18 October 2025
About
A Recipe for a Food History Festival
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Take four food historians, ripe with ideas.
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Add a bucket full of enthusiasm and a good pinch of spice.
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Simmer gently for a few weeks.
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Invite some friends over with an appetite for history (that means you, in case you were wondering)
Then Serve It Forth
What does this give you?
A recipe for a brand-new online festival celebrating the history of food and drink. Our podcaster ‘chefs’ will be cooking up four delectable courses for you to virtually savour. You can find up more about our Bill of Fare here.
The 'Chefs'
Serve It Forth is brought to you by four podcasters (and occasional chefs) who believe food history should be enlightening, fascinating and engaging. Each one of us has devised a delicious 'course' to keep you sated during the festival.
I am a food historian, chef, podcaster and award-winning author who specialises in the history of British food. I'm the presenter of The British Food History Podcast and co-host of A is for Apple: An Encyclopaedia of Food & Drink and the author of four books, including A Dark History of Sugar and The Philosophy of Puddings. My research can be read on my popular blog British Food: A History.
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Find me on instagram @dr_neil_buttery
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Chef, podcaster, barbecue fan, audio engineer.
I'm passionate and curious about all things history and gastronomy. Perhaps because we humans make better, healthier social connections through eating together; sharing our food and stories with each other. I want to share as many stories from around the world, past and present, with people.
I've cooked in restaurants, bars and cafes, and I had an ancient thematic popup restaurant for a few years. As a cook/chef in Abbey Road studios I cooked for Paul McCartney and the orchestra that recorded the soundtrack for the movie "Charlie and The Chocolate Factory". I'm a podcaster too and the past five years I've been releasing The Delicious Legacy podcast, all about archaeogastronomy!
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Find me on instagram @thedeliciouslegacy
I hold a PhD in Food, Cultural Memory, and the Gothic from the University of Westminster, following a decade working alongside a Michelin-starred chef. My research explores the intersections of food, the supernatural, and cultural memory, with a particular focus on developing the original framework of dark food. This work is introduced in my chapter published in The Palgrave Handbook of Literary Memory Studies (2025). I'm also the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook (2024) and a regular contributor to Haunted Magazine and Rue Morgue.
I co-host two podcasts: A is for Apple, which traces the cultural histories of food, and Fear Feasts, which explores horror through the lens of consumption. I'm a member of the Guild of Food Writers.
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Find me on instagram @dr_alessandra_pino
I am a food historian and host of the award winning Comfortably Hungry podcast (Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards 2025: Audio Category). I also co-host the A is for Apple podcast with Neil and Allie. I've written four books on various aspects of food history: First Catch Your Gingerbread (2020); Fool's Gold: A History of British Saffron (2022); The Philosophy of Chocolate (2023) and Much Ado About Cooking (October 2025). I'm also a frequent contributor to national magazines, food festivals, television and radio and edit Petits Propos Culinaires (PPC) a journal on food, cooking and culinary culture.
You can find me on instagram @mrssbilton.