After the roaring success of my blood ice cream, I decided to have a crack at making a white pudding ice cream too, using the flavours in Gervase Markham’s recipe.
The blood ice cream was great, but I didn’t call it black pudding ice cream, because I left out one important ingredient: oats. The flavour of wholegrain oats is key, so much so that without them, I don’t think I captured the pudding’s true flavour.
I wanted to change this with this ice cream, but the challenge was to capture the flavour of oats without any annoying frozen groats getting in the way. I decided to take pinhead (steel-cut) oats, soak them in milk and then squeeze it out to create an oat-flavoured milk. This worked really well. I added this to the usual milk and cream to make a custard, warmed it up with the spices and found that it naturally thickened to just the right consistency – all without egg yolks! The mixture froze very well and produced a super-smooth final product. As you can imagine, I was very pleased with this outcome.
Just like the blood ice cream, I soaked some dried fruit in sherry – currants and dates this time, as per Markam’s recipe and stirred them through at the soft-scoop stage of the churning process.
I served my white pudding ice cream with sweet black pudding that had been fried in butter and sugar. I then fried a slice of bread in the sugary and buttery juices and popped the black pudding on top with an accompanying scoop of the white pudding ice cream. It was decadent and delicious!
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It’s time for the now traditional end-of-season postbag episode of The British Food History Podcast, where I (attempt to) answer your questions, read out your comments and mull over your queries.
I’ll be disappearing for a couple of months, unless of course, you are a monthly subscriber, where there will be a bonus episode coming up for you to listen to via the website: Keeping Food Traditions Alive with Tom Parker Bowles, which was recorded live at the Serve it Forth Food History Festival on 18 October.
The British Food History Podcast is available on all podcast platforms. Please subscribe, rate and review. Alternatively, stream the episode via this Spotify embed:
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the Easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee please click here.
Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast. Visit their website www.fruitpig.co.uk to learn more about them, their journey, to find your local stockist and access their online shop.
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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.
Earlier in the year, the fantastic Fruitpig(sponsors of the ninth season of the podcast) very kindly sent me some fresh pig’s blood so that I could try my hand at making some early modern black puddings, inspired by the recipes of Robert May, Kenelm Digby and Thomas Dawson. I made two versions: a savoury one and another sweetened with sugar and currants – both turned out to be delicious.
Listen to the episode of the podcast with Matthew and Grant aka Fruitpig!
A few years ago I read (I forget where) that blood thickens upon heating just like egg yolks, and I had an idea in the back of my mind that blood ice cream might be possible to make, knowing already that the black puddings of the early modern period were often sweet.
Please that the sweet black puddings tasted good, I set about to see if I could find any British examples of blood ice cream or, at least, something similar. I couldn’t find anything. However, I did discover in the pages of Jennifer McLagan’s excellent offal cookbook Odd Bits, a blood and chocolate ice cream recipe, adapted from an Italian set dessert called sanguinaccio alla Neapolitana: little pots of set chocolate custard, thickened with blood instead of egg yolks.
Encouraged by the fact I knew it could be done, I went about adapting my black pudding recipe into an ice cream. I have a good, basic vanilla ice cream recipe that I’ve been using for years, which in turn is based on my custard recipe, and all I did was swap out the eight egg yolks for 200 ml of pig’s blood. Not convinced that the blood would thicken things sufficiently, I popped in two egg yolks for good measure. The milk and cream were flavoured not with a vanilla pod, but the same aromatics as the black pudding: pepper, cloves, mace and dried mixed herbs. I really wanted to include the currants, but knowing they would freeze hard into bullets, I thought an overnight soak in some sherry would work well – not unlike modern rum and raisin ice cream. I chose sherry because it’s the closest thing we have to sack, the popular fortified wine of the early modern period, and a common addition to recipes.
Well, I am very pleased to say that it was a great success. It was the richest ice cream I have ever eaten: luxurious, aromatic and with a very slight metallic tang. I ate a scoop with one of my early modern white puddings. What a combination!
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Ingredients
300 ml milk
300 ml cream seeds
½ tsp bl peppercorns
1 tsp fennel
½ tsp cloves
2 blades of mace
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
200 ml fresh blood
2 egg yolks
160 g sugar
50 g currants
a few tablespoons of sweet or medium sherry overnight
Method
Pour the milk and cream into a saucepan. Crack the peppercorns and bruise the remaining spices in a pestle and mortar, and add to the milk and cream along with the dried herbs. Mix well, making sure everything has been submerged, and warm the mixture over a medium-low heat and bring everything to scalding point – i.e. just before the milk and cream boil.
Meanwhile, add the blood, egg yolks and sugar to a mixing bowl and whisk together well.
