Articles Food History

Food History

afternoon tea

The Great British Afternoon Tea

We British do like our traditions and you can’t get anything more quintessentially British than afternoon tea. Whether it is the full experience at the Savoy or Fortnum & Masons, or sitting quietly in the garden with a mug of Earl Grey and a slice of Victoria sponge, three o’clock is tea time.

hot cross buns

Hot Cross Buns for Easter

You can’t beat a halved toasted Hot Cross bun, served hot and spread with butter. The smell of warm spices, fruit and peel in a lovely sticky bun is irresistible.

saveloy sausages

Saveloy

Saveloy sausages are a British classic with their distinctive lipstick-red casing and I can personally testify that they are very tasty.

spanish xmas dinner

Do Christmas Dinner Spanish Style

🎄When to Eat? To do Christmas dinner Spanish style, you eat on Christmas Eve unlike here in the UK where we traditionally eat in the middle of Christmas day. 🎄A Bit of Family History At my parent’s house, we ate at 1:00 pm prompt. Overcooked dry turkey, soggy bitter whole […]

12 grapes for Xmas

12 Grapes for New Year: A Spanish Tradition

Lucky Grapes Eating 12 grapes at midnight on New Year’s Eve is the traditional way to welcome the New Year in Spain. The grapes are considered lucky las doce uvas de la suerte (“the 12 lucky grapes”). They have to be eaten one at a time with each of the […]

leeks

What You Need to Know About Leeks

Well, what do you need to know about leeks? Leeks are a member of the onion family. The Roman Empire grew them for their more refined flavour than the stronger onion. Nero Apparently, Emperor Nero was partial to them as he believed they would improve his voice. He ate so […]

spam fritters

SPAM Fritters

SPAM History Let’s go back in time to World War II. Fish was unavailable so we Brits made SPAM fritters instead for our weekly deep fry with chips. SPAM is canned pork luncheon meat made in the USA by Hormel, introduced in 1937. It became popular during WW II because […]

black and white pudding

Irish Black and White Pudding

My wife’s parents were Irish, mother from Dublin and father from Newry, lived in London, and following regular visits “home” would always return with some genuine Irish black and white pudding in their suitcase.