Books
A Saucy Tale. The History of Henderson's Relish (2021)
Ask anyone from Sheffield about Henderson's (or Hendo's) and they will go all misty eyed. The black stuff is legendary in the Steel City, but across much of the UK you will struggle to find it. I got access to Hendersons own company records to write the remarkable story of Sheffield's best kept culinary secret from its origins in a Victorian grocer's shop to present-day cult status. You can purchase copies from me directly, or from ON Books.
Ask anyone from Sheffield about Henderson's (or Hendo's) and they will go all misty eyed. The black stuff is legendary in the Steel City, but across much of the UK you will struggle to find it. I got access to Hendersons own company records to write the remarkable story of Sheffield's best kept culinary secret from its origins in a Victorian grocer's shop to present-day cult status. You can purchase copies from me directly, or from ON Books.
Moulded Foods, (Leeds Food History Symposium, 2021)
The second collection of papers from the Leeds Food History Symposium, which I have edited. Again I edited the volume with Janet Pickering and the late Laura Mason, who sadly passed away before the volume was published. The papers include the remaining ones from the 2006 symposium and some additional essays. You can purchase copies at the annual symposium, or by contacting me, or from ON Books, who now also stock The Domestic Dairy.
The second collection of papers from the Leeds Food History Symposium, which I have edited. Again I edited the volume with Janet Pickering and the late Laura Mason, who sadly passed away before the volume was published. The papers include the remaining ones from the 2006 symposium and some additional essays. You can purchase copies at the annual symposium, or by contacting me, or from ON Books, who now also stock The Domestic Dairy.
The Domestic Dairy. Aspects of British Dairying History, (Leeds Food History Symposium, 2018)
I'm very proud of our efforts in resurrecting the publication of papers from the Leeds Food History Symposium. This is the first volume to appear for over 10 years and contains papers from the symposia in 2006 and 2015, including contributions from Peter Brears and Ivan Day. I edited the volume with Laura Mason and Janet Pickering. You can purchase copies at the annual symposium, or by contacting me.
"It's a real pleasure to see the return of Leeds papers to our shelves" - Tom Jaine in Petits Propos Culinaires 111 (June 2018).
I'm very proud of our efforts in resurrecting the publication of papers from the Leeds Food History Symposium. This is the first volume to appear for over 10 years and contains papers from the symposia in 2006 and 2015, including contributions from Peter Brears and Ivan Day. I edited the volume with Laura Mason and Janet Pickering. You can purchase copies at the annual symposium, or by contacting me.
"It's a real pleasure to see the return of Leeds papers to our shelves" - Tom Jaine in Petits Propos Culinaires 111 (June 2018).
The Gell Family Cookbook. Desserts from Derbyshire three centuries ago, (Bakewell, 2014)
Discovered in the Derbyshire Record Office the Gell Cookbook offers a fascinating taste of life in the county three centuries ago. Presented inside are fourteen authentic recipes together with historical commentary and full instructions for the modern cook.
This is a slim volume (32 pages) but nicely produced by Bakewell Old House Museum. It was fun trying out the recipes and putting them together and it also extended my research into the early 18th century. Copies are available from the museum gift shop.
Discovered in the Derbyshire Record Office the Gell Cookbook offers a fascinating taste of life in the county three centuries ago. Presented inside are fourteen authentic recipes together with historical commentary and full instructions for the modern cook.
This is a slim volume (32 pages) but nicely produced by Bakewell Old House Museum. It was fun trying out the recipes and putting them together and it also extended my research into the early 18th century. Copies are available from the museum gift shop.
Plenti and Grase: Food and Drink in a Sixteenth-Century Household, (Totnes, 2009)
published by Prospect Books
Available from bookshops, online sources and direct from the publisher.
"meticulously researched and insightful" - Dr Susannah Lipscomb (University of East Anglia) in History Today.
"this work, from a scholar early in his career, promises further perceptive contributions to the history of food" - Professor Chris Woolgar (University of Southampton) in Economic History Review.
This is my magnum opus - or magnificent octopus as Baldrick would have it - and is the culmination of extensive research into the household accounts of the Willoughby family of Wollaton (near Nottingham) and Middleton (Warwickshire), growing out of my original PhD thesis. It looks at all aspects of provisioning and consumption and is concerned not just with the food served to the top table, but with the experience of the servants, who formed the bulk of the household.
published by Prospect Books
Available from bookshops, online sources and direct from the publisher.