When the mix and cream mixture reaches scalding point, remove the pan from the heat and whisk in around a quarter of it into the blood mixture. When everything is incorporated, beat in the rest of the cream mixture, and pour the whole thing back into the saucepan.
The cooled blood-custard base and the macerated currants
Now keep whisking or stirring until the temperature reaches 80°C – you can tell this temperature is reached because the mixture thickens noticeably and coats the back of a spoon (check with a difital thermometer, if unsure). Take off the heat and pass the whole thing through a sieve into a clean bowl or tub. Leave to cool and refrigerate overnight. Soak the currants in sherry and leave those to macerate overnight too.
Next day, churn the mixture in an ice cream machine until a very thick soft-scoop consistency. As you wait, strain the currants (keep the sherry and drink it!). When the ice cream is almost ready, add the currants.
Pour the mixture into tubs and store in the freezer. Eaten within 3 months.
The ice cream ready to receive its currants and my serving suggestion!
My guest on The British Food History Podcast today is food historian and friend of the show Sam Bilton, podcaster and author of Much Ado About Cooking Delicious Shakespearean Feasts for Every Occasion, published by Headline and commissioned by Shakespeare’s Globe.
It was, of course, a great opportunity to talk about the food of Shakespearean England as well as the food and drink references in Shakespeare’s plays, and what they meant to those watching the plays at the time they were first performed.
A small selection of the wonderful photography from Sam’s book
We talked about lots of cookery manuscripts, the importance of keeping historical recipes relevant, capons, Early Modern bread and greedy Falstaff’s sack, amongst many other things.
The British Food History Podcast is available on all apps, or stream it here:
Those listening to the secret podcast can hear about horrible, sweet spinach tarts, Early Modern cakes, possets and more!
Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast. Visit their website www.fruitpig.co.uk to learn more about them, their journey, to find your local stockist and access their online shop.
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.
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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or leave a comment below.
In today’s episode of The British Food History Podcast, I speak with Peter Brears, a world-leading food historian. He was director of both York and Leeds City Museums, and is a consultant to the National Trust, English Heritage and Historic Royal Palaces.
He is the winner of the André Simon award for his book, Cooking and Dining in Medieval England, published in 2012, which is a must-have, as are his other books in the series that focus on upper-class cooking and dining in the Tudor and Early Stuart periods, and most recently in the Victorian country house.
He is also a founding member of the Leeds Symposium of Food History and Traditions, which will have its 40th next year.
Our conversation was recorded in person at his home in Leeds.
We talk about the roles of the housekeeper and butler first in the Victorian period, but then trace their histories back right to the Middle Ages in the case of the butler. Also covered: orchestrating big meals, the drinks prepared by the butler, the mysteries of the stillroom, and the pressures of preparing a baked Alaska – amongst many other things.
The podcast is available on all podcast apps and YouTube. You can also stream it via this Spotify embed:
Those listening to the secret podcast can hear about French and Russian service, when housekeepers are definitely not subservient, the dos and don’ts of displaying porcelain and the contents of the housekeeper’s cupboard.
Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast, and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.
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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.
In this episode of the podcast, I talk with ceramics expert Paul Crane FSA about the early years of Worcester porcelain. Paul is a consultant at the Brian Haughton Gallery, St James’s, London, and a specialist in Ceramics from the Medieval and Renaissance periods through to the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. He presently sits as a Trustee of the Museum of Royal Worcester and is also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries, an independent historian and researcher and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Art Scholars.
Our conversation was recorded in person at the Museum of Royal Worcester. If you want to see the pieces we discuss, check out this post where I’ve added images of the majority of the items discussed or go to the YouTube channel where I’ve lined up the images with our discussion. Paul and I really do our best to describe the pieces, but of course, it’s best if you can see them for yourself.
The images used are a mixture of my own and those taken from the Museum of Royal Worcester archives. Thank you to the museum for the permission to use them.
The podcast is available on all podcast apps, just search for “The British Food History Podcast”, or stream on this Spotify via this embed:
Alternatively, watch this episode on YouTube to see the images below matched up with the sound.
We talk about Dr Wall and how he got the Worcester manufactory up and running, the importance of seeing porcelain by candlelight, asparagus servers, the first piece of porcelain you see when you walk into the museum, the Royal Lily service and how Worcester porcelain attained the Royal warrant, amongst any other things.
Those listening to the secret podcast can hear more about the early blue and white pieces, including a rare bleeding bowl, the first commemorative coronation porcelain mug and the stunning Nelson tea service, plus much more.
Dr John Wall (1708-1776)Some examples of the early blue and white porcelain.The first piece of porcelain you see when you enter the museum: the beautiful Wigornia cream boat; the ‘Wigornia’ mark; the first image of the Worcester porcelain manufactory from The Gentleman’s Magazine.
