The Full English is a podcast that sees the world through food. Hosted by chef and researcher Lewis Bassett, with music and mixing from Forest DLG, it explores culinary culture and history. The show won the Guild of Food Writers Podcast Award in 2023.
Episodes
The Conran generation – with Ben Highmore
Ben Highmore joins me to discuss the lifestyle revolution that Britain’s middle classes went through in the 1960s - the one that gave us the ubiquitous rustic Italian food we have in England today.Ben’s book is available from Manchester University Press. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lewisbassett.substack.c
Peasant chic – with Rosanna McLaughlin
“What is this fantasy of hardship and labour endemic to those parts of the city catering to the rise of affluence, the empire of the flat-whites, draining neighbourhoods of colour, and leaving in their wake a mild-mannered army dressed in Breton stripes and vintage labouring apparel? What is this love of the workshop, the jailhouse, the farm, and the forces, which has caused a swathe of the popula
Why craft matters - with James Fox
Craft matters for our sense of self. And studies show that taking part in craft production can be a balm for the kinds of anxieties produced in our world of screens.Lewis speaks to historian, writer and broadcaster James Fox about his book ‘Craftland’ which uncovers the extent to which our country was once a deeply crafty place, and it champions the artisans still at work in Britain today. This i
Bad taste, no class – with Dan Evans
If you know one thing about English food culture it’s probably that it’s riven by class. But what is class? Is class a matter of taste or a matter of wealth, or both? And how do different classes affect contemporary politics?Lewis speaks to sociologist Dan Evans about his book ‘A Nation of Shopkeepers: The Unstoppable Rise of the Petty Bourgeoisie’. This is a public episode. If you would like to d
Civilised food – with Fuchsia Dunlop
And we’re back. After almost two years the Full English podcast is back!I've been busy writing a book: The Full English: The Ways We Eat and Why is out now with Verso. We’re kicking off this new season of the podcast with a truly exceptional guest. Fuchsia Dunlop is ‘The English person with a Chinese stomach’; she is a one woman gateway to the infinities of Chinese cuisine and it’s deep traditions
Floyd and Stein with John Merrick
It's the final episode of the Full English and we're talking about Rick Stein and Keith Floyd, two of the most popular cooks on TV in Britain.Lewis is speaking to the editor and writer John Merrick. Find his essay on Stein here.The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Instagram. Follow Lewis on Instagram here. And Forest D
Fergus Henderson with Zoe Williams and Amber Husain
Fergus Henderson! The man who thirty years ago opened St John and ever since has implored us to eat from "nose to tail".Lewis Bassett talks to Zoe Williams, columnist at the Guardian newspaper, and Amber Husain, author of Meat Love: An Ideology of The Flesh.Read Lewis' article on St John here.The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the Full
Jamie Oliver with Rachel Roddy
The only person who has sold more books in Britain than Jamie Oliver is J. K. Rowling. Jamie has been watched and read by millions. His enthusiasm for food is often infectious. His cooking and his campaigning have changed the way we eat.I'm speaking about Jamie with Rachel Roddy, author of a regular column on Italian food for the Guardian.We focus mainly on how Jamie, and others, have viewed food
Alexis Soyer with Pen Vogler and Miranda Carter
Alexis Soyer cooked for the rich and poor alike. He transformed elite restaurant kitchens in London with new technologies such as gas stoves and he provided nourishment to the starving in Ireland and the battered and the bloody during the Crimean war. Soyer's fierce desire to feed people went against the grain of Victorian common sense and he helped change how we think about who is responsible for
Elizabeth Raffald with Neil Buttery
The most influential cook that you've probably never heard of, according to food historian Neil Buttery.Elizabeth Raffald captured the distinctly modern English food of the 18th century. The Heston Blumental of her time, inspiring cooks like Fergus Henderson today.Neil Buttery is the author of "Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England's Most Influential Housekeeper". He's also got two new boo
Madhur Jaffrey with Mayukh Sen
Obviously we were going to do an episode about Madhur Jaffrey, and so here it is.Madhur Jaffrey: the actress who taught British and American audiences how to cook Indian food.Lewis Bassett speaks about Madur with Mayuk Sen, author of Taste Makers: Seven Immigrant Women Who Revolutionized Food in America. We talk about Madur's life, some of the barriers to her success as an actress and her move int
Ken Hom with Angela Hui
Ken Hom taught the British how to cook Chinese food, but Chinese takeaways showed us what it was in the first place.Lewis Bassett talks to journalist Angela Hui about Ken's impact and about her book Takeaway: Stories From a Childhood Behind the Counter.The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.
