S3E7: C is for Custard, Chancellor's Buttocks and Crumpets

It’s a Listener Choice special as the team tackle three very different culinary favourites. Sam champions custard in all its forms, from medieval recipes to modern puddings. Allie investigates the mischievous history of Sicily’s “Chancellor’s Buttocks” pastry. And Neil celebrates the crumpet, exploring the history of those hole-filled griddle cakes that have become a staple of the British tea table.

Sources/ Useful links

Custard

• There’s a very good overview of custard by Neil on the British Food History Podcast website along with a recipe for proper custard.
• The history of Birds Custard
• How to make pastry cream (Crème pâtissière)
• Two Fifteenth Century Cookbooks by Thomas Austin (1888)
• Cooking and Dining in Medieval England by Peter Brears (2012)
• Dumas on Food (Translated by Alan and Jane Davidson) by Alexandre Dumas (1979)
• A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf (1935)
• The Tale of the Custard Dragon by Ogden Nash (1936) - a cute poem about a cowardly dragon called custard.
• Laurel and Hardy - The Battle of the Century (1927) - The Pie Fight
• Dr Who ‘Fish Fingers and Custard’ on YouTube
• Rhubarb and Custard (the 1970s cartoon) on YouTube
• Custard Pie song by Led Zeppelin
• Byron’s letters, including references to custard and other food-related observations, can be accessed via Peter Cochran’s edition of Byron’s Correspondence.
• Allie’s talk on Byron and baked rosewater custards, hosted with Sam Hirst, is available here.

Chancellor’s Buttocks

• Simeti, M.T. (1989) Pomp and Sustenance: Twenty-Five Centuries of Sicilian Food.
• "Palermo's Secret Dessert Scene" (Saveur) – an introduction to Palermo's historic pastry culture, including fedde del cancelliere (Chancellor's Buttocks).
• Cavalli, Rita, “Fedde del monastero, il dolce delle monache di Palermo che si prendevano gioco del fondoschiena del Primo Ministro”, FIRSTonline (17 February 2024): FIRSTonline article on the Fedde del Cancelliere and Palermo's convent confectionery traditions

Crumpets

• Neil’s crumpets recipe from British Food: A History
• Neil’s muffins recipe with table of crumpet-muffin recipes showing the fluidity between the two
• Knead to Know: A History of Baking by Neil Buttery (2024)
• English Bread & Yeast Cookery by Elizabeth David (1977)
• The Art of Cookery Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse (1747)
• Crumpets with Potted Shrimps on Foodism
• Want to make the dripping crumpets of Rebecca? Pre-order Allie's A Gothic Cookbook, out this October, published by The History Press.

Don’t forget Allie will be exploring food and feasting in the works of the Brontë sisters and other classic gothic writers at an in-person event at the Brontë Parsonage Museum on 18 July 2026.

Allie will also be presenting an online talk on Gothic feasts with Morbid Anatomy on 26 October 2026.

Join Sam, Neil and Allie in person for a live recording of A is for Apple at Ludlow Food Festival on 11 September 2026.

Allie will be appearing at the Bury St Edmunds Literature Festival on 11 October 2026, where she will be in conversation with author Kate Young.

The Serve It Forth Food History Festival returns online on 18 October 2026. Keep an eye on social media for further announcements.

This is the final episode of Season C of A is for Apple. Thank you to everyone who listened, shared episodes, and sent in suggestions for our Listener Choice special.

We look forward to welcoming you back for Season D. Until then, happy cooking, happy reading, and thank you for joining us on this alphabetical adventure through food and drink culture.