The Scottish Food History Podcast

Today we give Dr Lindsay everything she's ever wanted; an episode all about tins! We take a look at early canning and Scotland's journey to "trusting the tins" before we jump into the history of Scotland's premiere preserving dynasty; Baxters. How did a gardener build a food empire that would survive for over 150 years? Let's find out!

This week on the Scottish Food History Podcast, we are joined by none other than Sam Bilton, or Mrs Sam Bilton as she is known online. In this episode we chat with Sam about her journey into food history before we listen to her History of Gingerbread talk from the 2025 Scottish Food Heritage Symposium.

On this week’s episode of the Scottish Food History Podcast, Dr Lindsay Middleton and I jump into the life of Cate Cranston. Arguably the inventor of the modern tea room, a visionary and undeniable patron of the Glasgow Style, Cate is one of those characters that you won’t believe you never learned about in school.We are joined by Oliver Baird from Mackintosh at the Willow who gives us the inside scoop on Cate’s legacy, the uncomfortable questions we need to ask and what he’d want to ask Cate over a cup of tea.

On this week’s episode of the scottish food history podcast, we are looking looking at the Tunnocks dynasty. the biscuits wars that created the tecake, the origins of the original wafer, and how exactly the son of a coffin maker would start a bakery that would change the face of Scottish confectionary forever. We are joined in this episode by Sir Boyd Tunnock, grandson of Thomas Tunnock and inventor of the teacake.

In this episode, Lindsay and Peter dive into the life of Christian Isobel Johnstone, a 19th century food writer. If you haven't heard her name, then maybe you've heard of Meg Dodds... Ali stoner, known to the world as Roving Haggis, joins this episode for a deep dive on Scottish food. Find out Ali's stance on plain or pan, her claim to Tesco fame and what exactly was behind the hearty skewers that graced her childhood dinner table.

This episode is all about the Victorian suffragist, folklorist and food writer, Florence Marian Mcneill. Born in Orkney in 1885, Florence would go on to be one of the most important figures of the 20th century, and you've never heard of her! Join us for a look at the first half of her life as we investigate the events and movements that shaped her commitment to equality and her love of Scotland. We are joined by the devastatingly fabulous Jeremy Lee MBE, chef proprietor at Quo Vadis, London and award-winning food writer, who tells us all about growing up in Dundee, his journey into food, creating the Quo Vadis menu and writing his first book; Cooking, Simply and well, for One or Many.

In this episode, we explore how Victorian Scottish city dwellers celebrated Christmas from the new indoor tree trend to the very Dickensian feast. We are joined by Dr Macon McCormack, who talks about how the whisky industry evolved over the Victorian period and Dr Neil Buttery, to talk about all things pudding!

This episode kickstarts the series with a look at Scotland's festive history from Solstice to Christmas. Peter and Lindsay discuss the impact of the Victorian era on Scotland before popping a cracker for some yuletide jollityy.