GastroHistory

In the course of studying #foodhistory over the years, corporate greed seems to be an obvious problem in the grocery sector. Little wonder that so many independent mum-and-pop grocers seem so much less expensive by comparison. See also https://brandsownedby.com/who-owns-loblaws/

https://cultmtl.com/2025/06/canada-needs-to-curb-corporate-greed-and-break-up-grocery-monopolies/

Grace Dent is right: 'The magic is in the make-believe – we don’t mind the smoke-and-mirror nature of these shows, not least because they provide a valuable counselling service at a very stressful time.' Give me a holiday cookery show with #foodhistorians #IvanDay, #AnnieGray, etc., in it any time. https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/14/grace-dent-tv-christmas-specials-comment-recipes-just-here-to-gawp-review #holidays #foodstudies #cookeryshows #foodhistory

'If America has a recognizable food culture, Elizabeth David is its inspiration.' https://werehistory.org/the-evolution-of-american-foodie-culture/ #foodhistory #MFKFisher #ElizabethDavid #JamesBeard #JuliaChild #rationing #postWWII #foodmovements #UK #US

'PepsiCo is to cut the prices of some of its snack products in the US, following backlash against previous price hikes and pressure in the face of appetite-suppressing GLP-1 jabs.' https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cm2y38v4prvo #foodstudies #snackfoods #inflation

What a fabulous #foodhistory resource for the #crisp and #snackfood historians in the group. https://sportsbanger.com/products/u-k-crisp-packets-book

#TomScott on how the holes (or eyes) in Swiss cheese were saved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=evV05QeSjAw #foodscience #foodhistory #cheeseproduction

The 1865 patented Starrett Meat and Vegetable Chopper. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tgi-ON9HxlU #foodhistory #laboursavingdevices #kitchentools

'From Singapore and Malaysia arguing over Hainanese chicken rice and hawker centres, to China and South Korea clashing over kimchi and bibimbap, food has become a proxy for deeper debates about history, identity and power.' https://www.bbc.com/audio/play/p0mq9f54 #foodstudies #foodhistory #Asia

#Yorkshirepuds #HannahGlasse #foodhistory #mural #publicart #foodart #MaltonUK https://www.yorkshirepudd.co.uk/malton-yorkshire-pudding/

ICYMI: Letters from the Levant On the Pork Taboo: Exploring ancient people’s shifting beliefs about rearing and eating pigs
https://archaeology.org/issues/march-april-2025/letters-from/on-the-origin-of-the-pork-taboo/ #foodistory #foodtaboos #religiouspractices #pork

H/T to friend Professor Nick, who thought I needed to inflict this on my followers. I'm not sure if even The Mid-Century Menu Vintage Recipes or the Show Me Your Aspics group would be willing to tackle this questionable recipe. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaC172yGlxI #foodhistory #gelatin

Festive shrimp? Erm...OK. #foodart

How to eat #raman as presented wonderfully in the 1985 film #Tampopo by the late, great director Itami Jūzō. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2blfrQBH1g

ICYMI: Dickens and the Spirit of Twelfth Cake Past by @PenVogler https://dickensmuseum.com/blogs/charles-dickens-museum/dickens-and-the-spirit-of-twelfth-cake-past-by-pen-vogler #foodhistory #TwelfthNight #cakes #SmokingBishop #Dickens

'Toffee Crisp and Blue Riband bars can no longer be called chocolate after #Nestlé reformulated their recipes due to the increasing cost of ingredients... “encased in a smooth milk chocolate flavour coating”, rather than being covered in milk chocolate.' https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/dec/10/toffee-crisp-blue-riband-nestle-chocolate-recipe

Sad news. 'Besides cooking, [Skye] Gyngell was a prolific writer, serving as a food editor for Vogue until 2003...also published four cookbooks, two of which (2006’s A Year In My Kitchen and 2010’s How I Cook) were award winners.' https://www.standard.co.uk/going-out/restaurants/skye-gyngell-spring-hackfield-place-dead-b1259375.html #foodstudies #chefs

'...43 years since it was first published and into a general political climate not so different from the 80s in which it was conceived, Entertaining has just been rereleased. It is a new printing for a new generation of culinary fantasists.' https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/nov/21/goblets-of-borscht-turkey-shaped-madeleines-martha-stewart-inspiration #cookerybooks #foodhistory

I'm a tremendous fan of @Duralex products and I'm overjoyed by this news. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/22/french-people-want-to-save-us-help-pours-glassmaker-duralex #crowdfunding #homewares #glassworks

Modern so-called 'English' muffins, not #crumpets/#pikelets/etc., were purportedly the innovation of Samuel Bath Thomas, an English-born baker, in...the US (ca. 1880). It's complicated. https://britishfoodhistory.com/2020/11/22/the-muffin-crumpet-continuum/ #foodhistory #HannahGlasse @neilbuttery.bsky.social

'Governments should treat midstream agricultural assets the same way they treat ports and power grids...We cannot achieve food resilience if we cannot process, move and finance the food we grow.' https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/you-cant-have-national-security-without-food-security-can-canada-really-achieve-both/article_6bf23aa9-3f8f-4d4d-a672-d25b35095b29.html #foodsecurity #Canada #foodstudies #foodhistory

World record #carrot #cake from #Quesnel #BC #Canada cafe, #GranvillesCoffee #foodhistory #worldrecords #foodstudies #contests https://www.mycariboonow.com/263163/news/communty/quesnel-coffee-shop-owner-creates-world-largest-birthday-cake/