The British Food History Podcast · Neil Buttery

Special Postbag Edition #5

·48 min

Neil Buttery opens the episode by saying it is the end of the season and time for the traditional postbag. This is the fifth one. He explains that he will be disappearing for a couple of months after this episode. Monthly subscribers, though, will get a bonus episode via the website. The episode is built around questions, comments, and listener correspondence. A sponsor message from Fruit Pig appears as part of the program, describing fresh blood black puddings, gluten-free black puddings, haggis, and the care that goes into the products. After that, the episode returns to listener mail. One listener writes about a family way of making Yorkshire puddings and toad in the hole with half plain flour and half wholemeal flour. The same listener also describes using meat juices, veg water, and Burdell's gravy salts to make the gravy. Neil says he has not seen Burdell's in supermarkets in years, but that Compton's does the job just as well. The wholemeal flour idea catches his attention. He suggests it makes sense historically, since white flour was expensive until relatively recently, and he thinks it would probably add a pleasant nutty flavour. Another listener message mentions serving Yorkshire puddings as a dessert with golden syrup. The episode also includes a letter from Andy Fox of Crisp's fame, who came to Neil's talk at Manchester Central Library. Andy and Andrea had already been catching up on the podcast. He writes about their family variation on Yorkshire puddings and toad in the hole. Neil responds with interest and practical curiosity, as he often does when a listener describes a household method rather than a textbook rule. He also recalls that the Manchester evening was stressful because of an awful storm and a very slow car journey. Neil keeps the tone easy, even when the subject drifts through old condiments, batter, gravy, and family memory. He apologizes to anyone whose letter or comment did not make the cut because the episode had to stay to a sensible length. He then thanks the season's guests in a long roll call. He reminds listeners to spread the word about the podcast while it is between seasons and encourages more correspondence, even when there are no fresh episodes yet. The episode ends with his usual sign-off: take care, and cheerio.

As heard by us

The season ends with listener questions, Yorkshire puddings, and a warm, easy catch-up on food history.

The season-closing postbag lets the British Food History Podcast do what it does best: take listener questions and comments and work through them with Neil Buttery's easy curiosity.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

For when you want an end-of-season postbag episode with listener questions, comments, and a few Yorkshire pudding tangents.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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