Pen Vogler interviewed Diane Purkiss

Food writer Pen Vogler tells the story of the food and drink at the heart of social upheaval in Britain and how they have led to today’s extremes of plenty and want, of roast beef and food banks, of allotment-fresh vegetables and ultra-processed food.

Vogler draws on cookbooks, literature and social records to tell the stories of medieval inns boosted by the plague, the Enclosures finishing off the celebratory goose, the Victorian chemist searching for unadulterated mustard, and post-war supermarkets drawing customers in with strawberries. She tells of the ideas and laws that have fed or starved Britain, of the bread and ale, sugary treats, pies and puddings, and why we would give anything for a cup of tea.

Vogler’s previous books are Dinner with Mr Darcy and Dinner with Dickens. She curated the Food Glorious Food exhibition at the Charles Dickens Museum and has recreated recipes from the past for BBC television. Here she talks to English lecturer Professor Diane Purkiss, author of English Food: A Social History of England Told Through the Food on Its Tables.