This is the uncut discussion between Neil and Rachel Webster, Curator of Botany at the Manchester Museum. There is more talk of fruit and berries, including a gobsmacking fact surrounding avocado seeds, and we answer the all-important question: Is an apple a berry?

Find out more about the Manchester Museum here

You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and Bluesky

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/aisforapplepod

Email: aisofrapplepod@gmail.com

Welcome back to Season 2 of the A is for Apple podcast where Sam Bilton, Dr Neil Buttery and Dr Alessandra Pino will be exploring the bountiful letter B.

In this episode our team take a healthful approach to the start of the season. Allie goes bananas, Sam explores a once popular low-carb diet and Neil discovers why some fruits are only masquerading berries despite their names.

You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and Bluesky

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar, Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper as well as Knead to Know: A History of Baking and The Philosophy of Pudding. You can find him on Instagram and Bluesky

Dr Allie Pino hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast with Vanessa Baca and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and Bluesky

In this bonus episode Sam explores the Instagram sensation that is the avocado and why this berry that takes its name from the Aztec word for testicle makes some people rather anxious. This is the full interview with author and environmental journalist Louise Gray, who’s book Avocado Anxiety tracks the stories of our five-a-day from farm to fruit bowl and uncovers the impact that growing fruits and vegetables has on the planet.

You can follow Louise on Instagram and X or find out more about her work here.

You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and X (Twitter).

In this extra bonus episode, Neil talks with Sam and Alessandra about why getting plenty of nitrogen in the soil is good for making amino acids and therefore protein.

You can follow the A is for Apple Podcast on Instagram and X (Twitter).

Sam Bilton also hosts the Comfortably Hungry Podcast and is the author of First Catch Your Gingerbread, Fool’s Gold: A History of British Saffron and The Philosophy of Chocolate. You can find her on Instagram and X.

Dr Neil Buttery also hosts the British Food History Podcast and is the author of A Dark History of Sugar and Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald Britain’s Most Influential Housekeeper. You can find him on Instagram and X.

Dr Alessandra Pino also co-hosts the Fear Feasts Podcast and is the co-author of A Gothic Cookbook. You can find her on Instagram and X.

Here is an extra helping of the A is for Apple podcast following on from our last episode on vegetables. If you listened to the last 'A' episode, you’re probably thinking that we were on our best behaviour. But you should know us better than that by now!

As ever Allie, Neil and I talked for ages about our vegetal A’s and inevitably we strayed onto our pet subjects of aphrodisiacs and sex. So here are the saucy bits we couldn’t fit into the previous episode on vegetables. But we start by continuing our discussion on the perils of recipe testing.

Suggested Reading

English Food (1998) by Jane Grigson

Good Savouries (1934) by Ambrose Heath

Royal Cookery or the Compleat Court Cook by Patrick Lamb (1726)

Put Out More Flags (1942) by Evelyn Waugh

In today’s episode we will be discussing what many a child dreads encountering on their dinner plate. So prepare yourself for a wrinkled nose or two, an impromptu visit to the sick room and a few prickly surprises as Allie, Neil and I explore the verdant world of vegetables.

Useful Links

Sam’s Recipe for William Verrall’s Sweetbreads With Asparagus (1759)

Sam’s interpretation of Hannah Glasse’s Asparagus in a French Role (sic) on Instagram (essentially a quiche in a loaf of bread)

Neil’s Butter Sauce (a classic accompaniment to asparagus)

You can also find Neil’s talk on 'Navigating 19th Century English meals through Worcester porcelain' for the Museum of Royal Worcester onYouTube

Lindsay Middleton’s project Dishes for the Sickroom examines the links between food, health, education and international ingredients in the culinary collections of the Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) Archive Centre.

Suggested Reading

Emma by Jane Austen (1815)

The Diner’s Dictionary by John Ayto (1993)

Mrs Beeton’s Book of Household Management by Isabella Beeton (1861)

The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1993)

The Fruit, Herbs and Vegetables of Italy by Giacomo Castelvetro (1614)

‘Crumbs! A history of biscuits in 15 fantastic facts – from flatulence cure to phenomenal fuel’ by Lizzie Collingham in The Guardian, 18 October 2020

The Art of the Asparagus by Daisy Dunn in the Spectator, 15 May 2021

Acetaria. A discourse of sallets by John Evelyn (1706)