Today on The British Food History Podcast I am speaking with food historian Peter Gilchrist and food writer Ross Clarke, who specialise in writing about and rediscovering the traditional foods of Scotland and Wales, respectively.
Peter is a returning guest who goes under the name Tenement Kitchen and is the co-host of The Scottish Food History Podcast. Ross is a food and travel writer and author of The Welsh Kitchen on Substack.
They both use a bakestone or griddle (or whatever you call yours – there are quite a few names for the usually round, usually iron piece of iron we bake our crumpets, drop scones, muffins and Welsh cakes upon) and I thought we should discuss using them and some of the best of British bakestone bakes.
We talk about the place of bakestones and griddles in British food culture, Welsh cakes, bannocks and pikelets, classic writers such as Bobby Freeman and F. Marion McNeill and the applied uses of bacon fat, amongst many other things.
The British Food History Podcast is available to download on all podcast apps; alternatively, you can stream it via this Spotify embed:
Those listening to the secret podcast get plenty of bonus material where we discuss adapting traditional recipes to keep them relevant, how annoyed I get when classic recipes get messed around with, what we get out of recreating historical recipes and buttermilk – plus more.
Follow Peter on social media: @TenementKitchen on Facebook, Insta, Bluesky, X and TikTok
Follow Ross on Social Media: @theguiri on Insta, @rosswclarke on X and Facebook
Season 10 of the podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry, makers of high-quality kitchen and outdoor cookware. Netherton Foundry ships to several countries outside of the UK, including the USA and Canada. Visit www.netherton-foundry.co.uk to find out more about their wonderful products – approved not just by me but by folk such as Tom Parker-Bowles, Diana Henry and Nigella Lawson.
If you can, support the podcast and blogs by becoming a £3 monthly subscriber, and unlock lots of premium content, including bonus blog posts and recipes, access to the easter eggs and the secret podcast, or treat me to a one-off virtual pint or coffee: click here.
Things mentioned in today’s episode
A Book of Welsh Bakestone Cookery by Bobby Freeman
First Catch Your Peacock by Bobby Freeman
First Principles of Good Cookery by Lady Llanover
The Scots Kitchen by F. Marion McNeill
Knead to Know: A History of Baking by Neil Buttery
Ross’s article about Welsh cakes
Ross’s article The Joy of the Bakestone (with bara planc recipe)
The Scottish Food History Podcast episode about F. Marion McNeill – part 1 with Jeremy Lee
Peter’s morning rolls UNSECO bid
Serve it Forth Food History Festival EARLY BIRD TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW!
Previous pertinent blog posts
The Griddle Cakes & Pancakes section on Neil Cooks Grigson
Previous pertinent podcast episodes
A History of Baking with Sam Bilton & Neil Buttery
The Philosophy of Puddings with Neil Buttery, Peter Gilchrist & Lindsay Middleton
Derbyshire Oatcakes with Mark Dawson
Lent episode 1: Preparing for Lent
B is for Bakestone, Bechamel & Barbecue
C is for Custard, Chancellor’s Buttocks & Crumpets
Don’t forget, there will be postbag episodes in the future, so if you have any questions or queries about today’s episode, or indeed any episode, or have a question about the history of British food please email me at neil@britishfoodhistory.com, or leave a comment here.
Facts Only
The British Food History Podcast features guests Peter Gilchrist and Ross Clarke.
Peter Gilchrist operates under the name Tenement Kitchen and co-hosts The Scottish Food History Podcast.
Ross Clarke is a food and travel writer and author of The Welsh Kitchen on Substack.
The discussion focuses on the use of bakestones and griddles for cooking crumpets, drop scones, muffins, and Welsh cakes.
Topics include Welsh cakes, bannocks, pikelets, the use of bacon fat, and writers Bobby Freeman and F. Marion McNeill.
A secret podcast offers bonus material on adapting traditional recipes and the use of buttermilk.
Season 10 of the podcast is sponsored by Netherton Foundry.
Netherton Foundry ships cookware to the UK, USA, and Canada.
Monthly subscriptions for the podcast and blogs are available for £3.
Listed references include works by Bobby Freeman, Lady Llanover, F. Marion McNeill, and Neil Buttery.
Contact information for queries is provided via email at neil@britishfoodhistory.com.
Executive Summary
A recent episode of The British Food History Podcast explores the cultural and practical role of the bakestone and griddle within British culinary traditions. Featuring food historian Peter Gilchrist and writer Ross Clarke, the conversation centers on the rediscovery of traditional foods from Scotland and Wales, specifically focusing on items such as Welsh cakes, bannocks, and pikelets. The dialogue incorporates historical perspectives from authors like Bobby Freeman and F. Marion McNeill, while addressing the practical application of traditional cooking fats.
The content is supported by a wider ecosystem of media, including a secret podcast for subscribers and various cross-referenced historical texts. Financial support for the project is derived from both a commercial sponsorship by cookware manufacturer Netherton Foundry and a monthly subscription model. This framework allows for a blend of historical academic inquiry and practical culinary application, though the specific adaptations of traditional recipes are reserved for premium listeners.
Full Take
This content functions as a bridge between academic food history and hobbyist practice. The strongest version of this narrative is that the preservation of regional identity is inextricably linked to the preservation of the tools and techniques used to produce "folk" foods. By focusing on the bakestone—a simple, durable piece of iron—the narrative anchors abstract national identity in a tangible, physical object.
The paradigm driving this is a "culinary archaeology" approach, assuming that returning to ancestral methods provides a more authentic connection to heritage. This echoes a broader cultural pattern of resisting industrial homogenization through the curation of "slow food" and regionalism. The primary beneficiary is the niche community of historians and home cooks, while the second-order consequence is the commercialization of heritage through sponsored cookware and subscription-based "secret" knowledge.
The presence of a corporate sponsor (Netherton Foundry) whose products are the very tools being discussed creates a closed loop of validation: the historical value of the tool justifies the purchase of the modern product, while the product's availability makes the historical practice accessible. However, this is a standard enthusiast-model rather than a deceptive campaign.
Patterns detected: none
If this were a coordinated influence campaign, a bad actor would use "cultural purity" rhetoric to suggest that modern cooking is a form of erasure, pushing a mandatory adoption of specific "authentic" tools to achieve social status within a curated identity group. The actual content does not match this; it remains a celebratory exploration of culinary heritage.
Bridge Questions:
1. How does the transition from a communal or domestic "folk" tool to a commercially sponsored product change the nature of the tradition?
2. To what extent does the "secret" or "premium" nature of recipe adaptation create a new hierarchy of knowledge within food history?
3. What other regional tools, beyond the bakestone, define the boundary between "traditional" and "modern" British cooking?
Sentinel — Human
This text reads as promotional metadata or an episode summary, characterized by specific references and promotional calls, which indicates a high likelihood of human authorship rather than synthetic generation.