We kick off the new season with a fascinating chat with Aaron Allen at Edinburgh University about cake baxters in Early Modern Scotland – usually women – who were unfree, and how they fit into society at this time. Making and selling of baked goods were highly controlled, and – quelle surprise – it was not in their favour. We also discuss the ways oatcakes and wheaten bread were baked, beehive oven tech, horse bread and many other things.

Find Aaron on Twitter at Mary’sChapelProject: @Mchapelproject

A list of Aaron’s research: https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/aaron-allen

‘Baking on the Margins: Pastry Women and Cake Baxters in the Early Modern Bread Market’, in History Scotland (May/June 2023), 20-5, available at: https://www.historyscotland.com/store/back-issues/history-scotland/history-scotland-vol23issue3-mayjun23-issue-131/

Building Early Modern Edinburgh: A Social History of Craftwork and Incorporation: https://edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-building-early-modern-edinburgh-hb.html

Things from the web mentioned in this episode:

Neil’s recipe for seed cake: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2021/05/23/to-make-a-seed-cake/

Neil’s recipe for peasebread: https://britishfoodhistory.com/2017/04/09/forgotten-foods-6-pease-bread/

Hodmedod’s website: https://hodmedods.co.uk/

Video of Josh Townshend making a clay oven: https://youtu.be/i0foHjPVbP4

Other bits:

Neil’s Raffald talk on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9SyiYvHq-Q

Neil’s media page where you can see his Country Life article, as well as links to the podcasts he’s guested on, radio spots or TV shows: http://britishfoodhistory.com/media/

Don’t forget to catch up on Neil’s blog posts published over the last few months.

British Food: a History: http://britishfoodhistory.com

Neil Cooks Grigson: http://neilcooksgrigson.com

Order Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper at your favourite bookshop, or from the publisher Pen & Sword History: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/Before-Mrs-Beeton-Hardback/p/22437

Neil’s other book A Dark History of Sugar is available now from all bookshops as well as from the publisher Pen & Sword: https://www.pen-and-sword.co.uk/A-Dark-History-of-Sugar-Hardback/p/20481

Don’t forget there will be postbag episodes, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or...