Elizabeth David part 2 with Ruth Rogers and Jeremy Lee
Part two on Elizabeth David is all about the impact of her work, with Jeremy Lee and Ruth Rogers.Jeremy Lee's award winning cookery book is called "Cooking: Simply and Well, for One or Many". The River Cafe have a number of brilliant cookbooks and, in recent news, have also opened a cafe (a River Cafe Cafe) next door to their main restaurant in West London.The Full English is produced by Lewis Bas
Elizabeth David part 1 with Artemis Cooper
Elizabeth David led a life whose story is as compelling as her impact on the way we eat. In part one of two episodes, Lewis speaks to Artemis Cooper, author of Writing at the Kitchen Table: The Authorized Biography of Elizabeth David. Part two featuring Ruth Rogers and Jeremy Lee will appear soon.The Full English is produced by Lewis Bassett. Mixing and sound design is from Forest DLG.Follow the F
Marco Pierre White with Ida Février
Marco Pierre White, once the "enfant terrible" of the UK restaurant scene today the face of Knor stock cubes. Who is Marco, what impact has he had on how we eat and just why is he so weird?Answering the questions for a change is The Full English's Lewis Bassett. Taking over is Ida Février and her show No Man Land. Join us for this special crossover episode, part of our season on cooks that have c
Auguste Escoffier with Luke Barr
Episode two in our series on cooks that have changed the way we eat. Lewis Bassett speaks to Luke Barr, author of 'Ritz and Escoffier: The Hotelier, The Chef, and the Rise of the Leisure Class' about the French chef Auguste Escoffier, who rose to fame in London at the Savoy in the 1890s.Mixing and sound design from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok. Hosted on Acas
Season 4 trailer
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit lewisbassett.substack.com
Delia Smith with Felicity Cloake and Zoe Williams
Delia Smith: friend of the royals, a national treasure who taught us how to boil and egg and an advocate for radical spiritualism. In this episode Lewis Bassett, Felicity Cloak and Zoe Williams unpick who Delia is and what her impact has been on how we eat in Britain.This is the first episode of our new series on cooks who've change the way we eat. Subscribe to hear future episodes on everyone fro
A pervert's guide to fine dining
Who or what are ultra elite restaurants for? Welcome to a pervert's guide to fine dining.Produced and presented by Lewis Bassett, featuring Andy Hayler, Erin McDonnell and Robin Burrow.Mixing and sound design from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.Clips from:The Bear, FXGrant Achatz on Chef's Table, NetflixDan Barber on Chef's Table, NetflixArtisans of Craft: Thom
Why do we eat turkey at Xmas? A Full English festive special!
Join us, join us, join us for a Full English Christmas special! Get the turkey in the oven and warm some wine as we answer all your questions on why we eat and drink in the ways we do at Christmas. And hear us rate the best and worse mince pies from high street coffee shops.Lewis Bassett is joined by the man of music Forest DLG, master baker Rebecca Spaven, the talented Jemma Greenwood and the foo
What did the Romans do for us?
