods as they do so.

We talk about the importance of sheep and cattle in Wales’s physical and cultural landscape, salt marsh lamb, cawl, colostrum puddings, the Welsh and their love of roasted cheese and sheep fancying Cistercian monks – amongst many other things.

Those listening to the secret podcast can hear 15 minutes of extra material including flummery, mutton, laverbread sauce, the traditional skills in the collective cultural memory of the Welsh, the etymology of rarebit/rabbit plus more!

Welsh Food Stories by Carwyn Graves

Carwyn’s website

Follow Carwyn on Instagram @carwyngraves

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This episode was mixed and engineered by Thomas Ntinas of the Delicious Legacy podcast.

Things mentioned in today’s episode

The Art of Cookery Made Plain & Easy by Hannah Glasse

The First Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge Made by Andrew Boorde

Wikipedia page of Welsh sheep breeds

Rare Breeds Survival Trust page on Welsh cattle breeds

Previous pertinent blog posts

Colostrum (Beestings) with pudding recipe

Welsh Rarebit (and Locket’s Savoury)

#98 Cawl

#155 Welsh Rabbit

#183 Scotch Rabbit (1747)

#230 English Rabbit (1747)

Previous pertinent podcast episodes

A Regional Food Tour with Jenny Linford

Neil’s blogs and YouTube channel:

‘British Food: a History’

The British Food History Channel

‘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

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