SPADDLES AND SORBETS

A history of ice cream

From delicate dessert tables, to processed wafer cones, ices have been part of the British diet for over 400 years. Our modern versions pale compared to the glories of the past. Made with the most basic of equipment, but moulded in ever more intricate ways, and flavoured with combinations we’d not even think of today, ices were exciting, exuberant and extraordinarily delicious. Yet they had a darker side too, rich in sugar from the Indies and made in appalling conditions in dank Edwardian basements. This lecture explores the rich and varied history of a chilly delight.

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Annie Gray is one of Britain’s leading food historians. Her voice will be familiar from Radio 4’s The Kitchen Cabinet, and her face from many TV documentaries, including Victorian Bakers, The Sweetmakers, Victoria and Albert: the wedding, and James Martin’s Saturday Morning. She’s the author of The Greedy Queen: eating with Victoria, and the forthcoming Victory in the Kitchen: the story of Churchill’s Cook.

Annie’s talks are always popular – book early and come armed with questions.

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