What did the ancient Romans do for us? Well, according to Thom Ntinas from The Delicious Legacy podcast, they were the first to give Britain the burger.Find out more about the lasting culinary legacies of ancient Roman Britain in this special cross over episode.Presented by Thom Ntinas and Lewis Bassett. Produced and edited by Thom Ntinas. Music from Pavlos Kapralos.Follow the Full English on Twit
Why everyone loves Costa Coffee
Costa is the nation's most popular coffee shop. There are 1000 more Costa than Starbucks and 500 more than Greggs. And that's before we take into account Costa's express machines and retail products.How did Costa get so big and why do we love it?Lewis Bassett is joined by co-host Jemma Greenwood, comments from the coffee historian Jonathan Morris and a Costa taste testing with three time UK barist
The hidden history of state-sponsored canteens
Few people are aware that in the first half of the 20th century the British government helped establish a huge number of popular canteens, serving food to everyone who wanted it during war time and afterwards. These British Restaurants, as they became known during World War II, were, at their hight, more numerous than today's McDonalds and Wetherspoons combined.Lewis Bassett speaks to Bryce Evans,
Is English wine any good?
Vines in a Cold Climate is a new book by Henry Jeffreys charting the sparkling rise of English wine and the people behind it. Lewis Bassett and Jemma Greenwood speak to Henry over a couple of bottles of vins anglais about Henry's book, the story of English wine and attitudes towards wine drinking in England.Mixing and sound design is as ever from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Inst
On caffs, not cafes
What is a caff when it's not a cafe? Where did the caff come from and who will mourn the greasy spoon if, as we hear, they're disappearing? Joining Lewis Bassett is the author and Guardian columnist Felicity Cloake and Isaac Rangaswami, writer and the man behind the Instagram page Caffs Not Cafes.Felicity's book is Red Sauce Brown Sauce. Her writing for the Guardian can be found here. Isaac has wr
Is it wrong to love meat?
There exists a distinctly middle class culture in Britain that has taught us to love our meat, especially if we feel guilty about eating it. But what if rather than caring for the animals we eat, we thought about animals as an exploited class who deserve justice, not a cuddle before they are slaughtered? So argues Amber Husain in Meat Love, a powerful little book that is out now.Lewis Bassett spea
Should we nationalise Wetherspoons?
By creating a network of pubs that are accessible to anyone with 89p for a coffee, JD Wetherspoon has become something of a public service. But should Britain's most popular pub chain really be owned by Tim Martin and a small group of shareholders? Is it time to nationalise Wetherspoons?In this episode, Lewis Bassett is joined by Jemma Greenwood to discuss the origins and meanings of Spoons, and b
Henry Dimbleby on how the food system is killing you
British people are fatter and sicker than people in most other rich nations. That's down to our food system, argues Henry Dimbleby in his new book Ravenous, co-authored with Jemima Lewis. In this episode, Lewis Bassett speaks to Henry about his book, covering everything from why exercise won't help you lose weight to how what we eat is a leading cause of climate change to why food companies are he
Ha-Joon Chang on eating the economy
The British realise their food is bland and that's a good thing, according to world renowned economist Ha-Joon Chang. In this interview, Lewis Bassett speaks to Ha-Joon about some of the key themes in his latest book 'Edible Economics'; from how the field of economics has become something of a monoculture, to why its hypocritical of rich nations to encourage poorer ones to accept free trade. Ha-Jo
Do high food prices still make us angry?
From around the 1500s to the early 19th century, when the price of food went up poor people were likely to riot. Today we've seen the highest food price rises in a generation, but does anyone feel angry?Lewis Bassett speaks to economist James Meadway on the causes of rising prices, to historians Steve Poole and Joe Stanley on the history of food riots in England as well as to regular shoppers in R
Sejal Sukhadwala on the philosophy of curry
Lewis Bassett talks all things curry with the writer Sejal Sukhadwala. Find Sejal's book, The Philosophy of Curry, here.You can also find Sejal's work in the Guardian, the FT, Atlas Obscurer, The Fence and elsewhere.Find out more about the course on Food, Politics and City which I mention in the show in this YouTube video or at the Birkbeck website here.Mixing and sound design is as ever from Fore
Jerry Percy on whether Brexit has been good for the fishing industry
Fishing was often at the heart of the Brexit debate. But three years on, what are the results? Lewis speaks to Jerry Percy, a retired commercial fisherman and director of the chair of New Under Ten Fishermen's Association. If anyone has a grasp of what Brexit has, and could, mean for commercial fishing its Jerry.Mixing and sound design from Forest DLG.Follow the Full English on Twitter, Instagram
Why are we in love with Greggs?
