Tales of Frost and Snow

A collection of wintery and festive tales for the season: Why the Sea is Salt, The Christmas Bear and Twelve Brothers…
An oil painting of a field of cabbages by August Malmström - Lekande barn i trädgårdsland

The Widow and her Daughters or the Kale Conspiracy

In which we discover that strange food stealing horses don’t always have your best intentions at heart, that you should always be kind to cats and that kale has its very own folklore…

Slightly Scary Story Special

The ⁠slightly scary stories⁠ in this episode are: Golden Hair, The Lass & her Good Stout Blackthorn Stick and The Tailor in the Church adapted from Sorche nic Leodhas and Ruth Manning Sanders …

An All Hallows Feast – Menus, Symbolism & Folklore

In which I explore a completely different direction, have fun with food symbolism and folklore at this interesting time of year and make a realisation about how I really feel about good food…
Kitchen Witch tools and ingredients

The Kitchen Witch Companion – An Interview with Sarah Robinson

In this episode I interviewed the wonderful Sarah Robinson about the fabulous book she has created with Lucy H Pearce. The Kitchen Witch Companion: Recipes, Rituals & Reflections is the companion to Kitchen Witch: Food, Folklore & fairytale and includes many of the traditional and seasonal recipes referenced in that book…

The Beekeeper & the Hare or The Hot Honey Horror

In which we discover that everything is not always as it seems, that you should take advice from helpful travellers, that bees can be excellent as a home protection system and that the taste of honey can make you cross worlds…

Food, Funerals & Mourning in the American South – An Interview with Ashley-Anne Masters

The American South is well known for its traditions and rituals around food and funerals and funerary practices so I interviewed Ashley-Anne Masters, a Presbyterian Pastor from North Carolina and we discussed how food can bring us together in grief just as it does during times of great joy…
Herbs, garlic & oils on a marble surface

Slavic Kitchen Alchemy – An Interview with Zuza Zak

I met with Zuza Zak and we talked about her wonderful new book Slavic Kitchen Alchemy: Nourishing Herbal Remedies, Magical Recipes & Folk Wisdom. Zuza is also the author of ‘Polska: New Polish Cooking’, ‘Amber & Rye: A Baltic Food Journey Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania’ and ‘Pierogi: Over 50 Recipes to Create Perfect Polish Dumplings’…

Rebel Folklore – An Interview with Icy Sedgwick

This week I’m talking to Icy Sedgwick from Fabulous Folklore about her brand new book Rebel Folklore: Empowering Tales of Spirits, Witches and other Misfits from Anansi to Baba Yaga…

The Laird with a Heart of Gold or The Bannock Brouhaha

In which we find out that certain tropes aren’t always true, that a heart of gold sometimes needs assistance and that brownies in the house are invaluable. We also venture into peat bogs and cheese riots in pursuit of food and folklore…

A Cawl Tale or The Cheese Ownership Conundrum

Enjoy a wonderful Welsh tale from fantastic storyteller Owen Staton and our chat in which we barely touch the depths of how both food and stories can break down barriers between people and nourish our souls but had a fabulous time in the talking just the same…

Why Cats & Dogs Disagree or the Risotto Resolution

In which we discover that taking care of animals is its own reward, fishermen are somehow inherently magical, womens voices can achieve change and a good risotto creates its own legend…