Smy Goodness Podcast : Food History & Food Art

It’s a perfect symphony of seasonality. Many cheeses we enjoy at Christmas are coming into peak maturity around the holidays. What’s your cheese? British classics or continental cheeses? Do you go for the cheese board rather than pudding? At Christmas you can sample ALL the cheeses and ALL the puddings! It's a perfectly delicious puzzle when choosing ones plate of cheeses and pairing them w/chutneys, crackers, wines and ports. How cheese is good for us, more Ebenezer Scrooge and artwork by Floris van D

In the 5 or 6 weeks prior to Christmas is when clementines, satsumas, manderins and tangerines come into season and join forces to dominate the fruit bowl. Their flavours and essences appear throughout our food, drink and traditions throughout Christmas. Find out about the roots and origins of oranges and the differences between the easy-peelers. We'll learn about St. Nicholas and why we put oranges in stockings with help of Gentile da Fabriano and his painting, Three Gold Balls.

The familiar spices associated with Christmas infused together in warmed wine, spirits, fruit and sugar. It saturates your sense of smell and warms you up as it fills your belly. Since pre-history we have found ways to drink fermented beverages and we owe thanks to the Romans for specifically bringing mulled wine to Northern Europe. We'll discuss Circe, her role in the Odyssey and her appearance in Gioacchino Assereto's painting Circe Mulling Wine. I share my own tips and recipe for mulled wine and more.

Goose - the squatted, more flavourful, dark meat alternative to their dry, white-melted fowl cousin the turkey. The custom and popularity of eating a goose during autumnal and winter harvest and holidays stretches from when they were domesticated by the Egyptians over 4000 years ago. This episode looks at traditions throughout the ages including the long-running Tavistock Goosey Fair, Michaelmas, the Smithfield's Market Christmas Eve Sale and the goose/turkey dynamic of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

It works sweet or savoury and can be oh-so overpowering if you let it. It’s not my favourite spice and is one that I use sparingly so that it doesn’t dominate a dish, but properly balanced, cinnamon brings warmth and depth of flavour to dishes all year round but particularly at Christmas. We'll look at its importance throughout the ancient world, how beneficial it is in terms of health and how it is only recently enjoyed by the masses. Artwork from 'Tractatus de Herbis' by Dioscorides, 15th century.

These small, round, bright-red berries are more tart than sweet which makes them a perfect accompaniment to roast meat and dinners bringing a nice bright dash of Christmas red to ones plate. This week we look at how these North American fruits have become part of Christmas, gained status as a superfood and the many ways they can be enjoyed throughout the holidays and year-round.

If you don’t think they taste delicious, you’re probably cooking them wrong! And if you’re just eating them at Christmas they deserve a place at the table beyond the holidays. Sprouts come in loads of varieties ways to prepare them. Artwork from Amedee Varin.

Mincemeat and mince pies are markers of Christmas. Mincemeat is the filling baked inside pies and they originally contained dried fruit, spices, vinegar and meat when they first appeared in the 15th century. There’s the old wives' tale that you should eat a mince pie on each of the 12 days of Christmas for good luck in the upcoming year...if I eat two per day will it bring me double the good luck next year? Listen for a brief look at the history, art and design of mincemeat.

The analogy of food, music, records and design. This week I sat down with Tim Parker the Web Developer, Designer, DJ and host of the NTS radio programme You'll Soon Know. We discussed food, music memories, travel, design and how we approach and share all of the above. Before my chat with Tim I look at the history of plates as functional pieces to decorative and technological works. Judy Chicago, Chloe Wise, Dr Amanda Furman's The Ascent of Woman, the Voyager Golden records are discussed.

Figs reverence surely stems from their historic connection to our own agricultural journey and they are a symbol of abundance and important to ancient peoples, cultures, art, cookery and religions. They are symbols of fertility, wealth, youth and the brevity of life. This episode will look at the Greek etymology behind 'sycophancy' and the Roman Apicius' recipe for fegato. Artists discussed include Giovanna Garzoni, Albrecht Durer, Clara Peeters, Suzanne Valadon, Vivienne Westwood and Figs in Wigs.

The Chinese dumpling - the ancient food so steeped in art, history and design that is a little edible works of art. Focus on jiaozi, guotie, zongzi and wonton dumplings and stories of the Silk Road, the Chinese physician Zhang Zhongjing, the poet Qu Yuan and how dumplings, family and festivals are linked together. Interview w/ Tongtong (Tungtong) Ren and Peiran Gong - owners and chefs of Chinese Laundry Room. Art by Shaoqiang Chen, Qi Baishi, Yiying L and more.

Grapes are one of the first plants to be grown domestically by people and their cultivation cycle has been embedded deep within us. One only needs to look at the symbolic, religious and cultural importance of grapes to get a small fathoming of what they must have meant to the early peoples who first fermented them to what they mean across the world today. We'll also look at the art of Zeuxis, Juan Fernandez El Labrador, Louise Moillon, Luca Forte, Georgia O'Keeffe, Alfred Steiglitz and Grimanesa Amoros.

A look into the art, history and design of ice cream and celebrate this food that is so connected to our pleasure senses. Tara Esperanza of Tara's Organic Ice Cream and I chatted about ice cream, food culture, memories and the artistry of food. You can find T.O.I.C. at their two California shops (Oakland & Berkeley) and an offering of over 173 flavours which are made with limited availability or seasonal ingredients.

Pancakes with Aimee Furnival, Founder and Director of Another Studio, a craft-design practice creating original products for the desk, home and workplace. A look at how the pancake is enjoyed across the world in different variations. With art from Rembrandt, Heironymous II, Tiger Tomato plus a cookbook aimed at a medieval female audience and the background of the Aunt Jemima trademark.

The history of canapes and how these bite size foods have always been functional and ways to express creativity. I am joined this week by Diana Pinkett who with her partner Adrian Smith form Vegan Peasant Catering. She shares their vision and how travel played such an important part in their 100% plant based canape and food bowl catering company. With art from Lizet Dingemans and Kate Jenkins.