Greggs is one of the biggest food to go retailers in the UK, selling 3 million sausage rolls each week. It has its own line in branded sportswear and a huge fan base. But how did Greggs get so big and what does it all mean?Lewis Bassett speaks to Jake Grover (aka Pasty), Ed Cumming, Sam White, Kate Magee and Sabine Benoit.Pasty can be found on Instagram here.Check out Ed Cumming's article on Gregg
James Meadway on why our food is so expensive now
Why is our food so expensive now? James Meadway explains. We also discuss the link between inflation and trade unions, and the current wave of strikes in the UK right now.James has held senior roles at the New Economics Foundation and the Progressive Economy Forum. He hosts the weekly economics podcast Macrodose.This interview forms a part of an upcoming episode on whether high food prices (still)
Diane Purkiss on a people's history of English food
Lewis Bassett speaks to Diane Purkiss about her new book 'English Food: A People's History'.We talk about what English food is, how and when English food became bland, why Elizabeth David is a food snob, why we fear GMOs and how what we eat in England is so deeply interwoven with our social class.Diane Purkiss is a professor of English Literature at Oxford University. Her book 'English Food' is ou
Did Margaret Thatcher invent Mr Whippy Ice Cream?
Did former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher help invent Mr Whippy Ice Cream? And what can Mr Whippy tell us about the Conservative Party today?With guests:Zoe Philipson, award winning ice cream retailer from Tyne Valley IcesJon Agar, author of Science in the 20th Century and BeyondIan Lavery, Labour MP for WansbeckWill Davies, author of Nervous StatesCreated by Lewis Bassett. Additional editing an
The fish finger bhorta
In this final episode of season one, Lewis Bassett and Forest DLG make a fish finger bhorta with the journalist and commentator Ash Sarkar. Does the fish finger bhorta count as English food? We hear from the academic Jason Edwards on what national cuisine actually is. Lewis eats Ghanian food in London with the cook and author Riaz Phillips. The chef Andrew Wong and the academic Catherine Hall ques
The invention of 'modern European' food in England
How did the English go from eating cans of baked beans to dribbling olive oil over a fresh rocket and sundried tomato salad? In this episode, we’ll look at how a movement of cooks and cookery writers helped to challenge the status of elite, classical French cuisine as the gold standard of food in England with provincial French and Mediterranean cooking. It’s also the story of the rise of a new mid
Factory farms
Is regenerative agriculture the answer to the problems caused by factory farms, or might modern forms of food production have an important role to play in the future of food in England? In this episode, Lewis Bassett speaks to: Matt Chatfield, sheep farmer and advocate of alternative farming techniques; the nutritionist Lucy Williamson; the historian David Edgerton; the farmer and director of the
A nice cup of tea (with sugar)
What could be more innocent than a nice cup of cha? In this episode we hear from Seren Charington-Hollins, Markman Ellis, Mathew Mauger and Mukta Das on how England's love of tea is deeply intwined with the British Empire, including how Britain once forced the trade of opium for tea in China. The historians Catherine Hall and Padraic Scanlan also tell us about England's taste for sugar and its ori
A land of sheep and glory
Why did the English stop eating mutton? And what can sheep farming tell us about the birth of capitalism in England? In this episode, Lewis Bassett visits Smithfield's meat market with Pen Vogler, the author of 'Scoff'. He speaks to Maia Pal and George Comninel about the what, where, when and why of capitalism. We hear from Susan Rose on how wool made England rich. Ben Rogers explains how the Engl
Breakfast
What is English food? And what is England? Looking at the English breakfast can tell us something about the character of England and how the country acquired a bad reputation when it comes to food.Featuring: David Edgerton, Kaori O'Connor, Ben Rogers, Paul Freedman and Rowley LeighMusic by Forest DLG. Hosted and produced by Lewis Bassett. Sign up on Patreon for extra content and to support the sho
