In this episode of Season B, Sam, Neil and Ally focus on the world of baking. Sam cooks up some delicious (or not) baked beans, Neil considers the Bath bun and Ally dives into bagel culture.

Useful links, references and things mentioned in the episode:

Baked Beans

Beans: A History by Ken Albala (2007)

The Frugal Housewife by Lydia Maria Child (1829)

The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook by Fannie Merrit Farmer (1896) - (this is a link to the 1910 version)

The Truth about Baked Beans by Megan Muckenhoupt (2015)

America’s Founding Food: The Story of New England Cooking by Keith Stavely & Kathleen Fitzgerald (2004)

A shilling cookery for the people : embracing an entirely new system of plain cookery and domestic economy by Alexis Soyer (1854)

Britain’s obsession with baked beans

What’s For Tea, Mum? Beanz Meanz The Who!

Martha Stewart’s Boston Baked Beans

Bath Buns

English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David (1977)

English Food by Jane Grigson (3rd edition, 1992)

The Taste of Britain by Laura Mason and Catherine Brown (1999)

Neil’s recipe for seed cake

Neil’s recipe for wigs

Cobb’s Bath Buns recipe on Neil Cooks Grigson

The Bath Bun Teashoppe

Bagels

https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/uk/food/recipes/g43212153/street-party-food-ideas-recipes/

https://www.vice.com/en/article/these-black-bagels-are-the-anti-rainbow-bagel/

The Bagel: The Surprising History of a Modest Bread by Maria Balinska

https://fairmountbagel.com/bagels-in-space/

Prince William and Kate Make Bagels in East London: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhhDQeLWMfY

https://www.hackneycitizen.co.uk/2014/06/17/curious-history-bagel/

In this episode, we explore food places beginning with 'B.' Neil uncovers the buttery—not the hearty Scottish roll, but the traditional place where wine is stored. Allie dives into the origins and charm of the bistro, with its revolutionary roots where food and culture come together in cosy, intimate spaces. Meanwhile, Sam unwraps the story of Bourneville, where chocolate and community collide.

Useful links and things mentioned in the episode

• Good Food by Ambrose Heath (1932)
• What the butler saw : two hundred and fifty years of the servant problem by E. S. Turner (2001)
• Cooking & Dining in Tudor & Early Stuart England by Peter Brears (2015)
• Cooking & Dining in Medieval England by Peter Brears (2012)
• What’s in a Name?: Buttery by Neil Buttery (2016) British Food: A History blog
• The Invention of the Restaurant: Paris and Modern Gastronomic Culture by Rebecca L Spang (2000)
• A Bite Sized History of France: Gastronomic Tales of Revolution, War and Enlightenment by Stéphane Henaut and Jeni Mittchell (2018)
• The Bistro: French Food and the Culture of Place by Bertrand Auboyneau and François Simon (2018)
• French Provincial Cooking by Elizabeth David (1960)
• What is Olla Podrida?
• A Siege of Paris ‘Menu’
• Cadbury World
• Bournville Village Trust
• Bournville Village Heritage Tour
• A Brief History of Birmingham
• You can visit some examples of the city's Back-to-Backs run by the