"meticulously researched and insightful" - Dr Susannah Lipscomb (University of East Anglia) in History Today.
"this work, from a scholar early in his career, promises further perceptive contributions to the history of food" - Professor Chris Woolgar (University of Southampton) in Economic History Review.
This is my magnum opus - or magnificent octopus as Baldrick would have it - and is the culmination of extensive research into the household accounts of the Willoughby family of Wollaton (near Nottingham) and Middleton (Warwickshire), growing out of my original PhD thesis. It looks at all aspects of provisioning and consumption and is concerned not just with the food served to the top table, but with the experience of the servants, who formed the bulk of the household.
Articles
'What's up with Ewe? The Rise and Fall of English Sheep's Milk Cheese', Petits Propos Culinaires 107 (January 2017)
- Sheep's milk cheese was once commonplace in England. This is the story of how and why it declined from a position of dominance to near extinction over a 1000 years of English history. A departure for me in terms of geographical and chronological scope, this was a paper given at the Leeds Food History Symposium in 2015.
- Sheep's milk cheese was once commonplace in England. This is the story of how and why it declined from a position of dominance to near extinction over a 1000 years of English history. A departure for me in terms of geographical and chronological scope, this was a paper given at the Leeds Food History Symposium in 2015.
'Oats and oatcakes: farming and diet in the north Midlands in the post-medieval period', in R. Jones and C. Dyer (eds), Farmers, Consumers, Innovators. The world of Joan Thirsk, (Hatfield, 2016)
published by University of Hertfordshire press
published by University of Hertfordshire press
'Food for Thought: Notes from the Haddon Household Accounts', Bakewell and District Historical Society Journal 41 (2014)
- Most of the Household accounts from the 16th and 17th centuries are currently being preserved and catalogued at Haddon and are not available for study. I was fortunate to be loaned a rare nineteenth-century transcript by Trevor Brighton, the president of the society, and I agreed to write an article in return. Interesting local details are shown: oatcakes, beer brewed with water from the River Wye, a greater preponderance of mutton rather than beef and celebrations on local Wakes days.
'The Workers Reward at Middleton Hall 1567', Petits Propos Culinaires 91 (October 2010)
- Most feasts that attract historical attention are those thrown by and for the wealthy. This article looks at a feast provided for a relatively humble group of tenants, analysing what was eaten and what it might have meant to those attending.
'Food and Drink in Nottinghamshire Households c.1540-1640', Transactions of the Thoroton Society 112 (2008) - This article was presented as the Nottinghamshire History Lecture in November 2008. It uses evidence from probate inventories to build up a picture of food and drink in four differing Nottinghamshire communities - Misterton, East Drayton, Southwell and Cropwell Bishop.
'The Food Year in the Willoughby Household at Wollaton and Middleton in the sixteenth century', Petits Propos Culinaires 85 (June 2008)
- Seasonality is a bit of a buzz word at the moment. Here is a look at what the changes the seasons brought to food and drink in the Tudor period.
- Most of the Household accounts from the 16th and 17th centuries are currently being preserved and catalogued at Haddon and are not available for study. I was fortunate to be loaned a rare nineteenth-century transcript by Trevor Brighton, the president of the society, and I agreed to write an article in return. Interesting local details are shown: oatcakes, beer brewed with water from the River Wye, a greater preponderance of mutton rather than beef and celebrations on local Wakes days.
'The Workers Reward at Middleton Hall 1567', Petits Propos Culinaires 91 (October 2010)
- Most feasts that attract historical attention are those thrown by and for the wealthy. This article looks at a feast provided for a relatively humble group of tenants, analysing what was eaten and what it might have meant to those attending.
'Food and Drink in Nottinghamshire Households c.1540-1640', Transactions of the Thoroton Society 112 (2008) - This article was presented as the Nottinghamshire History Lecture in November 2008. It uses evidence from probate inventories to build up a picture of food and drink in four differing Nottinghamshire communities - Misterton, East Drayton, Southwell and Cropwell Bishop.
'The Food Year in the Willoughby Household at Wollaton and Middleton in the sixteenth century', Petits Propos Culinaires 85 (June 2008)
- Seasonality is a bit of a buzz word at the moment. Here is a look at what the changes the seasons brought to food and drink in the Tudor period.
'Changing Tastes in Sixteenth-Century England: Evidence from the Household Accounts of the Willoughby Family' in N.Sykes and C.Newton (eds), Food and Drink in Archaeology 1, (Totnes, 2008)
published by Prospect Books
published by Prospect Books