Food & Drink

Pulp Fiction

Marketed as the taste of French summer, Orangina’s origins are complicated.

Birth of a Pastry Chef

Born into poverty on 8 June 1783, Antonin Carême’s spectacular confectionary constructions made him patissier to royalty.

Chadō

The ‘way of tea’ is a ritual experience that embodies the natural world with all its imperfections.

Filthy Food

Efforts by the German scientist Friedrich Accum brought about widespread awareness of the dangers of food adulteration, paving the way for legislation that protects what we eat today. 

Under the Influence

Alcohol was part of daily life in the colonial Maghreb. In 1913 the French banned alcohol in Tunisia, revealing a deep distrust of local drinks and their Jewish and Muslim makers. 

Crossing Oceans

Cloves, grown in Indonesia, crossed the globe in the Middle Ages, showing how interconnected the medieval world was.

The Politics of Pancakes

In England, Shrove Tuesday has not just symbolised feasting, fasting and family, but riot and rebellion, too. 

The Culinary Enlightenment

The belief that you are what you eat emerged in 19th-century France, where the pleasures of the table were sautéed with philosophy and medicine.