The ‘smoky primitives’ that Paul mentions that attempt to emulate the feel of silverware sparkling in the candlelight.
Two of the more frivolous items: the asparagus server and grape cart.The ‘Dr Wall’s Dinner’ display at the museum with the excellent food made by Kelly Samantha Bowes at the Fake Food Workshop – notice the asparagus server in use!The dessert course case at the museum and that ice pail containing the painted inner bowl that so excited Ivan Day!Two of the pieces from Paul’s own curated case that focuses upon the work of James Giles, plus two illustrations from the book that inspired most of the Giles art called The Natural History of Uncommon BirdsThe Duke of Gloucester tureens and service and the Royal Lily set that got Worcester Porcelain its Royal Warrant.Some of the pieces discussed in the secret podcast version of the discussion: a bleeding bowl (1754), the Wall Mug (1754) and the Nelson Tea Service (1802)
Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast, and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.
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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or leave a comment below.
In this episode, I speak with Christina Wade, a beer historian specialising in the UK and Ireland, with a particular focus on women. She has written an excellent book, Filthy Queens: A History of Beer in Ireland, which was published by Nine Bean Rows earlier this year (2025).
We talk about ale and beer in Ireland, and how colonisation by the English, and then the British, affected beer production and consumption. Topics include: ale in early medieval Ireland, the man who inspired the title of her book, ale consumption during the Irish Rebellion and the Potato Famine, and the use of human skulls in medicinal ales, amongst many other things.
The British Food History Podcast is available on all podcast apps, but you can also hear it on YouTube or stream it via this embed:
Those listening to the secret podcast can hear about the links between alewives and witchcraft, whiskey and beer consumption, tea kettle brews and more!
Christina’s social media handle on Instagram and Bluesky is @braciatrix.
Remember: Fruit Pig are sponsoring the 9th season of the podcast and Grant and Matthew are very kindly giving listeners to the podcast a unique special offer 10% off your order until the end of October 2025 – use the offer code Foodhis in the checkout at their online shop, www.fruitpig.co.uk.
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.
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 neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or leave a comment below.
Here’s a quick special bonus episode of the podcast for you – the lowdown on the Serve it Forth Food History Festival 2025, sponsored by the excellent Netherton Foundry. It’s available on all podcast apps, but if you like, listen via this Spotify embed:
My fellow festival coordinators Sam Bilton, Thomas Ntinas and Alessandra Pino and I are here to tell you more about it: how the day will work, what the sessions will be like, the topics and the guests – including my guest Tom Parker Bowles.
We have a brief discussion about our own interests and how we all got into food history. We also talk about our biggest/most embarrassing disasters.
Most important headlines are: it’s online on 18 October. It’s £16, but there’s 25% off ticket price until September 14th. Don’t worry if you miss some, or even all of the day, we will be making every recording available to all ticket holders.
NB: If you want to get 25% off the ticket price after the early bird has finished, use the offer code SERVE25 at the Eventbrite checkout.
Read more of this content when you subscribe today. A monthly subscription costs just £3 (about $3.80 USD). You get access to premium blog content, the secret podcast, the Easter eggs page (with hours of clips to listen to!) and my monthly newsletter. For more information and to sign up, go to the Support the Blog & Podcast tab. Thank you
I have teamed up with fellow food historians Sam Bilton, Thomas Ntinas and Alessandra Pino to bring you this new food history festival. It’s online – though in future years we hope to be able to do it as an in-person event – and it’s on 18 October 2025. One benefit of it being online of course is that anyone can come. If you cannot make the whole day, don’t worry all ticket holders will be sent links to recordings of each event.
Your hosts for the day (L to R): Sam Bilton, Alessandra Pino, Neil Buttery and Thomas Ntinas
We are all hosting a session, and I am kicking off the day in conversation with a very special guest, Tom Parker Bowles, about his love of traditional and classic British cooking and how we can keep it alive and relevant today. We’ll also be taking a peek at the food cooked and enjoyed by British Monarchs, from Queen Victoria to Charles III.
My guest will be none other than Tom Parker Bowles
Thomas Ntinas will be presenting A Life of Luxury: The famous chefs of the Ancient Greek world. Dr Alessandra Pino The River Remembers: A Journey Through London’s Lost Larder. Sam Bilton’s section is entitled Gourmand or Glutton? Feeding Falstaff.
There will also be food demos and short interviews in between sessions. The day begins at 10.30 am and finishes at 4.30 pm click this linkto see a full breakdown of the day.
We’re all really excited about this event, and we would love it if you can join us for the first of (hopefully) many more Serve it Forth food history festivals in the future!
British Food: A History 