Discover stories from the exhibition
Acetaria: John Evelyn’s 1699 homage to salads and his 9-step guide to the perfect salad
The government official, diarist, and collector, Samuel Pepys, had five cookery books in his library. One of these – Acetaria:...
Eating Italian before Elizabeth David
The cookery writer Elizabeth David famously told readers of her first book, A Book of Mediterranean Food (1950), that they...
Happy Birthday to Trees: The festival of Tu B’Shevat
The Jewish holiday of Tu B’Shevat (sometimes spelled Tu Bishvat) occurs on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat,...
‘How to peel a pomegranate’: Exotic fruit as artistic inspiration
‘Epluchez vos grenades’, or ‘Peel your pomegranates’ is how François Pierre de la Varenne directed his readers in his recipe...
From knives and roast birds to forks and bird pies: Changes in food fashion
Dives and Lazarus is a parable told by Jesus, and recorded in Luke 16:19-31, in which the rich, greedy, and...
Bittersweet: The Passover Feast
In Judaism, eating is not simply a mundane activity but a means of reconnecting with community, history, and tradition. Nowhere...
Pineapple ice cream: a potted history and some English 18th-century recipes
Confectionery shops in 18th-century England and Europe were a far remove from modern sweetshops. In addition to selling (or hiring...
Behind the Scenes: Recreating an 18th-century pineapple ice cream
‘We love the pineapple ice cream image on the lamp-post banners and posters advertising the Feast & Fast exhibition. Why...
A rainbow palette revealed: Van Son’s Still life with lobster
This painting was cleaned for Feast & Fast by Molly Hughes-Hallett, under the supervision of Adele Wright, at the University...
From roast to raw meat: a cooking process reversed through the conservator’s brush
This substantial canvas of a Dutch pantry has been specially cleaned for Feast & Fast by Victoria Sutcliffe at Cambridge...
‘To eat or not to eat’: The early modern history of dairy and meat alternatives
The use of dairy alternatives, such as almond milk, is not a modern phenomenon but is firmly embedded in early...
Tudor bling at High Table: Archbishop Matthew Parker’s silverware for Cambridge Colleges
Figure 1: Matthew Parker’s two-handled cups and cover Cover: possibly John Crathorn, London, England, 1531; Cup 1: possibly Lawrence Truechild,...
