The tables have turned today because I am being interviewed by author, food historian and friend of the show Sam Bilton. My book Knead to Know is out now and published by Icon Books, and Sam very kindly agreed to interview me about it for the podcast. We talk about baking evolution, bakestone cookery, Jaffa Cakes and taxation, what’s so great about wheat plus many other things.
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Social media: mrssbilton
Neil’s book Knead to Know is out now and published by Icon Books.
The Philosophy of Puddings is also out now, published by The British Library
Blog posts pertinent to today’s episode:
My Best Yorkshire Pudding Recipe
Podcast episodes pertinent to today’s episode:
Cake Baxters in Early Modern Scotland with Aaron Allen
Yorkshire Pudding with Elaine Lemm
50 Years of 'English Food' by Jane Grigson with Sam Bilton, Annie Gray, Ivan Day & Jill Norman
The Philosophy of Chocolate with Sam Bilton
Tripe Special: Sam Bilton & Neil Buttery Talk Tripe
British Saffron with Sam Bilton
Gingerbread with Sam Bilton
Things mentioned in today’s episode:
The Art of Cookery by Hannah Glasse
Upcoming events:
Find out about upcoming events on the website here.
The Foyle’s Christmas Evening 28 November
Neil’s blogs:
Neil’s books:
Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper
Knead to Know: a History of Baking
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:
Serve it Forth Food History Festival 18 October 2025
I thought you might want to know about the first Serve it Forth Food History Festival is on 18 October 2025 – it’s online, it’s £16 a ticket but you can get 25% off the price using the offer code SERVE25. Visit the website https://serveitforthfest.wixsite.com/info for more information and links to Eventbrite.
I’ve teamed up with fellow food historians (and friends of the show) Sam Bilton, Thomas Ntinas and Alessandra Pino – we are all presenting a session each. I’m kicking off the day in conversation with food writer and cook Tom Parker Bowles. Brigitte Webster, another friend of the show, will also be appearing. To find out more, check out the recently published bonus episode of the podcast all about the festival to find out more information.
The day is being sponsored by the excellent Netherton Foundry. It’s going to be a really fun and exciting day and I hope you can join us.
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.