History of British Baking

 A History of British Baking: From Blood Bread to Bake-Off- Emma Kay

Pen & Sword

Release Date: December 7, 2020

Rating:

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Synopsis: The British have been baking for centuries. Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive account of how our relationship with this much-loved art has changed, evolved and progressed over time.

Renowned food historian and author, Emma Kay, skillfully combines the related histories of Britain's economy, innovation, technology, health, cultural and social trends with the personal stories of many of the individuals involved with the whole process: the early pioneers, the recipe writers, the cooks, the entrepreneurs. The result is a deliciously fascinating read, one that will prove to be juicer than the juiciest of juicy baked goods.

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In A History of British Baking: From Blood Bread to Bake-Off food historian Emma Kay gives readers a well-researched history of baking in England.  The general focus remains on bread- that staple no matter the social class- but pastries, tarts, and cakes are all included.  This is a history of the social, technological, and cultural changes in Britain from Roman occupancy to the present day as seen through baking.  Where did certain foods originate?  How did they come to Britain? How did baking change over the centuries? How did travel, trade, and conquest influence baking?  Kay traces it all back as far as possible, and does an excellent job of including the influence of immigrants on baking in Britain.  I particularly enjoyed the early chapters where she includes mentions of bread in early literature and describes the superstitions surrounding bread through medieval England.  She also includes some historical recipes ranging from medieval pies to Waldorf pudding to mooncakes.  This is not primarily a recipe book, but the included recipes add an extra element- especially the early recipes that are clearly written to feed a whole castle!

The copy I read was an advance copy and I have to hope that additional editing takes place before the book is finally released. While there was a general timeline to the book the writing was often disjointed, bouncing back and forth in time and making some of the historical progress hard to follow. Additionally, plenty of unfinished sentences made some of Kay's ideas hard to follow. She also tends to bounce from topic to topic and might have almost done better following, for example, the history of pies in one chapter and pastries in another.  You can see why she didn't though, the social and legal trends for baking we see apply to all aspects of British baking and make more sense in a chronological order. Still, more editing and tighter writing would have greatly improved the presentation of this fascinating food history.

Overall Kay's writing is accessible to all, a casual academic style that will appeal to casual readers as well as serious academic food historians.  She writes as if speaking to the reader, sharing stories and opinions with the same ease as she traces the historical origins of hardtack.  This well-researched and highly interesting book will appeal to bakers, food historians, and those just interested in learning a little more about British history as seen through its bakes.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review