I LOVE THE SUPERSIZERS AHHHHH!!!

[breakinglight11]

There is a BBC series of specials called "The Supersizers Go..." where a British food critic and comedian spend a week eating the authentic cuisine of previous eras of history. They take all these interesting major periods, from Medieval to the Renaissance to the Restoration to the Regency and beyond, and have the hosts live the lives of people in those times, complete with costumes and historical activities and course after course of the food of the times. I find it utterly fascinating. As a lover of period stories, I feel one of the most immersive touches you can include is to have the details of daily life, and its so hard to find information on that kind of thing when most sources focus on great public events. And of course the cuisines of the past are particularly interesting to me. It looks like great fun, though I don't exactly have the strong stomach such an exercise would require. I love seeing what the tastes and cooking techniques of these other times are, as food and eating has had such a huge impact on human culture and ritual. It's also really cool to see how things evolved and grew into the way we cook and eat today. Of course, this focuses mainly on the British tradition, and I must say, it explains a lot about the way British cooking developed, particularly the ways that are not known in the world as haute cuisine. :-) It is not only interesting and informative but also incredibly clever and funny, so I suggest you check it out right away.

Comments

[crearespero.livejournal.com]

oh jove this sounds AWESOME!!! I have fantasized about trying to do such things myself, insofar as I can within my budget . . . but then I realize that would completely isolate me from EVERYTHING, including my homework (that too is a fantasy, of course, but a highly impractical one).

[contradictacat.livejournal.com]

In that case I also recommend Heston's Feasts (And everything else by Heston Blumenthal). He takes historical dishes and stuff and injects a significant amount of jazz into it but also gives a nice little bit of history alongside.

But yes, the Supersizers Eat is awesome.

[laurion]

The SCA is wonderful for this. People who spend a lot of time and love looking into the daily stuff. The cook's guild (period cooking group) meets about once a month if you are interested.

And don't believe everything you see on TV, a lot of it is poorly written drek that perpetuates bald falsehoods and stereotypes. (although watching 5 minutes or so of the above show, I can't complain too much)*grin*

[offside7.livejournal.com]

Sounds pretty cool; I'll have to check it out!