A Feast of Folklore: The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food

By Ben Gazur£20.00 + Shipping
Status: in prepress
Publication Date: TBCAvailable
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About The Book

Who was the first person to throw salt over their shoulder? Why do we think carrots can help us see in the dark? When did we start holding village fairs to honour gigantic apple pies? Or start hurling ourselves down hills in pursuit of a wheel of cheese?

Folklorist Ben Gazur guides you through the dark alleys of British history to uncover how these unconventional actions have been passed down through generations of folklore. He investigates the origins of famous food superstitions as well as much more bizarre and lesser-known tales too, from what day the devil urinates on blackberries to how to stop witches using eggshells as escape boats.

Over thirteen hilarious and fascinating chapters you’ll meet the gloriously eccentric folk who aren’t often noticed by historians: people whose kitchen larders became medicine cabinets and magic books out of necessity, boredom or belief. Here lies a smorgasbord of their dark remedies and deadly delicacies, waiting to be discovered.

A Feast of Folklore will have you looking at your Spotted Dick in an entirely new light.

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  • Updates From The Author

    The book is nearly ready...

    Hello everyone, sorry it's taken a while to give another update, but it's for good reasons... namely LGBT History Month which takes place in the UK every February, which is where I do a lot of my work...

    05.03.2024
    Cover reveal!

    Hello, I've got some great news to share with you. We have now finalised the front cover of Queer as Folklore and I am delighted with how it has turned out. The cover is a collaboration between Unboun...

    22.01.2024
    Foreword By Joanne Harris!

    I wanted to shout about this sooner (and if you are unfortunate enough to follow me on social media you'll have heard about it already!) but the incredible author Joanne Harris has agreed to write a f...

    27.02.2023
    Fairies done, Witches next!

    Hi everyone, hope you all had a fab ease into the new year! I've just had my first kick-off meeting with Unbound for 2023 and all is looking good. :-) As a small update I have now finished the first d...

    26.01.2023
    Cooking up A Feast of Folklore!

    Hello! Just wanted to let you all know that A Feast of Folklore has reached its crowdfunding target. I cannot thank you enough for all the support you have given and without you it would never have ha...

    25.01.2023
    Food Folklore Remedies

    Hello! It has been a little while since I last posted an update. Please forgive me. I fell a little ill last year but thankfully I’m back up to full speed and ready to get to work on this book – which...

    17.01.2023
    Merry Christmas and a Happy New Queer!

    Hi everyone, just checking in to let you know that three chapters have made there way to Unbound for a preliminary read. They've been given the thumbs up (they will all still need a proper edit!) and ...

    24.12.2022
    Hello you wonderful queer-kids, hybrids and cryptids!

    Thanks so much for all of your support. It's been... well it's been overwhelming and incredible how quickly you came together to support my book. And it really has been a whirlwind of a week since 'Qu...

    07.12.2022
    Happy Pancake Day!

    Hope everyone is making some pancakes tonight. Here are a couple of tips from British food history to make the day even more festive! First when you toss your pancakes make sure there are real consequ...

    01.03.2022
    Happy Cake Month!

    Hello all! It is cake month. At least it is according to the Anglo-Saxons. They called February “Solmōnaþ” – meaning something like “Month of the Hearth Cakes.” These were cakes that were baked on the...

    03.02.2022
    Merry Christmas Cakes!

    Merry Christmas! Hope everyone is ready for Christmas and has stocked up on food. You might, or might not, like to try this bit of foody folklore to get your party started. It used to be a tradition t...

    21.12.2021
    Witch cakes

    Looking through old books of folklore I found a few references to witch cakes. If you do a quick search online your likely to find cakes covered in lurid green icing and a little woman in a pointed ha...

    22.11.2021
    An onion a day...

    Hello All! Thank you everyone who has supported A Feast of Folklore so far. It really means a lot that so many people seem interested in the topic! While I’ve been working on this book I seem to keep ...

    08.11.2021

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