A Feast of Folklore: The Bizarre Stories Behind British Food

Folklorist Ben Gazur guides you through the dark alleys of British history to uncover how our food habits have been passed down through generations of folklore.

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? Gazur 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.

Hilarious and fascinating, A Feast of Folklore will introduce you to the gloriously eccentric folk who aren’t often noticed by historians. Here lies a smorgasbord of their dark remedies and deadly delicacies, waiting to be discovered.

Ben Gazur has a PhD in Biochemistry but has given up the glitz and glamour of life in the laboratory for a career as a writer. He has written about everything from Mudlarking for Mental Floss to terrible TV for the Guardian. His work has also appeared in All About History, i-D, the BBC, and Fortean Times. As a host for the Twitter account Folklore Thursday he has shared his passion for folklore on social media. Based in London he can often be found in the British Library searching for folklore among a pile of dusty books before whipping up a Whirlin Cake worthy of the Devil himself.