Welcome back to The British Food History Podcast. In this episode, I am speaking with Peter Ross. Peter was, until recently, the Principal Librarian at the City of London's Guildhall Library. He is an historian of both food and crime in Georgian London, an Arts Society lecturer, and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries.
He has also written a fantastic book called Insatiable Appetites, Eating Out in Georgian London, published by the Bodleian Library. Published 14 May 2026.
We talk about the migrating mealtimes of the Georgian period, chophouses, the importance of satirical cartoons when studying food history in this period, turtle soup, and why you wouldn’t want to be seen hanging around the saloop stand – amongst many other things.
Those listening to the secret podcast get some top drawer bonus material where we discuss what Georgian chocolate was really like, and the beautiful and amazing Vauxhall gardens + more.
Insatiable Appetites, Eating Out in Georgian London by Peter Ross
Peter will be at the Chalke History Festival on 27 June 2024 talking about Georgian Feasting
Season 10 of the podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry, makers of high-quality kitchen and outdoor cookware. Netherton Foundry ships to several countries outside of the UK, including the USA and Canada. Visit www.netherton-foundry.co.uk to find out more about their wonderful products – approved not just by me but by folk such as Tom Parker-Bowles, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson.
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Things mentioned in today’s episode
Accompanying blog post showing the Gilray cartoon + more
The Guildhall Library
Peter’s London street food exhibition
The British Housewife by Gilly Lehmann
The London Art of Cookery by John Farley
The English Art of Cookery by Richard Briggs
Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper by Neil Buttery
Previous pertinent podcast episodes
18th Century Tavern Cooking with Marc Meltonville (& Richard Briggs)
London's Street Food Sellers with Charlie Taverner
18th Century Dining with Ivan Day
Elizabeth Raffald with Alessandra Pino & Neil Buttery
Previous pertinent blog posts
Mock Turtle Soup
Neil’s blogs and YouTube channel:
‘British Food: a History’
The British Food History Channel
‘Neil Cooks Grigson’
Neil’s books:
Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper
A Dark History of Sugar
Knead to Know: a History of Baking
The Philosophy of Puddings
Don’t forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at
[email protected], or on twitter and BlueSky @neilbuttery, or Instagram and Threads dr_neil_buttery. My DMs are open.
You can also join the British Food: a History Facebook discussion page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/britishfoodhistory
Mentioned in this episode:
A is for Apple Season C has begun!
Join Neil Buttery, Sam Bilton and Alessandra Pino for their journey through the letter C on 'A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink'.
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