The Hungry Historians

Sauces are often important parts of a meal, but a part that we don’t think too much about when studying the history of food. In this week’s episode Kelly A. Spring discusses how sauces define our meals and influence the way we think about ourselves and the food that we eat. This discussion is with Andrew Donnelly, Beth M. Forrest and Deirdre Murphy, authors of an edited collection called From Garum to Mole: Sauces and Identity in the Western World, which was released by the Oxford University Press in 2026. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Bloomsbury Food Library⁠⁠, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

Tomatoes arrived in Egypt in the 16th century but quickly became ubiquitous with Egyptian foodways. In this episode we talk with Anny Gaul, an assistant professor of Arabic Studies at the University of Maryland. Anny published in 2025, Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian culinary history of the tomato, through the University of California Press. She also runs the popular food blog Cooking with Gaul. You can learn more about Anny Gaul on her website and buy her book on the University of California Press website and other bookstores. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Bloomsbury Food Library⁠⁠, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

Food is politics, and politics is food. In this week’s episode Matt and Kelly talk with Andrea Freeman about her 2024 book Ruin their Crops on the Ground: The Politics of Food, in the United States, from the trail of tears to school lunch, which was published by Macmillan. Andrea’s study makes the argument that food policy and laws in the US have created and maintained racial and social inequality. Using history to understand this ‘food oppression’. Andrea Freeman works at the Southwestern Law School Lost Angeles and you can learn more about her on her profile page. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Bloomsbury Food Library⁠⁠, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

Vanilla has become a slightly more expensive condiment in our lives, but for a long time it was simply impossible to grow outside of its native Mexico. In this episode we explore the history of Vanilla, how it was propagated, and its use in various foods. We look at the connection to slavery and its artificial version vanillin. We are joined by Rosa Abreu-Runkel who, in 2020, published Vanilla: A Global History with Reaktion Books. To find out more about Rosa's work check out her profile on the New York City College of Technology (City Tech) website. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Bloomsbury Food Library⁠⁠, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

What happens when we examine diet books as a form of literature that addresses some of the deeper existential questions of our identity and our understanding of our own bodies and those of others? In this episode Kelly and Matt interview Adrienne Bitar about her book Diet and the Disease of Civilization, published by Rutgers University Press in 2018. Adrienne focuses her interest on American diet books and specific diet types - the Paleo and Garden of Eden diets and the detoxification (detox) diet. In this conversation we cover how diets are often couched in myth and legend, and lean back to simpler times and even human organs and hunter-gatherer lifestyles. We also touch on how diet books cross a sometimes inconsistent boundary between science and rejecting science, and what diets tell us about our modern society and understanding of ourselves. You can find out more about Adrienne at the Cornell University website and her website. This episode is sponsored by ⁠⁠Bloomsbury Food Library⁠⁠, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.

<p>In this episode of <em>The Hungry Historians</em> Matthew Phillpott and Kelly Spring interview Eric C. Rath about his book <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/kanpai" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Kanpai: The History of Sake</a> (Reaktion Books, 2025). </p><p>Eric brings us into the world of sake, both in Japan and its increasing popularity internationally. You can find out more about Eric C. Rath on his <a href="https://history.ku.edu/people/eric-c-rath" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">profile </a>page. Kanpai is available from <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/kanpai" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Reakton Books </a>and all good bookshops.</p><p>This episode is sponsored by <a href="https://www.bloomsburyfoodlibrary.com/home" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Bloomsbury Food Library</a>, an essential resource for students, researchers, and scholars studying food, offering the widest-ranging existing collection of food studies content.</p>

<p>Welcome to the first episode of season 2 of <em>The Hungry Historians</em>. In this episode Kelly A. Spring and Matt Phillpott interview historian and writer, Or Rosenboim on her 2024 book <em>Air and Love: A Story of Food, Migration and Belonging</em>. This book is one part history told through the story of food, cooking, and eating, and one part family history. The book follows Or’s family as it migrates from Samarkand, Riga, Jerusualem, and Tel Aviv in the 19th and early 20th centuries.</p><p>You can find out more about Or Rosenboim at her <a href="https://orrosenboim.com/" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">website</a>. Air and Love is available from <a href="https://www.panmacmillan.com/authors/or-rosenboim/air-and-love/9781529098129" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Pan MacMillan</a> and all good bookshops. </p>

<p>In this month's episode of <strong>The Hungry Historians</strong>, Kelly and Matt chat with Alex Ketchum and Megan Elias about their book "Queers at the Table". This is an anthology of essays, comics, and recipes that reveals the dynamic and transformative relationship between queerness and food.</p><p>In this episode we discuss the nature of putting such a book together, what the intended purposes were, and what they hoped their readers will do with the book and how they hope to gain more interaction through various forthcoming events and activities. </p><p>Queers at the Table is available via <a href="https://arsenalpulp.com/Books/Q/Queers-at-the-Table" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Arsenal Pulp Press</a> and various other booksellers. </p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p></p>

<p>In this month’s Hungry Historians, Kelly A. Spring and Matt Phillpott discuss the history of menus with Nathalie Cooke (McGill University). We were surprised by just how much can be learned from menus and excited to hear about the various tricks used to encourage certain choices and illustrations used to excite interest. We also discuss cryptic menus and who is left out. </p><p><br /></p><p>You can find out more from Nathalie’s latest book, <em>Tastes and Traditions: A Journey through Menu History,</em> available from <a href="https://reaktionbooks.co.uk/work/tastes-and-traditions" target="_blank" rel="ugc noopener noreferrer">Reaktion Books</a> and all good bookstores.</p><p>We hope you enjoy the episode!</p>

<p>In this episode Kelly Spring and Matt Phillpott interview Brandi Simpson Miller about her book <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-88403-1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferer">Food and Identity in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Ghana: Food, Fights, and Regionalism </a>(2021). </p>

<p>Are you interested in the history of food? In this introduction, Dr Kelly A. Spring and Dr Matthew Phillpott share their ideas and thoughts about what the study of food history is about and what <em>The Hungry Historians</em> podcast is going to focus on over the coming months.</p>